Belly Pic- 16 weeks 1 day

Yeah...bump really starting!!

Belly Pic at Halloween...pumpkin still has me beat

So, I am arching my back a little, but bump def. starting!!!

Belly Pic- 6 weeks 4 days

No bump yet, but shape def. starting to change...so fun!

Ultra Sound #3

Had 3rd ultrasound today- week 11. Kate Kepple came with today which was great! I saw our little one move for the first time- SOOOOO cool to see... and the baby continues to look more and more 'baby- like', the ultrasound pics were great- could see arms, legs, nose...SOOO cute.

Ultra Sound #2

Had our second ultrasound- baby much bigger. Mom came with me today as Ben had to work- very fun to have her there. Heart rate was in the 150's

Sharing the news with family!!

Saturday September 12th
Tonight we shared the exciting news with our family. Ben and I had come up with a plan to get our whole family together without them expecting a thing. A few weeks ago I sent out an e-mail to family stating that Ben was up for an award at work for outstanding service on a case he was working. I told family that Ben did not want to make a big deal out of it as he did not know if he would even get the award or not, but that I wanted to throw a surprise family dinner for him to celebrate. I got My parents, his parents, Bev & Michael, Kris, Paul & the Kids (unfortunatly Bobby Adina and Kian were in Michigan) to be at Chianti Grill at 7:00- 15 minutes before we would arrive. When we got there, Ben acted surprised...his mom even had a card & a little gift for him telling him he was now her hero...(very cute) No one suspected a thing. Quickly after we all sat down, Ben stood up to thank everyone for coming, and for believing that he could win an award, but told them that there was no award, and that the real reason we were here, was to get everyone together to tell them....And that is when I pulled out the pictures of the ultrasound. Moms started to cry...my dad hugged me so hard it hurt =)...everyone was so excited for us. It was a PERFECT way to tell our family. The waiter brought us a little cake to celebrate. After holding the news in for over 2 weeks, it felt SOO good to tell our family and to be excited with them.

Sunday September 13th
Since Bobby, Adina & Kian were not at dinner, the next day we had my parents try to get them on Webcam without them suspecting. While this took a little work, we did it. Then Ben & I got on and told them the exciting news. While it was not in person, it was still nice to see their faces. Kian even said hi & goodbye to the baby.

Later that week we called Rene, Nikki, Noah in Boston, and Irene & David in New York to tell them the news. Such fun times!!! We wished we could have told everyone while they were here for Grandpa's Funeral, but it was just a week too soon.

Appointment & Ultrasound #1

Tuesday September 8th- 8:40am at White Bear Lake Health Partners, we met our OBGYN for the first time. Dr. Lawrence Harms (yes, his name is Dr. Harms). Both Ben & I really liked him. He spent a lot of time with us, was very kind and thorough. From our exam he believes that I am approximately 6 weeks along, but wants us to have an early ultrasound this Friday to establish a due date. I'm so excited- we get to see the baby!!

Friday September 11th:
We just had our first Ultrasound, and got to see the HEART BEAT. The tech said that if we do not see a heart beat not to worry as it is still very early to detect a heart beat. But the second she put the monitor on the baby, the first thing we saw was the little heart fluttering away. The heart rate was approximately 117 which she said was very good for 6 weeks 4 days. We even got to take home pics which will be GREAT to show family when we share the news with them tomorrow. =)

We're Pregnant! The morning we first found out...

Here is a bit of what I wrote the morning I found out I was pregnant:

'This morning, Ben & I got the best news of our lives: We're Pregnant! Finding out you're pregnant with your first baby is something you only get to experience once. Even years of anticipating what that moment may feel like falls far short of preparing you for it. We knew that we wanted a baby in the next year or so, but research says it can take 6-12 months for healthy couples to conceive. Well...for us...it took one...guess that's 'Meant to be'. Even though we had been wanting to concieve, I was SO shocked when Monday morning...5:45am, the test said "pregnant". I had taken 4 tests already that month (I know... a bit obsessive) but they were all negative. When I still had no period by day 43, well I decided to test again- fully expecting another negative. Ben was still asleep, not knowing I was even taking another test. I continued to get ready for work, vowing to not even look at the test for another 5 minutes. When I could not wait any longer, I looked down and could not believe my eyes... It said Pregnant! My hands started to shake, I started to cry, then opened the bathroom door pouring light into our bedroom and said ...."Um...Ben?" .."Yeah, he replied"...I said "um, I'm pregnant"...he shot out of bed so quickly- confirmed I was serious, he hugged me so tightly, then we both sat down on the edge of the bed in partial darkness, my hands still shaking, just amazed at what was happening. We were SOOOO happy and excited, it felt wrong to just keep getting ready and go to work- this was HUGE news!'
That night we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant- Chianti Grill to celebrate. We kept the news all to ourselves for another two weeks until we had our 1st Drs appointment and could have an ultrasound pic to show our family. It was acctually kind of nice to have the news- just the two of us for a while- to just enjoy it as a couple.
Another thing that made that day of finding out we we're pregnant so memorable, was that it was the EXACT SAME DAY that my Grandpa Jack Schneeweis passed away. While I really wish we could have told him about his soon to come 3rd great grand child, I have to trust he knew, and was with Grandma to share the news...talk about the circle of life!!!!