IT'S A BOY!!!!!!

The little Cookie is a BOY! Yea!! We are so thrilled. :)

We visited the Fetal Maternal Specialist yesterday and were able to see his kidneys, arm and leg bones, developing lungs, all 4 chambers of the heart, and the brain. He is developing perfectly! When the doctor said "it's a boy" Charlie stood up out of his chair and said "shut up!". He was so excited.

Charles Leo Schreiner V will go by Leo. We are so excited to meet him, but knowing who is growing inside of me makes everything that much more real. We could not be happier!

Below are some pics. We were able to get 3D shots yesterday too!

It's a boy!


Little Feet


Trying to Suck his Thumb


Body Shot


Another 3D Shot

15 Week Appointment

My 15 week appointment with our midwife, Karen, went great! It was so cute, the nurse found the heartbeat and all of a sudden you heard this funny "shoop gurgle" sound and heartbeat was gone. Turns out the little cookie is a busy bee! The sound was the baby moving around. So the nurse would have to try to follow it around with the Doppler and find the heartbeat again. We finally found it long enough to get the heart rate which was 160.

Karen is really happy with my progress. We talked about my diet and weight gain. I have only gained about 9 pounds so far, 5 of those since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. My blood pressure was good, everything is great!

We meet with the specialist next week to go over my lab results. Keep your fingers crossed, we might find out the sex at that appointment!! If not, we will find out March 23rd.

2/10 - 14 Weeks Pregnant

Well, here I am at 14 weeks. I am officially in the second trimester and I am definitely feeling that "second trimester bliss". And I am definitley SHOWING!! (pics below are at 14 weeks 4 days) My nausea is gone, I don't have to fight to stay awake at my desk (well, most days) and my mood swings are down to a minimum. It's so so so nice!!

A few people have asked about cravings. So far there hasn't been any crazy combinations but some things sound better to me than they ever have. Pancakes make me hum with excitement, that first bite of syrup is like pure heaven. For about a month I ate Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches almost daily. I think I am over the PB&J thing, but we will see. (Charlie isn't convinced). I also have a inclination towards sweets that I don't usually have, particularly cookies. YUM YUM cookies! I have baked a lot in the last 3 months. Other than that there have been a few isolated incidents of Taco Bell Bean Burritos, Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and STBX Caramel Fraps (decaf of course) but only a few....

So far, pregnancy has been pretty good to me. I was a bit uncomfortable in the first few months, but it wasn't so bad. Hopefully the next 6 months will be awesome!

Cooper

As you all know, we have a super large, super silly and super sweet Labrador Retriever named Cooper.

Cooper entered the world in April of 2007. The second biggest of his litter he had personality from the get go! We got our first pictures of him over Memorial Day weekend. Charlie and I were in Corpus Christi for the Uprising Musical Festival (what a fun fun time!!) The moment I saw those first pictures I was hooked. We picked him up in June and our lives were never quite the same; but the change was certainly for the better.

I can still remember Cooper being small enough for me to cradle in one arm. If you have seen him lately you would know that is no longer possible and hasn't been for quite some time now! Cooper weighed in last week at 98.8 pounds. He has a few extra pounds, but the vet was happy with his weight. (Though Charlie doesn't agree, I am convinced that Cooper is merely going through a chubby adolescent phase that he will grow out of)

Cooper is a ball of excitement and loves to play. If you are a living, breathing being of any kind he thinks you should be romping around with him. I have witnessed him playing with a bug for a good 10 minutes. That poor bug, each time it would try to flee from Cooper's monster paws Coop would lightly pat it again and make the bug turn over. Another pat and the bug would once again run for its life. Cooper, with furrowed brows, just couldn't understand why the bug didn't want to play with him. That's my dog. Not the brightest, not the dumbest either, but easily the sweetest.

I have included some pictures from the last 22 months of Cooper's life. Enjoy!

The Names

Here are the names we have chosen:

For a boy - Charles Leo (the 5th) He will go by Leo

For a girl - Lily Christine (The middle name is still up for debate, but this is what we like best)

Choosing the boy name was easy since Charlie is the 4th Charles Leo. Naturally our little boy would be the 5th. All the other Charles Leos have gone by various versions of Charles (Charlie, Chuck, Chaz). Leo will be the first to go by the middle name.

Lily is actually my mom's maiden name (moms was spelled a bit differently, but I figured the common spelling would make Lily's life a little easier). The middle name has no origin, it just came up in a brainstorming session with Laura. So far it's the prettiest combination I have found, but I am always open for suggestions.

PREGNANT!

Well, I think this about the best way to start a blog! WE ARE PREGNANT! WOO HOO!

Charlie and I found out on December 7, 2008. Even though we were trying to get pregnant, the positive test came as a bit of a surprise. A friend had lent me these super early detection pregnancy tests, but they expired in December. I figured it wouldn't make a difference, but apparently it did. After my period was a few days late I set off to Wal-Mart for a digital test just to make sure. I decided to take it as we were getting ready for a Christmas Gala. Imagine my surprise as I looked down on the toilet seat and saw the words PREGNANT. I walked out to the kitchen to show Charlie; he was as shocked as I was.

I called my midwife (MW), Karen Brock, and made an appointment. The first ultrasound was too early to detect a heartbeat or any real image but by the next week we heard the heartbeat and saw our little Cookie. SO SWEET! I have been back since and heard the heartbeat again.

The MW says it's a perfect pregnancy. She is happy with my weight and blood pressure and everything seems to be going great. My blood work showed a slightly elevated antibody when we tested for immunity to Toxoplasmosis. I have been assured that there is nothing to worry about and that this test produces false negatives so often that they don't even blink when they see a reading like mine (Normal range of the antibody is .8, I was 1.2). As a precaution, I will visit a Maternal Fetal Specialist on Feb. 26th to look at the development. If the baby is in the right position we may even know the sex then!

We told both of our parents on Christmas Day. It was so hard to keep it in! But I am glad we waited, it was such a special day to give them the news. Of course, they are thrilled. My Mom and Dad are already bickering over weather it will be a boy or a girl.

Needless to say, Charlie and I feel so blessed to be where we are. We have looked forward to starting a family for so long and the timing seems just right for us. The due date is 8/11/2009, so please say a prayer or do a rain dance in hopes that this will be a mild summer!

Love to you all!