Love, Life and Appreciation

Our NOH8 campaign photo is finally here. Back in April we went to the shoot in Baltimore, MD. Here is the blog entry from that event. Today we received an email that the photos from that shoot were ready and we think think our photo came out good.  Here is the photo:


We'll probably do another shoot down the line. It's for such a great cause.

I went back to NJ on Mother's Day to tell my grandparents and my best friend about the pregnancy.  My parents and I went to tell my grandmother and my grandfather but my grandfather was out doing his normal routine of walking a mile every day.  I returned the next day to tell my grandfather and he was happy. My best friend was happy too. My grandmother is happy but like many of my family members, shocked.

My dad video taped me telling my grandmother. It starts with a snippet of me reading her a poem, I had written when I first found out I was pregnant. The poem is called Joy. Here's the video*:


*In the video I said the due date is on her birthday Dec 7th, that was before I had gotten an ultrasound. The ultrasound confirmed my due date to be one day later, on the 8th.

We just wanted to wish all the father's and soon-to-be father's out there,  a very happy Father's Day!!! Hope you all had a good day yesterday.

To my special man: I know you're going to be a wonderful father. You're so kind and loving :-)

I had my 2nd prenatal checkup today and everything is going well. My blood tests came back good and the other poking and prodding that they had done, came back good too. So far I've gained a few more pounds.  I'm getting farther from 120, LOL.

The nurse checked the baby's heart rate and the heart rate is going at 157 beats per minute. The heart rate so far has been the highest when I went in for my first prenatal check (that's when I got most of the test done). At that time the heart rate was at 167 beats per minute and the gestational age was 10 weeks . When I went in for the first trimester screen at 11 weeks and 3 days, the heart rate was 157. So now at 14 weeks and 2 days, the heart rate hasn't changed much. I saw on some websites you can tell the sex of the baby by the heart rate. Others say that is an old wives tale. Rex and I have been thinking we're going to have a boy from the beginning of the pregnancy. I did find on a website that a heartbeat above 140 is a girl. We'll just have to wait until the ultrasound in July.

I go back in later this month for the second part of the first trimester screen. That test checks for spina bifida. Then in the second week of July I'll be getting the big ultrasound. That's when we'll know really the sex of the baby and see the face has more taken shape. This is all so exciting. I'm so happy that my tests came back fine and that the baby is healthy. We can't wait until December when we can hold our little one.

I still can't feel any kicks yet. I definitely think by the time, the second week of July rolls around I will be able too. I know when the baby gets bigger and I can really feel the kicks, when I try to sleep, I'll be like "Ok baby, mommy is trying to sleep." I got most of my rest in the first trimester. I was SO tired. As soon as outside was dark, I was sleepy and this even happened for thunderstorms in the mid afternoon. I got most of my energy back, I think. I know when the baby comes, both me and Rex won't get hardly any sleep. All the joys of being pregnant. This is truly a blessing. Creating life and bringing the baby into this world is a miracle.  I'm so happy Rex is the father. I couldn't have asked God to send me a better angel. He has stuck by me through my mood swings, before pregnancy, and during, well he knows it might get worse. I apologize now honey.

The doctor said I have pretty much smooth sailing, now that I'm in the second trimester. I really like that office, they are so nice. They really make you feel like family and not a just a patient. My tummy is expanding outward and I'll have to buy more maternity clothes. I've been trying to stay inside more. It's hot outside and feels even hotter pregnant. It's all good though, we're having a baby :-)

Say what? Hehe. Yup it's true. Rex and I are expecting. The funny thing about it is, I kind of knew I was, before I took the pregnancy test. I took the pregnancy test back in April.

I had been feeling a little sick towards the end of March. I had gone to Tallahassee for a conference and the food there made me nauseous. I also noticed children more in my presence. It might sound weird but when I went out to eat at the mall, the day we had arrived in Tallahassee, I sat and noticed there was a small boy looking at me. The small boy was next to me. Before that, as I waited in the hotel there was a small girl that went up to me as I was sitting and was looking at me. I said "hi" and her parents called her back. On the flight back to DC, there was a baby sitting in the sit right in front of me. The baby looked back at me. About a week after the conference, Rex and I went to eat at the Longhorn restaurant and there were children sitting like all around me. You might say I sound paranoid but I never really noticed the presence of so many children around me before. I thought maybe the children looked at me because of my hair too. At that time I had Senegalese Twists in. Nevertheless I told Rex, "I think God is trying to tell me something."

Rex also felt my stomach one day and said it was really warm. I said it was warm because I am alive and I was bundled up. So when I missed my period, I decided to wait a few days before taking a pregnancy test because sometimes it was a day or two late. When I had missed it for about a week, I got a ClearBlue Digital Test with Rex and on April 11, I took the pregnancy test. I got the digital test because there is no mistaking 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant'. The test says either 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant'. So we waited, American Idol was coming on, and after about a minute, the result appeared, 'Pregnant.'


We hugged and smiled but I was not 100% sure. Those tests do have a 0.0001% chance of being wrong. So over the next couple of days I took two more pregnancy tests. One was from the ClearBlue package. They give you another one to double check. That one came up with a positive plus sign which meant pregnant. Another test came up with two lines which meant pregnant. By this time I got that I was pregnant. Immediately after learning the result of the digital test, I got necessary items for making sure, me and the baby were healthy. I started taking prenatal vitamins and drinking more water. I also went out and got Your Pregnancy Week by Week at Target.

I went to the student health center at Howard which more confirmed my pregnancy and I saw that I had gained 6 pounds. My appetite during a few weeks after that came and went. I didn't have much morning sickness but I did feel nauseous now and again. I'm a little past 13 weeks now and Rex and I are so excited. We both didn't have children before the pregnancy and this is our first. After a few rough patches, I found a great doctor's office in Silver Spring.

I went in for my first prenatal visit May 8th. There a lot of blood work was done and checking both the health of me and our baby. I was close to 10 weeks then and the nurse said she might not be able to find the baby's heartbeat but she took a doppler device and found the heartbeat very quickly. The baby's heart rate was beating at 167 beats per minute. I was laughing. I couldn't believe that there was actually a life inside me and I was so happy that the heart rate was normal. On May 15th Rex and I got a look at our baby through an ultrasound. I teared up a bit when I saw the fetus. The baby was already moving its tiny little arms and legs.

On May 25th I went in for a first trimester screening. The screening is to look for the possibility of Down Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome. The screening was advised by my doctor and today I received a letter from the screening office stating that my results are normal. As a doctor at the screening office saw the baby on through the ultrasound, he said looking at the ultrasound, the baby looked right on target for how many weeks past gestation I was. I got to see the umbilical cord too through the ultrasound, and a layer that was placed over the screen. It was amazing seeing our baby moving. Jumping actually. I can't feel any of the movement yet.



My stomach looks slightly bigger. I'm a skinny girl so it'll probably take until 5 months before I really start to show. I'm so excited and so happy. I know Rex will be a great father and things are happening they way they are supposed too. This is truly a blessing and I am experiencing an amazing stage in a woman's life. It's wonderful to think there is life growing inside me and even more wonderful to think that I'll be a mom and a wife by the end of the year. I'm due in December :-)

Rex had a couple of days off last week, so on Thursday, we decided to go to our new favorite hang out spot Ocean City, MD. We had a good time relaxing on the beach. The water is still kind of cold, but it'll warm up as we get more into summer. We also went with our friend Yancy.

Rex and I went on the Ferris Wheel. It was Rex's first time. It was so cool looking out over the island. It wasn't too hot at the beach. The breeze from the ocean was cooling. We ate at a restaurant we went too the last time we were in Ocean City, and that was the Dough Roller. Last time we went for breakfast, this time we went for dinner. The food there is great.

 We walked along the boardwalk and saw kites flying. We also saw some people parasailing. Think we might do that one day. If we do it'll be both Rex's and my first time. We left on Friday and there was dense fog in the morning. A front had gone pass through the night. I was fascinated and took pictures. It's the meteorologist in me. I have stopped on the side of the road before with Rex, to take pictures of the weather as well. Hehe. We left mid-morning. Until next time Ocean City :-)

On Wednesday, we went to the  Smithsonian National Zoological Park. It was nice walking around the zoo and seeing the animals and species. It wasn't too hot and the zoo wasn't too crowded. Here are some pictures from our visit.