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!