It's a ...

This Thanksgiving we got to share the wonderful news of Ringlet with Kyle’s family. We’ve been slowly leaking the news as we saw friends and family over the last few weeks. We decided telling people in person would be more sentimental than via email, mass text message, or social networks. And it was… I just wish we had the opportunity to tell everyone in person.

The Kelly-family Thanksgiving is similar to many family Thanksgivings, except at a much larger magnitude. Everyone takes their seat at an incredibly long table, and prior to carving the 3 or 4 turkeys, we go around the table saying what we are each thankful for. This year Kyle and I went last. He said that he was thankful for the expected addition to our family and I said that I was thankful for mother-daughter relationships.

That’s correct, little Ringlet is a GIRL! We can now start using words like “she” and “her”. We had an ultrasound appointment right before Thanksgiving, and brought my mom with us. She didn't know about the appointment, or that we were finding out the gender.

We had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family on Saturday; however the whole family was sick, so we decided not go over to my parent’s house. Instead Kyle and I cleared out our office, and started transforming it into Ringlet’s room. After four trips to the paint store and numerous samples of purple and greens, I think that we’ve picked out the perfect paint colors. Kyle started to paint the ceiling and trim. Next up will be painting the walls five different colors and hanging chair rail (which also needs to be painted). After that he plans to hang new blinds and install hardwood floors. Have I told you how talented my husband is?

On Sunday my friend Jim and his wife Kristin met us out for lunch in Terre Haute. They were heading back to Chicago from Columbus and made a detour to hang out. It was nice catching up and hearing about their honeymoon and discussing life with dogs and babies :)

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.

P.S. For anyone who's keeping tabs, Ringlet's now the size of an onion.

Arizona...

I phones take awesome photos, especially when the weather is gorgeous!

Kyle and I are back from Arizona. We had such a great time with my best friend, Draves and her fiance, Mark. It's the first time since being pregnant that I've had a ton of fun and didn't even notice that I couldn’t have a glass of wine (that speaks magnitudes of how fun these two are). They are adorable together and I think they really bring out the best in each other. It's such a good feeling to see someone you love this happy. 

On Saturday morning, Draves and I went wedding dress shopping in Scottsdale. For a girl who’s not much of a shopper, I surprisingly enjoy wedding dress shopping. I felt like we were on an episode of “say yes to the dress” (minus the overwhelming entourage, crying, and five digit price tags). While the boutique girls were clipping dress after dress, the boys were out on a “man-date”. Somehow in just a few hours, they stopped at a festival, went on a brewery tour, watched Wisconsin beat Illinois, had a beer at an ASU pub, and even browsed some trinkets. During their excursion, Kyle was shocked to be flashed the Arizona State pitchfork by a seven year old. By the time Draves and I met back up with them, they knew as much about each other as I know about Draves. Kyle's already hoping to go back for the Cub's spring training. Though he may be going solo, since at 8 months pregnant, I won't be able to fly.

Only three days of work this week. I hope it goes by fast!

16 weeks for Ringlet

Today Ringlet is 16 weeks. Did anyone guess it'd be the size of a yummy avocado?? (Oh, and I will challenge that an avocado is a vegetable, not a fruit. Similar to tomatoes, you find avocados in vegetable salads, not fruit salads).

16 weeks. That means another 24 weeks to go. Kyle has volunteered to paint the ceiling, walls, and install hardwood floors in the baby's room. I have a feeling he's going to need all 168 of the days we have left.

I haven't felt any baby kicks or hiccups yet. However, my belly keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It's starting to look more like a pregnancy belly rather than looking like I ate a few too many doughnuts. I was catching up with my friend Jim on the phone last night, and he asked if my belly was looking like a basketball... I'd say it's more like a partially deflated football. Not quite the perfect round bump that you see on TV.

Tonight we're flying out to Phoenix for the weekend. Then just three more days until Thanksgiving!

Ringlet's locks...

So far I've been able to avoid all bad pregnancy symptoms. No nausea or food aversions. No cravings for pickles or morning sickness. However, this week I've started experiencing very mild amount of heartburn. Although my sister (a doctor) tells me not to trust any old-wives tales, this one I really believe to be true... 

Heartburn during pregnancy = a hairy baby. 

I'm not sure if the heartburn is convincing me that our little Ringlet will be born with a full head of hair or if it's mine and Kyle's hospital birth photos... (And yes, Kyle's mom promises that photo on the left really is Kyle)

15 weeks tomorrow...

I decided to do tomorrow's post today. Especially since tomorrow's veteran's day and in celebration, I plan to not do anything productive.


Last weekend we took the niece and nephew to Indy. The weekend before we went to one of my best friend's weddings in Chicago. It was nice catching up with some of the guys that I spent so much time with my freshman and sophomore years of college (photo).

My friend Angela was suppose to come visit us in Terre Haute this weekend, and I was really bummed when she cancelled. However, yesterday Kyle sent me an evite asking me on a date on Saturday (insert "awww" here). A prenatal massage and dinner at the Melting Pot. He knows how to cheer me up.

Next weekend, Kyle and I are flying out to Phoenix. I get to go wedding dress browsing with Draves! It's been a while since I've last seen her, so it'll be great to girl chat and catch up.

And, the weekend after that is Thanksgiving! I don't think I've ever looked forward to Thanksgiving as much as I do this year. This year Kyle and I have a lot to be thankful for, and Thanksgiving dinner also marks the end of our silence about Ringlet.

Ringlet's fruit of the week is an orange. What a perfect fruit, since all I ever want lately is more orange juice. Kyle and I even started buying the gallon sized jugs, so we can cut back on our trips to the grocery.


I'm a bit nervous; at week 16 we move up from fruits to vegetables. Stay tuned to find out what healthy green we move up to next...

Fruit of the week...

A Sad Breakup and a New Relationship...

Today Kyle and I went through a very sad breakup. We parted ways with the Audi TT. A guy from Cincinnati came and purchased it just an hour ago. I even considered putting together a video tribute of all the good times we spent together. We will miss you Audi TT. Tear.

A note on our new relationship: The Terre Haute Q'doba opened today. I have a feeling that we will be frequenting the new establishment on a minimum of a weekly basis. Maybe I'll pick some up on the way home. I'm sure Kyle will think that it will help as we mourn the TT.

A few months back I sent Kyle a link that there would be a new Q'doba opening in Terre Haute. 

Kyle's response: "My prayers worked!! (Hmmm, maybe I should have been praying for something more important.)"

Zoo

Kyle here, first-time poster.  Yesterday, we decided to take advantage of a beautiful early November Saturday.  We picked up Franny and Yoshi and went to Indy.  After stopping to look at some wood flooring for the future baby's room, we went to the zoo.  Franny liked the giraffes and the rhinos.  Yoshi liked the lions and the babboons (especially the "monkey butts").

After the zoo, we met my parents and Kelly and Jason for a fun dinner before heading back home.  A good way to spend a Saturday. 

The First Day of the Second Trimester

Well, today's the day that most pregnant women finally start to breathe. We are officially in the second trimester, and as of today our chance of someday meeting Ringlet is 98%. Inhale deeply, and Exhale. Phew.

Yesterday's appointment went well. It's hard to go from seeing the little heartbeat each week to just once a month. The ultrasound tech had difficulties getting pictures, since Ringlet couldn't stay still. Here are the one's she did capture:

She said not to worry, the baby doesn't have a deformed face. It just kept moving while she was trying to take it's picture, so the face is a blur. She estimated it to be about 3oz and about 2 days larger than expected.

Boy or Girl? Early, Late or On Time?

I’d love to have a list of everyone’s guesses for Ringlet’s gender, birth day and time.

I’d like to document it in their baby book (You know, when I start one)... A special prize for whoever comes closest to the actually birthday and time.

So if you’re reading this blog, please vote! (Yes, that means you too)

We will be finding out the gender as soon as we can, and we’re not telling anyone until we have a sufficient number of guesses :)

For those who believe in old wives tales here are a few facts:

I did not have any morning sickness. None. No nausea, no troubles keeping food down. Nada.

My hair is growing faster.

My skin is worse than when I was a teenager.

If I crave anything, it's Orange Juice.

No food aversions.

Ringlet's heart rate at 10 weeks and 3 days was 174 bpm.

Ringlet has always measured right on track for size.

Our due date is May 4th.

By the way, to post a comment:

Click on the title of this blog post.

Put in your guess.

“For comment as”, select Name/URL.

Put your name under “Name” and leave the URL blank.

Vote now! Boy/Girl? Birthday? Time of Birth?

13 Weeks

Ringlet is officially 13 weeks in fetus age. When I did the 12 week post, I had a plum for breakfast. Ironically, this morning I had a peach. I think I might avoid pineapple and watermelon for a few months...

Here are Ringlet's stats:

Roughly the size of a peach. Almost 3 inches in length. Has developed vocal chords and fingerprints.

My facebook news feed leads me to believe that there will be a lot of other April/May 2012 babies. Maybe a baby-boom is in the works?? 

It seems like about now (13 weeks) is when people start breaking the news to family and friends. Kyle and I have decided to wait until Thanksgiving; that way we'll be able to tell people in person (there's just something nice about finding out in person, rather than via mass text message, email, or status update).

Kyle and I have no problem keeping the secret a few weeks longer. Though, I think our mom's are ready to tell the world!

Just a Crib...

Kyle and I found and bought this crib on craigslist:

It's just a crib. 

Just one piece of furniture. 

Not even assembled. 

Just sitting against a wall in our office. 

Just one of the many things we're going to need before Ringlet arrives in 28 weeks... 

I didn't think that "just a crib" would turn out to be "just a preview of sleepless nights, and a realization that some little, crying, real, live, tiny person will be lying in this crib waiting for one of us to tend to it's every needs in just 28 weeks". Yes, I realize that we have a long ways to go... But between this crib and my sweatpants, I'm realizing that "just 28 weeks" really isn't that far away!

A Zero Proof Beer Belly...

At 11 weeks and 6 days I officially started to feel my jeans digging into my stomach. Today, at 12 weeks and 1 day, I feel like I have a mini-beer belly. (Don't worry mom, no alcohol was consumed to create the beer belly). I swear this little pouch just showed up over night.

Kyle and I decided to dedicate today to searching for a larger vehicle. Before we set out on our adventure, I asked Kyle if I could just wear sweat pants. Like any good husband carefully responding to an overly sensitive pregnant wife, he said "of course". I have a feeling had he answered with anything else, we wouldn't have made it to the car dealerships...

The car searching adventure went well, sweatpants and all. We really like the Nissan Xterra, but I'm really not sure I'll ever be ready to part with the TT...


An update for those non-pregnancy experts:
At 12 weeks, the little Ringlet is the size of a plum... A lot of growing to be done in the next 6 months!

Plum from the bump.com. I guess it's normal for pregnant women to compare their fetuses to fruits and vegetables...

YoYo and his Big Wheel

Wahoo! YoYo's Two!

A few weeks back we celebrated YoYo's 2nd birthday. Here's a rundown on the events...
(Sorry about the sideway pictures... I'll have to figure out how to fix that!)


Kyle and YoYo played with the dogs... I am AMAZED at how good Reggie does with the kids. YoYo would throw him a ball and Reggie would be so happy and bring it back. He'd walk with Franny over to the playset and sit at the bottom of the stairs until she came back down. Overall, I think he's going to make a great family dog!

YoYo had fun with his superhero cape and mask from Aunt Dee and Uncle Bob. My dad's Uncle Bob and Aunt Dee had driven all the way from Arizona and were traveling around the Midwest visiting family and friends. They are two of the nicest people on the planet. It was great getting to see them.

Franny said that she loves her brother... I think that my favorite part of the night was after YoYo had opened one present; my mom handed him another gift, and he gave it to Franny and said "Your Turn". Wow. Talk about sharing!

YoYo loves his new Thomas Big-wheel.... (I have a video of him saying "Thank you Auntie Kiss, but I'll have to figure out how to upload that too). I love having a sister so that we can go in on gifts for birthdays, weddings, father's day, etc. It let's us get something so much cooler than I otherwise would have.

The birthday boy blew out his candles and then went straight for the frosting...

Overall, one great second birthday!

Our first i-phones

Saturday morning Kyle and I each activated our new i-phone 4s. Pretty much I've been playing on mine all weekend. My favorite thing so far is the camera. I liked the camera on the palm pre, but it never gave me pictures like these:

Yes, that's a pile of pregnancy books on the nightstand...

Little Ringlet's 10 week 3 day Photo Session

I met Dr. Nour and his midwife (Franny) yesterday. I really liked both of them. The ultrasound tech was really nice and funny. Kyle thinks it's a good sign that the midwife's name is Franny (we've never met a Franny that we didn't like). Even though, I adore my Indianapolis doctor (Dr. Priddy), I'm starting to think everything's going to be alright in Terre Haute...

The little guy/girl measured right on track with a Crown Rump Length (Crown=head, Rump=butt) of 3.46 cm. It's little heart beat measured at 174 bpm. I checked my ruler, and 3 1/2 cm is not very big!

I don't have to go to the doctor again for another month! It's been a long time since I've had such a long break from the doctor. Good thing I have a dentist appointment in between now and then to keep me occupied. The midwife said that I can go on LIGHT jogs and bike rides. She also released me to take yoga or any low impact class that doesn't raise my heart rate. I like her already! Unfortunately, I couldn't get her to tell me that a glass or two of wine was good for the baby...

YoYo's Birthday is on Hold (just the blog post)

The post on YoYo's birthday will be delayed until Kyle returns from his seminar in Indy. (He has the laptop with the birthday party photos)

Let's Make Like a Fetus and...

At ten weeks, the little ringlet is now "officially" a fetus. (This puts a damper on my signature fetus line).

My wonderful sister, Theresa, has lent me boat loads of pregnancy books. I've been reading one that she recently dropped off, and it said that 80% of women experience morning sickness. They compare morning sickness to a bad case of motion sickness that lasts for hours.  I guess I'm just in the lucky 20%.

On another note, Kyle and I ordered new phones this morning. We've been eligible for an upgrade for a while and our phones are cracked and make weird noises. Sprint just released one that happened to catch our eye :) Cheers to another 2 years with sprint!
 

Business Lunch

Yesterday, Kyle was meeting some other attorneys for lunch. So, I decided to meet some other associates for lunch as well. Here's a summary of what was discussed:

YoYo will be turning 2 this week. He argued that he'll be 3, but Franny was quick to correct the group, that he will in fact be turning 2. 

When asked what he wants for his birthday, he said "uh huh" to just about everything we suggested.

Franny said that for her birthday she wants a blue daddy-horsey to go with her pink mommy horsey, that way her and YoYo can both ride at the same time. She added that YoYo is not very good at jumping while on the horse. She also said that she wants a baby doll like Auntie Chel so her baby and my baby can be friends. She informed us that she has a lot of friends. Franny predicted that Auntie Chel is going to have a little baby girl with blonde hair.

It was confirmed that Franny likes black olives. This was discovered when she saw me eating around them on my plate and said, "I like those". I responded with, "What?" She then proceeded to grab the olives off my plate and say "THEESE!" I asked her if YoYo likes olives, she said, "no". I wasn't sure if this was a ploy so she didn't have to share them with him, so I gave him one, (he did keep pointing at my plate like he wanted one). It was true. YoYo does not like black olives. 

Spaghetti mustaches': The new "in" look

I like our morning routine...

6:30AM: Kyle's alarm goes off.

7:00AM: Kyle actually gets out of bed and turns on the lights.

7:15AM: I wake up and feed the dogs

7:30AM: My alarm goes off

7:30AM: I start boiling hot water to make Kyle tea, and slice fruit for fruit and vanilla yogurt parfaits.

I usually find something else to go with the parfaits; today I paired it with a toasted cherry-vanilla bagel with butter.

7:45AM: I get all of our vitamins ready and pour a glass of chocolate milk. If needed, I finish filling and start the dishwasher. I usually remember to let the dogs out.

7:50AM: I hurry to go brush my teeth and get ready.

7:55AM: Lock up the dogs and we're out the door.

I like our morning routine. It's simple, and always on schedule. I wonder how bringing a baby into our family will affect our routine. Maybe it will only throw us off by an extra 5-10 minutes?

Goodbye Spleckle, Hello Ringlet

Today's ultrasound was breath taking. The little person inside of me actually has a head, arms, and legs, and looks like a real little person (kinda). The little heart was beating at the top of its chest. We  graduated the spleckle to our little "Ring-let". The little ringlet kept dancing around and waving for the camera. It shook its head "no" a few times; I hope it doesn't start that trend at negative 7 months.

Kyle came with to the appointment, and afterwards we split a cherry vanilla bagel. He agreed; they're amazing. However, this time it was shaped as a breast cancer ribbon. I'm definitely pro-no-breast cancer, but changing my bagel? Panera must take their boobs very seriously in October.

They printed us a whole bunch of pictures, but they all pretty much look like this one:

Fortune Cookie

Here's my fortune cookie from our Chinese food last night. I think that it's trying to tell me that for a healthy pregnancy I should be eating less Chinese food and more vegetables... What kind of business plan is that?!?

Red Wins!

And that ties up the second series at 1-1. The glue match will be tonight.

Red wins again!

On another note, we have Kyle's friend Mike and Tiffany's wedding this weekend. There should be a few of Kyle's friend's there. Not sure what we're going to say when they all ask why I'm not drinking.... Oh, wine, champagne, and captain, how I miss you all!

Wedding toast at our wedding

Ticket to Ride

Our current score is:

Michelle - 1

Kyle - 0*

This is really a neat game. So far we've only played it with 2 players, but are wondering how the strategy would change if we played with 4 or 5 players. We'll need to either find  some friends, or Reggie is going to need to learn to sit still long enough  for a whole game and not slobber all over the board...

*Kyle is leading the second set 1-0 (best of 3).

Savannah's Clean Bill of Health

I was a bit nervous taking both dogs to the vet by myself. Last time, Kyle took them, and Savannah decided to provide a stool sample in the middle of the waiting room.

Lucky for me, this time she did much better. Though, maybe it's a good thing Savannah has lost a few pounds, since I had to lift her into the car. 

The vet took them back individually; they had trouble getting Reggie to stay still on the scale. They even recommended we rename him "wiggles". This is even more humorous to us, since that is what Kyle and I have said all along. Both dogs got a distemper shot and heartworm check. Since Savannah has been losing so much weight, the doctor checked a stool sample.

Well, they both got perfect report cards (hopefully this little spleckle follows their lead). Neither dog had heartworm (thank goodness) and Savannah's stool sample came back healthy. He said that she is getting old, and not to worry as long as she's eating properly, and still has an upbeat attitude. He recommended we pick up some plain nonfat yogurt (the stuff that Kyle and I accidently bought once, and had to throw out because it tasted awful) and mix a tablespoon in with her food to help keep good bacteria in her system.

We really like our vet. He's nice, knowledgeable and affordable. He spends plenty of time explaining and answering questions. 

Savannah and Kyle at "the lake"

P.S. I still don't think that I'll be able eat angel hair pasta any time in the near future... 

A Cherry Vanilla Bagel for Me, and a Dose of Folic Acid for Spleckle

The little spleckle and I had our 8 week check up and ultra sound today. The spleckle looked much larger... almost too large to be called a spleckle. I didn't even have to squint to see it. Though I did have to strain my eyes to try and see the flashing dot in the middle (the nurse pointed and said it was the heartbeat). 

After a very encouraging appointment I rewarded myself with a sliced, toasted, cherry vanilla bagel with butter from Panera. Have you tried these things? Amazing. Better than pop-rocks good. I rewarded the large spleckle for it's stellar performance at it's second photo session, with 800mg of folic acid, DHA and a prenatal vitamin.

First Outfit

On Saturday, Matt and Liz invited us to the Illinois/Western Michigan game. It was a close game that came down to the final seconds.

We went bar hopping before the game; reminded me of the good old days. 

While Kyle, Matt, and Liz finished a few pitchers of beer, I sipped on some diet coke and tonics... While in Chambana we picked out our little guy/girl's first outfit.

Morning Sickness

Last weekend the Grose's were in town for a fishing contest that my dad came up with. Uncle Marty won and my dad came in second. Even Theresa was out there with a fishing pole! The guys (Marty, dad, Matthew, and Danny) took a break to come over our house to help Kyle move a shed. I wasn't allowed to help, as I've been put on orders not to try to lift anything heavy. Anyhow, uncle Marty noticed something that I had been thinking. Savannah has been losing a lot of weight!

Savannah (our 11 year old puppy) has been losing weight (25 pounds in 9 months to be exact). I was hoping that it was because since we've had Reggie, she's been getting less "people food" and going for more walks, but 25 pounds seems like a lot for an 80 pound dog. I looked into causes for rapid weight loss in dogs online and found that heartworm is a common cause. I googled heartworm and went to images and had my first case of morning sickness. I still feel ill to my stomach after seeing the images! 

I guess that's not the type of morning sickness that I'm suppose to be experiencing, but if pregnancy morning sickness is even half as bad as I felt when I saw those images, I think I'm just fine without it.

We're taking Savannah and Reggie both to the vet next Tuesday and getting them back on heartworm prevention medication STAT.

Friday May 4, 2012

I plugged my dates into an online "due date" calculator. And it calculated Friday May 4th, 2012. That is, of course, assuming that this spleckle is in the 5% that are born on their due date...

Some other interesting dates: 

On Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) we'll be exactly 17 weeks.

December 1st is about when we'll start to be able to feel the baby move.

At Christmas we'll be 21 weeks and 3 days

On Kyle's 30th Birthday we'll be 23 weeks and 2 days

On my 30th Birthday we'll be 24 weeks and 3 days

On our anniversary we'll be 25 weeks and 4 days

May 18th we'll be 2 weeks late.

There's a 85% chance the birth date will be between April 20th and May 18th. 

We go in for another ultrasound next Tuesday (8 weeks and 4 days).

Symptom-less

I keep wondering "am I actually pregnant"??

So I checked the internet and for a 7-week pregnant person, I should be nauseated, vomiting, have heartburn, random cravings, and be making excessive trips to the porcelain bowl. I have yet to suffer from any of these. Oh well, maybe next week...

Speck or Fleck?

Earlier this week, Kyle and I had a doctor's appointment. We had our first ultrasound and there on the screen was one, healthy, small, flashing blob. If you look at the end of the tip of the arrow, and squint really hard, you can see the lighter gray dot. 

Kyle and I debated whether it's a fleck or a speck. My sister voted that it looks more like a sfleck. I like to call it a spleckle. Kyle's dad helped clear it up for us, and sent us a zoomed in photo so we could see it better: