10 Fingers and 10 Toes

First off...a BIG thank you out to everyone who helped with and came to our amazing baby shower at the Doubletree Hotel on Dec. 1! A special thanks to my Mom, Mom Walls, Jaclyn, & Val for all the time, love, and hard work you put in to it. Once I get some pictures I will post them for all to see. Kaname is going to be one well dressed little girl who will start out in this world with everything she could ever need. Thanks!!



On Dec. 7, I had a 3D Ultrasound done. I got a good deal and did it as a surprise for Daddy and the rest of the family. It was a wonderful experience! She actually looks like a baby, with 10 fingers and 10 toes as you can see. I got to watch her move all around, suck her thumb, and she even stuck her tongue out at me.


And Kaname is definitely a little girl!!! If you want to see more pictures or some video just let me know. I'll be happy to share it with you.

As most of you already know we recently found out that due to the fact that my placenta is still very low I am currently preparing to have a c-section. It has been scheduled for January 24, 2008 at 11:30am. I am a little disappointed but we'll do whatever is best for my health and for the health of little Kaname.

Excitement and anxiousness are the emotions that I find myself overwhelmed with. We can't wait to meet our little girl!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (a little late), and a Happy New Year to all!

P.S. Logan Benjamin Spano, my cousin's baby, was born Sunday December 9, 2007 @ 8:36am. He was 9 lbs. 10 oz. and 21 inches long. Congrats Kris & Nick!

P.P.S. Thank you for all of the love and support as we deal with the loss of our little man, Davinci. We miss him terribly!

Davinci 2004-2007

We're filled with sadness today as our "baby" has had to move on. My little boy, you were so tired and now you can sleep eternally. We love you so much and we always will. You will be sorely missed but never, ever forgotten.

It's still a girl!

Today was one hell of a busy baby day!

28 weeks ultrasound- check!- placenta is now where it should be and she's still a she!

Bloodwork and 1-hr glucola test- check!

Rhogam shot- check!-I forgot that it was a butt shot and my tooshy is sore :(

28wks OB appt.- check!- everything looks great!

I'm very excited to see our little girl. Only a little less than 3 months to go. Off to our 2nd birthing class!

Halloween, Pregnant Cousins & More

Steve and I share a love for many different things, one of those is the holiday that falls October 31 every year...Halloween. There is just something so fun and mysterious about it. This year we both had the pleasure of being home the evening of trick-or-treating and we took turns passing out the candy...we probably had 50 kids or so. We also spent time that week carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. So delicious! Steve did one batch with garlic powder, salt, turmeric, and cayenne....yummy! I have a dollar for anyone who guesses what is carved into the pumpkin?

The actual holiday was followed by our annual Halloween Party on Friday November 2. It's something we really look forward to every year. Honestly, this year it was a blowout :( The date got changed last minute, a lot of people weren't able to make it, and those that did just weren't in to the holiday spirit. The life of the party was little Miss Kaylen...she was in the spirit, or was it just the Molson?

Saturday was my Cousin Kristy's baby shower. It was nice and has me looking forward to my own baby shower. I will say that Kris looked exhausted and that made me nervous. I asked her about it. She said 5 1/2 weeks from her due date and she was barely sleeping. The previous night Logan (that's his name!) was crawling up in her ribs. She couldn't breath let alone get comfortable. What I have to look forward to.
Kris is due December 11. Best of Luck!

In baby land, we are entering our 28th week. Tuesday night we visited an open house at Newark Pediatrics. We loved it and Dr. Sangita Modi of Newark Pediatrics on Main Street is going to be our pediatrician! We started our birthing classes last Wednesday and unbenounced to Steve we had to watch "the video". He turned his head a lot but he survived. We were also instructed in our first breathing exercise...slow deep breathing. This week brings our next class, our 28 week ultrasound, bloodwork and 1-hour glucola test, and I have to take a trip to OB triage to get my Rhogam shot. My visits to the OB are now every 2 weeks until I reach 34 weeks, then every week. Wow, we're down to the last trimester, there is so much going on and at times I am very overwhelmed. I'm happy, excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time. I get this feeling that I can't even begin to prepare myself for how much our lives are going to change...

Be back in a few...days, weeks, whatever!

Finally Daddy's Turn

I know it's been a while but over the last 3 weeks our house has been a breeding ground for infection. Steve had a stomach virus, then I had a bad cold, then I got his stomach virus. Honestly, it sucked! I just finally got my appetite back last Thursday and I lost 5 lbs. throughout the whole thing. Yikes!!

Saturday we made our annual trip to the Renaissance Faire. I had to improvise with my costume as I didn't think the corset would be so good for the little lady or very comfortable for me. We had a wonderful time! The rain stopped and the sun came out. We spent nearly six hours perusing stores, watching shows, and of course eating. The chocolate banana crepe I had was out of this world! It was fun to hang out with Jess, too. I'm glad she went because hanging out all day just with the boys wouldn't have been quite the same. We'll always remember the bald hunk in leather!

Saturday night we were exhausted. Miss Kaname was not. She'd had a nice rest throughout the day-I guess all the walking rocked her to sleep. She woke up and did some acrobats like I have not felt yet. And finally...Steve got to feel a good kick that he was SURE he felt. It was exciting!

Well, signing off for now. Next Dr. appt is Friday...I'll have another update after that!

23 Weeks- Thoughts

News from baby land...the little miss is moving around a lot more and my belly is getting bigger everyday. Daddy is getting a little frustrated because he can't feel her move yet :(. I had my most recent doctor's appointment last week and everything is looking good. I did find out that I will have to have a repeat ultrasound at 28 weeks because my placenta was low-lying at my first ultrasound. I'm excited because we can double check that she's a she!!

I'm anxious to be more pregnant (I know I may regret saying that later!) and to get the house ready for our little girl's arrival. It seems right now like this pregnancy is going very slow but I know that it will be over before we know it and our lives will change forever.

By the way...head colds really suck, and when you're pregnant they suck way more!

Liar, Liar

Everything I read online, in magazines, and in books talks about how much better you'll feel in the second trimester. They refer to a "burst of energy" that will have you dancing in the street. They're liars I tell you, BIG FAT liars. I get more tired by the day, wait...by the hour. They say that if I exercise my energy will go up. So the other night I strapped on the lycra and went to the gym with Steve. I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes and did some light weights. Again, LIARS! I went home and passed out on the couch.

Poor Steve...he has to be lonely after 8pm when I inevitably fall asleep on the couch no matter how hard I try to stay awake. This occurs on a daily basis...thank you honey for putting up with my fatigue.

We went to a party with my work friends a few weekends ago. We were outside, having a great time, eating crabs...and I was watching everyone else enjoy their beer. Eight O'Clock came and the party was just getting started but don't you know preggo was out of energy...completely. Steve and I said our goodbyes and by 8:30pm I was home, asleep on the couch.

The days that I work really stink...I can't take an afternoon nap. I really look forward to my afternoon nap on the days I'm off. At work I just eat M&M's, Twix, and Snickers to get me through the day.

So, in summary, they collective "they" that givse us all their advice about pregnancy are BIG, FAT, Liars!

P.S. A shout out to my CICU girls...especially Jacki and Laurie! Thanks for putting up with me.

Past the Halfway Point

For anyone still kind enough to check the site here (finally!) is another posting. I promise for a more concerted effort in the upcoming weeks and months.

Last week with hit the halfway mark in our pregnancy and today officially marks 21 weeks, we're more than halfway done. Per the internet she should be about 10 1/2 inches long, WOW! I do believe I'm feeling little kicks and flutters, but it's on a rather inconsistent basis. It's amazing! I have taken 1 belly pic but after viewing it I determined that no one besides Steve and I would ever see it. Sorry Jaclyn! So here is a really cool pic I found via the internet.

What else is new? Not really that much. Hockey season (both professional and UD Men's League) is on the horizon and I'm busy being pregnant and working.

I have a piece of advice for all of you tonight: Call your mother and tell her how much you love her. You never know when she might suddenly be taken away from you. Deepest sympathies to you my dearest Joelle...

It's a...

Ok, so I really stink at writing on a regular basis. My apologies.

We had our second ultrasound this past Saturday morning. The first one we had done @ 10 weeks didn't look nearly as much like a baby. I've posted my favorite of 3 pics the tech gave us to bring home. If you want to see any of the others just shoot me an e-mail. I just think it's awesome that you can see it's ribs and spine in this pic and it's waving hello!

So, I keep referring to it as it...and for those of you who haven't already heard we're pretty sure we know what gender it is. After searching long and hard for any sign of a penis the tech gave us her best, experiential opinion...it's a girl! Now, what to name her? Oh wait...I forgot we have a name picked out but most of you don't know what it is...hehe. Please feel free to leave your best guesses in the comments section...if you already know please keep it to yourselves...for now.

Tuttles-Have fun in Ireland!! Drink some good beer for me.

Time to get back to listening to online research lectures...fun.

Catching Up

Wow, I've gotten behind a little bit. Oops! It just couldn't be helped...this weekend was a whirlwind of excitement and wedding activities and lack of internet access. I could've posted yesterday but...meh.

Andy & Val's wedding was spectacular! It showed ours up good. The whole experience almost seemed surreal. I'm a bad bridesmaid and I have no actual pics of the bride and groom or even the bride in her wedding dress. I was to busy enjoying myself to take too many pictures and hey that's what they paid the photographer for. Look, yummy cake. Andy & Val had a wonderful time and they are now spending 12 days in Greece (So jealous!).

To anyone whose looking for a hotel in Wilmington I HIGHLY recommend the Hotel DuPont. A little pricey yes...but worth it, absolutely. Our sheets were turned down every night, the radio was on playing soft music, and the next days weather was printed out for you. The bathroom was...well there are no words. I wanted to take it home with me. They had a freakin' bath menu...a bath menu! The customer service was impeccable and even the security guys were very nice when I went to pick up my purse that my pregnant brain forgot and left in the hotel closet.

Well back to the real world of work, school, house cleaning, and pregnancy. I have to go view some online lectures now...and I almost forgot, the ultrasound is scheduled for Saturday morning. Cooperate baby!

Goodbye Ford

For those of you that know what I'm talking about, the Ford is finally gone! It has gone to its final resting place at the car donation center where who knows what they do to it. Honestly, I don't care.

Pregnancy Brain

Well as of yesterday "pregnancy brain" has officially set in!

The day started off with drama, misdirected anger, & self-pity...did I mention drama :) Oh yes, I forgot the crying but doesn't that go hand in hand with drama. And all of this was really for no reason at all or at least the reasons don't seem quite so devastating today.

After the emotional mayhem of the morning I proceeded on to work, which surprisingly has been a wonderful diversion from all of the pregnancy nonsense. I went out to my car around 10pm to get something only to discover I had left the lights on and all of the windows were rolled down (in a very public parking lot mind you). Hence, my battery was dead. To top it all off, NO cell phone, I left that at home. So I walked all the way back in the building to call Steve who came to my rescue, jumped my car at midnight last night, and followed me home.

Steve was really quite sweet and kept the teasing to a minimum. But, in his own words, "This pregnancy thing is really not fitting you that well."

Welcome!

Welcome! The Walls' Are Speaking is a new journey I have decided to take. I hope that friends, family, and others will visit regularly to see what's going on in our lives. I will say that a lot of it is probably going to focus on our impending arrival...at least until February :)

Baby is growing...I'm starting to notice a little bit of a belly but no one else would be able to notice it quite yet. My next Dr. appt is Sept. 5 and shortly after that I should be getting my formal ultrasound...what everyone is waiting for! I have days of pure happiness intermixed with days of anxiety and fear...I'm assuming as a parent I'll have many more days of both.

Best wishes going out to Andy & Val! One week left till the big day...kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride!