33-week Photo

This is Heather and BW, now at 33-weeks, standing in the baby room in front of the crib that we just put together.

You know it's getting close to the big day when it's time to start getting the baby room ready, which is what we began this weekend. Since there are only 2 bedrooms in the house, and one of them is for mommy and daddy, the other bedroom is going to share time as both a baby room and an office (where the computer is). With a little shuffling around, we plan to fit the crib, a changing table and a dresser in there. Heather has come up with a plan for decorating, so that will probably be our big project for the next couple weeks.

Country Cousin Song

The Country Cousin girls gave little Baby Woodruff a most excellent Christmas gift at the annual Piercy family Christmas Eve party! (From left to right) Ainsley, Macee, Emmy, Tierney and Auna sang a song that they wrote about BW. You can watch the video by clicking on below:



And here's a transcript of the song lyrics:

Baby Woodruff, Baby Woodruff
what is your name gonna be?
We're so excited, so delighted,
another cousin in the family.

You're already famous,
you have a website
on which they call you B.W.
We've been thinking and we've thought of
just a couple names for you.

If you're a girl, we'll call you Bambi
and you'll run just like a deer.
If you're a boy, we'll call you Wolfgang
and the kids with run with fear.

Ainsley, Tierney, Emmy, Macee,
Debbie, Jackie, Rielee, too.
Please don't give a girl an "E" name,
Wendy Woodruff just won't do.

You're so busy in Mommy's tummy,
you twist and turn all night and day.
You're just getting Mommy ready
for when you're up and want to play.

If you're born 50 pounds
Daddy wants to name you "Beef".
You'll get your picture in the paper,
the biggest baby beyond belief.

You'll be born to be a Husky
and that's fine, just wait and see.
You'll be able to watch the Cougs
win the March Madness Tourney!

Grannie's waiting for your arrival.
She's so nice and so much fun.
But enjoy it, before you know it
"Grannie's Boot Camp" has begun.

Can a baby ride a zip line
or a motorcycle down the hill?
The boys will show you stunts
that will make your mother ill.

The Country Cousins are kind of crazy
and the adults are wacky, too.
When you're dressed up kinda silly
on the float ... well, we warned you.

So, Merry Christmas, Baby Woodruff,
we can't wait until we meet.
We just hope that when we see you,
you don't have your Daddy's feet!

Heather and Rick (and little BW) all want to thank the girls for this awesome performance. We appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Weekly Checkup

Now that BW's birth-day is pretty close, Dr. Zawacki has upped the appointments to weekly. Today's visit to the doctor was much of the same, though with mommy being a little under-the-weather. The nurse checked Heather over, and her vitals looked good ... blood pressure was normal, and as was her temperature. The doctor also did some checks, including respiratory, and that looked OK, too.

The doctor then measured baby's heartbeat at 120 bpm. Heather asked about BW's position, and after feeling around, Dr. Zawacki said that BW's head was on the left side of the tummy, the back was up against the ribs, and the feet were over on the left side. So far, so good!

32 & 1/2-week Photo

Christmas Day, and time for the 32 & 1/2-week photo! We usually take the weekly shot a little earlier, but Heather's flu bug delayed things a bit.

Here's Baby Woodruff spending a little quality belly time with Scott Stephenson, father of Heather's best friend Sara (Dany).

Sick Mommy

All those flu bugs flying around this winter, and I guess one was bound to catch up to Heather. And it did these past couple days. The flu started showing up on Saturday, getting worse on Sunday, and then put her to bed all day on Monday -- Christmas Eve of all days! She was miserable, and sad to have missed many of the festivities that day ... but after a good night's rest, she made a strong comeback on Christmas day. Despite being a little worn out, she managed to put in a full day of visits and present-opening. Through it all, Baby Woodruff stayed active with all of the squirming around, but was nice to mommy by holding back on the hard kung-fu kicks.

Seattle Shower

It was party time for Baby Woodruff this past weekend, when Heather went up to Seattle for her first baby shower. Many of her friends from the metro area came over to Elisabeth's house to see how much little BW had grown.


Here's a photo of Heather and her Seattle friends, including: front row - Laura, Maren, & Elisabeth; back row - Brooke, Nicki, mommy, & Jen. Not pictured but attending the shower was Cori.

Heather really enjoyed spending time with everyone, and she was very grateful for the lovely gifts that she received. It was very nice for her to sit and chat and relax, and enjoy the wonderful food on a rainy Seattle day. Heather also really appreciated Maren's help in opening up presents.

Thanks so much to Laura and Elisabeth for organizing a baby shower to welcome BW. It was very thoughtful, and Heather appreciates all your hard work. Thanks also to Laura, Elisabeth, Cori and Nicki for providing the delicious food.

31-week Photo

We're now up to 31-weeks, which means it's time for the photo of Heather and little Baby Woodruff.

This photo was taken at her friend Elisabeth's house, during a baby shower up in Seattle. The details are all in the next post.

(Apologies for the lateness ... between a business trip and being sick, I got a little off track on keeping up with the blog.)

Quick Check-up

Now that the major blood-work and shots have been done, the check-ups with Dr. Zawacki are just a quick in-and-out. The appointment on Friday was much like before, with Heather getting her temperature and blood pressure measured, then getting asked a dozen questions. And BW's heartbeat was checked as well, staying right at 130 bpm. So, it appears that this is shaping up to be a typical pregnancy, from the doctor's perspective ... that's something we'll be thankful for this Christmas season!

Baby's First Ornament

Thanks to Auntie Greta for giving this sparkly glass bootie ornament to little BW for Christmas. It looks great on the tree!

30-week Photo

It's time for the 30-week Photo, featuring an ever-growing Baby Woodruff and an ever-lovely mommy Heather.

This time, they are standing in front of the Christmas tree that we just got yesterday. We went to George Miller Road up in Silver Lake, and after a lot of searching around, found the perfect Noble Fir just before it got dark. Heather spent today decorating it with ornaments, and now it looks awesome! Little BW would be very excited to see it. Though, if the baby takes after me, it will be the last year that we can hang any of the breakable ornaments down low.

New Books

Heather had a Barnes & Noble gift card that hadn't been used yet, so with a little free time she went to BN to buy some books to read to Baby Woodruff. She found some really neat ones, including "Guess How Much I Love You", and a couple of (timely) Christmas stories: "What is Christmas?" and "The Legend of the Candy Cane".

And of course, she bought the classic "Goodnight Moon", for those bedtime readings. I'll probably have to start reading that one to mommy's belly right now, and hope that it helps BW fall asleep at night, because all of the late night squirming has been making sleep hard to come by for Heather lately.

29-week Photo

Here's Heather and little Baby Woodruff at the 29-week mark. And you can see all the boxes and bins behind them, that it's time for Christmas decorations to go up around the house!

This was the weekend that Heather had planned to do just that, but unfortunately she came down with a miserable cold that made her even more tired than she already was, and also kept her up the last couple nights. But, of course, none of this has slowed BW down at all! The squirming has continued, and based on where the kicks and punches are coming from, we're guessing that the baby is laying sideways in Heather's tummy ... although we'll leave it up to Dr. Zawacki to tell us the exact position.

Dance, Baby

Heather and I made the trip up to Everett last night to watch the "So You Think You Can Dance" Tour, a dance performance show which follows up on the TV series of the same name that we watched together this past year. Heather said that Baby Woodruff was dancing around inside as well, squirming and kicking through the entire 2-1/2 hour show.

That night, as Heather was laying on her back in bed, she was feeling her tummy and noticed something harder than usual. When she softly pressed on that spot, it moved a little bit somewhere else. This was the first time she was able to feel a body part on BW other than a foot or fist, figuring it was either the head or the bottom.

28-week Photo

Finally, the 3rd trimester has begun! Here's the 28-week photo of Heather and little Baby Woodruff in front of Grace Lutheran Church, following this morning's service. Soon, BW will be roaming these halls where mommy once roamed around as a child herself.

Morning Feeding

It looks like the days of sleeping in are pretty much over now for Heather. When morning time rolled around today, little Baby Woodruff woke up, too. Then the kicking and punching got going ... and kept on going, until Heather got out of bed and got something to eat for BW and herself. It looks like little BW is developing a schedule, and is giving mommy little reminders of exactly when it's time to eat!

27-week Photo

Here's the 27-week photo, with mother and child in Grandpa Ken's kitchen. Baby Woodruff got a taste of some (early) Thanksgiving treats, as the Peterson family celebrated at Grandpa Ken's house with some good eating ... all of the good stuff was there, but unfortunately, with BW taking up more and more space in Heather's tummy, mommy could only eat just a little at a time. But, it appears that little BW does like Thanksgiving-type foods ... mommy had a happy little baby that night.

And also this past week, on Friday morning, Heather had yet another appointment with Dr. Zawacki. The dreaded glucose test was not nearly as bad as anticipated; Heather only had to drink 12 ounces of sugary carbonated water. After drinking it, she then had her regular checkup. The doctor measured her belly and checked the baby's heartbeat (130 bpm). After a little wait, Heather had her blood drawn to check for anemia and glucose levels, although that required a couple pokes in the arm. Finally, it ended with one more poke, this time for the RH factor. Dr. Zawacki said that all was well with mother and child, and that the next appointment would be in 4 weeks.

Sick Day

Yesterday was a day that Heather would just as soon forget about, as it marked the first time she had gotten sick (other than the expected "morning sickness") while being pregnant. She woke up with both chills and hot flashes, so she called her work to say she wouldn't be in. Then she called the doctor's office for advice on how to treat it, and they recommended acetaminophen to keep the fever down. Her temperature would reach as high as 100.5 F, and after a rocky evening, she managed a good night's sleep ... and she was back on her feet today. Through it all, little Baby Woodruff didn't slow down at all ... the kicking and punching continued stronger than ever in Heather's tummy, which didn't exactly help with her nausea.

26-week Photo

Baby Woodruff's big arrival into the outside world is getting closer, as you can see in this 26-week photo of Heather.

She is standing in front of our new garage that Uncle Dave, Grandpa Ken, Grandpa Bob, Uncle Richard, and our neighbor Jack have been working on for the past month or so. Once the foundation was poured, it went up quick! It's going to be big enough for 3 cars and a shop area ... and it'll have enough storage space for all of that stuff that comes with a growing baby. Plus, there will even be a toilet and shower for a bigger BW to use during and after all those ultra-dirty play times.

Knock, knock

Today, Baby Woodruff made sure to let mommy know that there's someone in her tummy. BW started by waking Heather up early this morning with lots of kicks and punches, then kept on banging on her belly throughout the afternoon ... and hasn't stopped moving around in there as of this evening. This has been one of baby's most active days, and it's all making for one very tired first-time mother. The kicks and punches haven't hurt (yet), but they are definitely becoming a little distracting. Heather is hoping that little BW will be all tuckered out in time for bedtime!

25-week Photo

We have a special guest tonight ... the mommy-to-be, Heather!

"Here is my 25 week photo. Much to my reluctance, Rick waited until after I was in my grubby clothes to take this photo. We just returned from checking on the cats at Dad's and cleaning up his flower pots. Baby and I are feeling well. BW's kicks and punches are getting stronger by the day. Everyone keeps saying that I don't look very big, but believe me I feel it! I think the only other person besides Rick that enjoys showing off my belly is Adam; he can't just point to my belly, he has to lift my shirt up every time! I am looking forward to the arrival of BW, but I feel like the pregnancy is going by fast. I feel very blessed to have a healthy pregnancy. Thanks to everyone for your support and well wishes. I also must thank the creator, author, and editor of this blog, my loveable husband Rick."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks, honey ... I love you, too!

Checkup again

It was time for another visit to Dr. Zawacki's office for a routine checkup of mommy and Baby Woodruff. Once again, the doctor said that all was well. She performed many of the usual exams on Heather, including her weight, blood pressure, temperature and pulse. The doctor then checked out BW, measuring the length of the uterus and heartbeat (a solid 140 bpm); she apparently had no problem finding the beat this time around.

And Dr. Zawacki had even more good news ... Heather will be undergoing the dreaded diabetic drink test in 2 weeks, when she'll get to ingest a gallon of sugary water. Also, because Heather is O-negative blood type, she will be receiving the RH factor shot to prevent bad blood interaction between her and BW if the baby's blood type is positive (just routine, nothing to worry about). And as a final bonus, she'll also get her blood drawn to re-check for anemia (the previous blood test was negative). So, lots to look forward to!

24-week Photo

Baby Woodruff reached the 24-week mark ... and mommy Heather and daddy Rick celebrated not only that, but also their 1st-year anniversary!

All of us made the trip to Leavenworth for the weekend for a little anniversary-getaway. We enjoyed sleeping in, shopping around town for early Christmas-y things, and eating some fantastic meals (and snacks, too). It has been a fun and exciting 1st year, and Heather and I can't wait for what the 2nd year has to bring (namely, little BW)!

Baby's First Pumpkin

With Halloween coming up quick, it was time to make some Jack-O-Lanterns to put on the front steps. We got together at Ken's house with Meagan and carved out pumpkins for Heather and I ... and little Baby Woodruff got one, too. (BW's little Jack is the one in the middle!)

It's also worth mentioning that the baby got into an unusual spot in Heather's tummy early this morning. She felt like BW had wedged all to one side, and it sure didn't feel very good. So, she laid down on her other side, hoping that gravity would help out. BW eventually went back into the usual position, and of course continued the usual kicking and stretching.

23-week Photo

It's now 23-weeks ... and here's a picture of mother and child enjoying the nice autumn colors.

Little Baby Woodruff is giving Heather a glimpse of future mommyhood, as she is pretty tired these days. Just getting out of bed in the morning takes a lot of energy. But, she is still planning on working at the hospital up until the due date ... though we'll have to see how long that 16-hour shift on Monday will last.

Heather also received a nice treat this weekend from her friend Laura Nelson, who came to visit us this past weekend. Laura gave Heather a much-needed foot massage (complete with hot water soak, pumice scrub and mint cream) for her sore and swollen feet. Thanks a bunch, Laura!

Heartbeat

Some of the baby internet sites suggested that it was possible to hear a baby's heartbeat about this time. So, we got out a little Prenatal Heart Listener that Greta had passed down to us. It's like an electronic stethoscope, and has a volume control that could make a person deaf if they weren't careful ... I found that out the hard way. I put it on Heather's tummy, and then searched around for awhile. Most of the time, it was just a lot of noise, but we eventually found a sweet spot where if we listened closely, we could hear a faint heartbeat in the background. The speed of the beating was as expected ... fast! Just like little BW.

Little Kicker

While sitting on the sofa watching TV, Heather said "ooh!" and told me that BW gave her a little kick (or maybe a punch, it's hard to say). She then showed me where to put my hand, to see if I could feel it. I didn't think that anything would happen, because when we tried that before, I couldn't feel a thing. But then all of a sudden, POW!!! I felt a big kick!

It was kind of shocking how much of a jolt that little BW could make against Heather's tummy. Then there was another, and another, and one more! Heather said that when baby's awake, this happens all the time ... and that's she's started getting used to it.

I just wonder: How big are the kicks going to be in the coming months?

22-week Photo

Little Baby Woodruff is continuing the growth spurt, now at 22-weeks inside mommy Heather.

Here is Heather holding the pumpkin craft that she made with the girls Tierney, Meagan and Mckenna during the most recent Kid's Night. The second trimester continues to go well, and it's especially nice that it's happening during Heather's favorite season (autumn) when the holidays are beginning.

21-week Photo

This is Heather at 21-weeks along, in one of her favorite poses ... holding a Starbucks coffee!

She is also modeling her new maternity clothes that she bought yesterday on the "Girls' Shopping Trip." Heather went with Greta, Meagan, Sarah (Dany), McKenna, Lindsey, and Cindy to Portland for a day-long shopping excursion, in search of clothes of all kinds. Their primary destination was the Woodburn Outlets, which happened to have a Motherhood store. Heather picked up a couple pairs of slacks / jeans (thanks to her Dad for those), a new winter coat (thanks to Greta for that), tank tops, sweaters, blouses, pajamas, and a new dressy outfit ... all of which will make her life much more comfortable in the next few months. They finished the day with a dinner at a Claim Jumper restaurant, and a quick trip into the Clackamas Mall. During the shopping trip, Baby Woodruff also received some new clothes!

Thanks to Cindy Stephenson for this cute little outfit, which includes a onesie, stocking cap and sweatbottoms, all matching Heather's new color scheme.

And also thanks to Greta for buying this cool warm-up outfit ... for those active days that are coming soon!

Hooray, it's a ...

Boy or Girl?

After Heather first learned that she was pregnant with little Baby Woodruff, we decided right away that we wanted to wait until the birth-day to find out whether BW was a boy or girl ... because we both like surprises. And we'll be so excited either way!

That's not to say that many people haven't had guesses as to what BW will be. But, at this point, the only people who know the sex for certain are Dr. Zawacki, and the ultrasound technician from several weeks ago (who had to tell us to look away from the ultrasound monitor during certain times).

20-week Photo

This is the mother-to-be at 20-weeks, the 1/2-way point! She is standing next to the flowers she received to mark the occasion.

I made the mistake of waiting until too late in the evening to take a photo, so I was lucky Heather even let me get this shot. But notice the UW shirt that she's wearing. Little BW is well on the way to becoming a Husky fan!

Half-way Exam

It was celebration time today at the Lilac House, as Heather reached the 1/2-way point in the pregnancy!!! The baby is officially 20-weeks along. It was also time for a check-up with Dr. Zawacki.

This time, the exam was at the Family Medical Center in downtown Vancouver, where the doctor's office is located. The nurse who called us in measured several things, including Heather's blood pressure ... which, surprisingly, was at normal levels (her work was a little stressful that day). This was followed by many, many questions.

Soon after, Dr. Zawacki arrived, and immediately gave us the good news that the blood testing from the previous visit looked good, and that the results from the ultrasound examination looked good as well. So, that was a great start! She then probed around Heather's tummy, trying to find the top of her uterus. She pushed around a while, and said that it wasn't easy to find, perhaps due to the uterus being "tipped"; she did say that would change soon when the baby starts pushing outwards. Eventually, she found the top at about 2-3 inches above the belly button. Next up was the baby's heartbeat, which again took some time to find, maybe because BW was racing around inside again. Heather mentioned baby's dislike of being poked might be making things difficult. The monitor showed about 140 bpm, and Dr. Zawacki said the baby was "active".

At the end of the exam, Heather asked the doctor if she could recommend a pediatrician for BW. Dr. Zawacki said that she also examined children, and that she would love to be our baby's doctor. Good news yet again! Our next checkup will be in 4 weeks (and in the meantime, the doctor is taking a three-week vacation to Nepal to practice medicine there.)

More Symptoms

As if Heather needed any more confirmation that she's pregnant, along comes some more symptoms typical of pregnancy (according to the pregnancy websites and books). One that has been bothering her a lot lately is a constant itchiness ... mostly her across her back. There's been lots of backscratching by yours truly. The latest symptom that she experienced last night was she was having a hard time sleeping, which is not like her at all! We're not sure what the cause of that was, though it's always possible that little BW did some late-night exercises.

19-week Photo

Here's the 19-week photo, with Heather standing in front of a store that is probably going to be very familiar to us as time goes on.

This weekend, we decided it was time to make our first trip to a Babies 'R Us store! We went ahead and began a registry for little BW ... and it ended up being a pretty exhausting exercise. Strollers, car seats, baby monitors, bouncers, high chairs, bed sheets, blankets, bottles, bath tubs, and on and on! Not only were there lots of things, but there were so many options (there were dozens of different styles of diaper bags!), and now we were having to make some decisions already. Still, there were things we weren't sure about, so we delayed those decisions 'til later. But it was good to get some ideas.

One milestone was that Heather found a color scheme to work with! She happened to find a brown, green and cream-colored baby blanket that she really liked, so we went ahead and bought it. Her idea is to go to the fabric store, looking for similar colors. Eventually, BW's half of the spare bedroom (the other half is the office) will be decorated with these colors in mind.

Staying Active

Baby Woodruff is still on the move, especially on busy or active days. Heather says that when her work is keeping her going at full speed (like it has the last two nights), it seems that the baby is also on the go, bouncing and spinning around inside her. The good news is that when it's Heather's bedtime, BW settles down and gets some shut-eye as well.

18-week Photo

Heather is looking beautiful at 18-weeks! She's got that mommy-to-be glow about her.

Another sign that Heather is pregnant: she went to bed at 9:00 pm tonight! For those of you that know her well, that's pretty unusual. It looks like little BW is borrowing some of mommy's energy for the daily gymnastic routines.

Baby's Second Photo

We got another look at Baby Woodruff again, this time at the 18-week mark!

This ultrasound photo is a frontal view, so you can see the baby's head, eyes and mouth. And you can also see a really big tummy ... when the ultrasound technician saw that, she said "healthy baby". It's a little hard to see, but you can kind of make out some hands, too.

We went to Southwest Washington Medical Center (where Heather works) for this ultrasound, and the technician was a very nice lady. The first thing that she said to Heather when she got a picture of the baby was: "Have you had coffee today? This baby's all over the place!" The technician chased BW all over inside Heather trying to get a good view, but the baby was having none of it ... the first 5 minutes or so was just a game of hide and seek.

After a while, BW settled down, and that's when the first of many measurements began: stomach, head, brain, neck, femur, humerus, kidneys, bladder, heart and body length. Once again, the baby had a good heartbeat, and the closeup of the heart showed everything in it's place, as was all of the other parts. Lots of technical stuff that was hard to keep up with! The baby did weigh in at 11 ounces, and the projected age was 19 weeks, based on the measurements. So, either the baby's a little bigger than expected, or just a little older than expected ... either way, the due date is now estimated at February 7, 2008.

Towards the end of the exam, as the technician was panning out away from BW, we saw a little hand reach out and wave at us. Must have been baby saying good-bye to Mommy and Daddy, until the next ultrasound!

Heather and I are happy to know that we have a healthy baby, even if it turns out to be 10+ pounder!

Surprise

When I went to the Castle Rock Middle School today for the girls' volleyball match against Kalama, I caught up with Jennifer Amren, a coach with the Cowlitz Volleyball Club. (She witnessed the first meeting of Heather and I at a volleyball practice.) She surprised me with a wonderful little gift for Baby Woodruff ... a little blanket, that she had knitted. BW is definitely feeling the love these days. Thanks Jennifer and family!

17-week Photo

One week closer, so only 23-weeks more! Here's the latest photo of mommy and baby, while celebrating Tierney and Papa Woodruff's birthdays at the firepit.

Another first today ... Heather was watching the US Open tennis match, and expressing her feelings to the TV, when baby gave her pretty good kick. She nearly jumped out of the couch! She said, "Settle down, baby," and then got one more hard kick. If BW can belt out a kick that hard now, what's it going to be like later?

Another Check Up

Heather made another trip to see Dr. Zawacki this week. They listened again to the baby's heartbeat, and the doctor said "It sounds like a pretty active baby." Heather then had blood drawn for pre-natal screening (but not as much taken this time ... yahooo!) She'll probably get results in about 4 weeks.

On the Move

Little BW is getting plenty of exercise inside Heather. She mentioned yesterday that on her drive home from work, she felt several small twinges or "jabs" in her tummy ... like the baby was poking her with some quick footwork. Sounds like BW is just itching to get out and start running around already!

16-week Photo

Baby Woodruff is now 4 months along, and Heather's "bump" is proof of that!

Mommy Heather is standing in front of the fence that she and Grandpa Peterson worked on all weekend.

Story Time

BW is growing up fast. And now that the baby is a little older, we figured it would be a good time for the first little bed time story. So, yesterday evening, I got my voice close to Heather's tummy and read the all-time classic, "Go, Dog. Go!" I'm sure baby liked the story, 'cause Heather had a peaceful night's sleep. Can't wait 'til BW gets to look at the pictures!

P.S. The story tonight is another favorite ... "Are You My Mother?"

Thank You

Baby Woodruff is a very lucky little baby! Not even born yet, and receiving some new gifts this past weekend.

Thanks to Sheryl for a very cute little "sweet pea" pajama with stocking cap,

... and for the oh-so-soft "Tadbit" buddy blanky for snuggle time,

... and for thinking of Heather with the "Eat Your Peas" book for new moms. There's nothing quite like seeing baby-stuff to make you realize that there really is a baby on the way!

And thanks to Des for the baby swing, and for the (hopefully) quicker sleeptime it will bring,

... and by the way, Heather bought a whole bunch of Rielee's old clothes and shoes (like these little blue ones - very cool!)

15-week Photo

Time for the 15-week photo! Here's BW in front of our house, where mommy will soon be nesting.

And Heather's smile is for good reason, as it looks like she has finally gotten past the nausea that she's been dealing with for over a month. The 2nd trimester is starting off great!

Name Game

So, have we picked out a name for Baby Woodruff yet? The answer we give everyone is "no". That kind of leads to the question of whether we would tell anyone if we had a name that we had decided on, and the answer to that is "no" again. Sorry, but this will have to be a secret to the very end!

That's not to say that we haven't talked about it. We have some of our long-time favorites, and many not-so-favorites, and we've looked at books that have a zillion names to choose from. So there's a handful of potential names, but who knows? Maybe we'll find one we really like between now and February. In the meantime, Baby Woodruff will have to be just that, "BW".

14-week Photo

Here's Heather and baby at the 14-week mark!

This was Baby Woodruff's first trip to the beach, for the annual Kid's Day at Grannie and Papa's beach cabin at Ocean Park. This was the cousin's trip, which included Ainsley, Emmy, Will, Tierney, Cale, Meagan, Macee, Ty, James and Auna. The mother and child-to-be had a great time! Baby Woodruff can't wait to make the trip (outside of the womb) in a few years.

Check Up

It was time for Heather's 14-week check-up with Dr. Zawacki. Baby Woodruff's heart was beating as strong as ever. Everything is A-OK with the baby, as Heather said. The doctor did have some suggestions for her nausea, such as ginger and vitamin B-6. However, Heather is beginning to feel better now and getting some of her energy back. Only 26 more weeks to go!

Small Update

The new weekly photo is going to be a little late, since we think Baby Woodruff is doing a major tumbling routine again. Due to Heather's extended bout of nausea, this wasn't the best weekend to take a photo. So, we'll try later.

In the meantime, here's another photo taken on our trip to North Dakota. Whenever we say "Where's the baby?", or "Say hi to baby", Adam will head straight for Heather, lift up her shirt (which makes her blush in public places) and then give her small pats on her tummy. Very cute!

12-week Photo

Baby Woodruff reached the 12-week-old mark while visiting North Dakota. Here's Heather standing in front of the Peterson family farm home.

The baby behaved well again during the reunion in Fillmore, meeting many of the Peterson kin over the weekend. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time spent around the campfire, and the baby enjoyed all of the good eating, as there was an ample supply of great food the whole time. Many thanks go out, including to Greg and Deb Mack for letting us stay at their Rugby house, to Dave and Charolette Peterson for hosting the reunion in the Fillmore house, and to Clark and Greta Verd for being our travelling mates to and from NoDak.

We look forward to taking little Baby Woodruff back to North Dakota two years from now!

11-week Photo

Here's mommy Heather at 11-weeks, standing by some of the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park.

This was Baby Woodruff's first big road trip as we travelled to North Dakota for the Peterson family reunion, and the little one did very well. Heather actually felt pretty good throughout our travels, despite all the time in the car and the many twists and turns in the mountains ... it helped that she sat up in the front of the Verd van the whole time.

Baby's First Photo

We got our first look at little Baby Woodruff today ... here's the photo! That's baby's head and back, and the arms and legs are little fuzzier.

And yes, it appears that there is only one baby in there! (At least, that's all they could see ... they wouldn't commit to saying for sure.)

Heather had the ultrasound at the end of her 11th week at Dr. Zawacki's office. The ultrasound actually ended up being performed by a 2nd-year resident. He started out by squirting the jelly on Heather's belly (and she was happy that it had been pre-warmed). Then he rubbed the transducer all over her abdomen. The first pictures that showed up on the screen were just big gray blobs. And for a while, we kept looking at lots of big gray blobs.

Then Baby Woodruff showed up clearly on the monitor, looking directly at us. And it looked like we had caught the baby right in the middle of a kick-boxing routine, because the arms and legs were flailing all over the place! The resident said "I'd take some measurements, but there's too much going on in there." I think we might have discovered what has been making Heather so sick lately.

The resident then measured the heartbeat at 155 bpm, and amplified it so we could hear it. And he measured the crown-to-rump length at about 3.8 cm, which calculated out to about 11 weeks (plus or minus 4 days). Everything was in place where it needed to be ... now we just needed to let baby grow.

All we can say is "WOW!", how cool was that!

10-week Photo

Time for the 10 week photo! Here's the lovely mother-with-child, with Brock peeking out from behind her (it was Brock's 9th birthday party).

Heather was a real trooper today, despite a morning sickness that lasted through the afternoon and evening. She is soooooo looking forward to the vacation to North Dakota!

Morning blahs

After an uneventful first 2 months of pregnancy, as far as feeling sick goes, it appears that the 3rd month won't go quite the same.

Brushing her teeth has been the usual suspect for inducing some stomach turning, like this morning. Heather has also found that she's going to have to eat steadily all day long, because if she goes too long without food, she feels the nausea coming on. And lately there's also been some restless nights of "not feeling quite right", which has led to some very long days at work.

As Heather has said, "It's Baby Woodruff showing me who's the boss right now."

Starting Early

I think Heather will be passing her love for rubs and scratches down to Baby Woodruff.

Most nights, I rub Mommy's tummy to help her feel a little better. Then, when I'm about finished and ready to sleep, she'll say "back scratch" (meaning : scratch the baby's back), so I'll give her tummy a few little scratches. And then she'll say "foot scratch", so I'll do a couple more small scratches. And then she'll say "belly rub", and I'll give her tummy some tiny rubs. Who knows, maybe that's how we'll have to do it 6 months from now to get Baby to sleep at night?

9-week Photo

Here's the mother-to-be, at 9 weeks, looking as beautiful as ever. Baby Woodruff is going to be thrilled to have such a pretty mommy.

Sleepy Time

Baby Woodruff is 9 weeks along in Heather's tummy today, and one of the things we like to do is check out a variety of pregnancy websites to see how things are coming along. These sites all show week-by-week fetal development, in words and pictures. One of the sites is called http://www.whattoexpect.com/, and wouldn't you know it, one of the articles for mothers in the 9th week is about "pregnancy fatigue". That pretty much sums up Heather's life right now. In fact, she's taking a nap as I write this. It's taking her a lot of energy growing little Baby Woodruff these days.

The Beginning

Actually, this beginning blog (diary) entry is a little late, because little Baby Woodruff started out life a couple months ago, according to the OB-GYN. But better a little late than never. We hope this little diary becomes something special now, and later on. We may not post to this blog every day, but we'll at least try to keep it up-to-date with some of the more eventful and memorable times between now and Baby Woodruff's birth-day!

And just to catch up on some details left behind the last couple months: On June 2, 2007, two little lines showed up on an HPT.

Just out of curiosity, Heather had taken the test that morning, and that's when the excitement began. We kept it all a secret, at least until Heather could visit the OB-GYN to make certain of it. Then, we formally announced the pregnancy on Father's Day to the family.

So, Baby Woodruff (the name that Brock suggested) is scheduled to arrive on February 15, 2008. Through the first 2 months of pregnancy, Heather has so far felt pretty good. Just a little tired, and a lot hungry. We have been reading up on prenatal care and development, and Heather has been getting some great advice on how to manage the changes. Plus, Greta has generously started us out with some needed items, including a bassinet, car seat and itty-bitty clothes.

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement in this very exciting time. We hope you enjoy this journey as much as us!