Jackson's Heartbeat

I hear Jackson's fast heartbeat with the doppler each time I go to the OB office (which is about to become every 2 weeks!), but I have read that you can also hear it with a stethoscope.  That means we could listen to Jackson every night! While Jonathan was on-call one night we decided to test it out...

Either that is a false rumor or we're just not that good. No heartbeat via stethoscope :(
Oh well, we'll just have to settle for Jackson kickboxing like crazy now!! He mostly kicks in the mornings and after I eat meals. The other night, he kicked for 30 minutes straight! I love it

Baby Belly

It's almost time to start the third trimester! I have been feeling that heavy fatigue that is characteristic of the first trimester, but I thought that was far behind me. Thus far, things have been pretty similar to mom's pregnancies and she said that she was super tired in the first and third. Guess I have a lot to look forward to! But, no nausea, no dreaded stretch marks, and no crazy disgusting cravings! All things considered, a very easy pregnancy. 

 We found a great rocker from Craigs List for a great deal! It's dark wood, white fabric with a green toile print which matches the room perfectly.  Here is my week 25 picture in the new rocker before we brought it upstairs into baby's room.

 Jonathan has a wide angle lens (no fat belly jokes!) and he wanted to get some shots of the Hague one night after work. He packed a great picnic and we enjoyed a brief reprieve from the hot temps in Norfolk and ate by the water. It turned into a pregnancy shoot now that I have enough belly to photograph!

Heather and baby Jackson at the Hague

Run Baby Run!

Well, I thought that the CHKD 8K was going to be my last race in June, but somehow Team Hoyt just sucks me in, in a great way!!! I LOVE racing with this team to have a chance to race for those who are unable to run. Check out our local chapter website for some amazing pictures and to learn more about the mission:
www.teamhoytvb.com

Originally I was going to volunteer to help set up the chairs and boats and to do general crowd control but as I looked at the roster the night before, I realized they were very short for the Run Swim Run portion of the race.  So, I signed up for a 1K beach run, 1K ocean swim and 5K boardwalk run.

It was definitely a challenge, to say the least, especially since I was paired up with a 6min/mile runner and a Navy Seal! Come on! Are you kidding me! I managed to keep up on the beach run and to assist with getting our fabulous athlete rider, Bean, over the massive waves that were coming in and crashing all over the shore.

 1K Beach Run

 That doesn't even do justice to the height and intensity of some of the swell! 

At some point, I thought about joining him in the raft but I attempted to push through the swell.  Then, the seal took off pulling the raft and I waved goodbye to my original team, finishing up with one that was slightly more my speed. The boardwalk run was only 3 miles, but it's amazing how that feels so difficult after the previous 2 events (oh, and being 6.5 months pregnant too!).

My fabulous finishing team, including Rebecca, one of my favorite athlete riders!


What a way to start my 26th week of pregnancy! Hopefully Jackson will share our love of triathlon, soccer, the Lord and vacationing in fun foreign places! We'll have some great adventures to plan

24 weeks = 6 months?

I have been doing the math so that each month is 4 point something weeks, which was making me about 5 1/3 months last week. However, my baby books all have a scale in which 4 weeks = 1 month, making me 6 months and 6 days! Fabulous. 6 months sounds way better than 5 1/3, until I realize that according to my scale I have 4 months to go instead of only 3 2/3. Oh well!

24 weeks; 6 months

It was at this point that I had friends who are pregnant (due next week!) all say, "I feel HUGE". I chuckled and thought that things were just going to get larger so they better get ready. Well, this week I have started to feel huge! I have trouble fitting into smaller spaces, I bump into things because I forget where I am and someone made a joke about me needing a desk with a cut out soon!  However, I can still see my toes and even fit into some pre-preggo pants. Whew!

Jackson (our official name in case we have forgotten to post that) is kicking like crazy lately, which I LOVE. Sometimes it makes me jump because it's so strong or out of nowhere. He is most active after meals and when I am sitting to perform a new evaluation on a patient. I'm sure his kicking makes for some great facial expressions on my part! I love lying in bed with my hand on my stomach and feeling his little appendages bang against my abs :) Nice to know we have a healthy, strong boy in there!

The biggest bummer about pregnancy so far (well, besides having to give up my gummy vitamins in favor of big gross tasting horse pills!) is that I cry all the time whether I am sad or not.  I have yet to cry at work or in a public place, but I have been on the verge many times. I cry during the news, not-so-sad episodes of Grey's Anatomy, while reading magazine or even while on a walk and thinking about my brother's wedding which is not for another year!  I suppose it's just part of the whole Pregnancy Package.

US pictures

As promised, here are some of our favorites!

 Profile at 15 weeks. We LOVE his nose

 Here are his legs, kicking back and forth (20 weeks). I have started to feel them more regularly now!

And finally, he is 100% boy and possesses a "Mr. Pickle" as our highly professional ultrasound tech wants to call it. With both of us in the medical world, I suppose we could use real terms but this is a little more appropriate to have labeled both on a blog and in our photo albums and baby books for the rest of our lives :)

The Chicken Roaster

Have you all seen the Seinfeld Episode with Kramer and the chicken place?

Well, this was the first thing that came to mind after we painted the baby's room. It's called Summer Mist. There is nothing "misty" about it. It's more like Summer-Green-GrassPunch-In-The-Face! Jonathan said that all of our baby's possible sleep problems are going to be attributed to the neon glow that is coming from the room. And yes, when we stood in the hallway the first day, it was glowing a nice, day-glo green.
This picture does not really capture the essence of the super GREEN in the room, but in all reality, I think it is starting to grow on us. Please stop by and check it out :)

100% Boy

Well, in the words of our ultrasound tech, our baby is 100% boy, no doubt about it!
Jonathan and I had the 20 week appointment on Monday morning after a great weekend with friends and family at two weddings/receptions.  Our baby looks so healthy, with a heart rate of 152, a cute button nose and super long legs (soccer player? marathon runner?) We are so relieved to have a glowing report from our doctor and to know that so far, everything is going very well. Thank you all for your prayers and support.  We are excited to see what the 2nd 1/2 of the pregnancy brings.

I have not felt very pregnant so far. It's hard for the pregnancy to seem real when there is not much evidence of anything going on. I have been desperate to feel kicking in order to feel more connected to the baby and to have daily reminders that HE is ok.  Well, on Sunday night I lay on the floor of my parents' den and placed my hands on my belly and willed the baby to start kicking. Well, sure enough he did! All I have wanted to do is to keep my hands on my belly to feel his little movements. He mostly kicks in the afternoon while I am at work. It's so special to feel little reminders of our little guy and how he is living and growing.

Will post our most recent US pictures once I get them scanned in. For now, here is one of his cute nose :)

20 weeks

 cute baby gear from Aunt Dwyn!