I FELT A "KICK"!!!

After everyone had gone home on Christmas Day, and Toby had gone to bed... I was sitting on the chair watching TV, just rubbing my belly.

All of a sudden, I felt something. It was a combination of a flutter & gas bubble feeling.

I just stopped and looked at my belly.

I continued to rub... it happened again.

I jumped up, ran upstairs and said "Toby! Toby! I felt the baby!!!"

It was such an amazing feeling to feel that little life inside of me. Above and beyond any material items I received for Christmas, this was the most amazing gift!!!

Merry Christmas to me!!!

18 Weeks

Almost half way there...














Thanks to mom for my new maternity wardrobe, which includes this awesome tank...

On Saturday, we went to see Grandma... to wish her a Merry Christmas, bring her a few gifts and show her my "bump." Although it's hard to tell what she's thinking or feeling, I'm sure she was very happy for me. While there, we had her laughing and smiling, and that's always a good feeling to see her happy.

Mom made sure we got a picture of the "four generations"...















I love you, Grandma!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing you and and yours a very wonderful holiday!!!

As they say in England, "Happy Christmas!"

Love you all!

Yep, it's definitely growing...

I was in the kitchen the other day, pouring myself a glass of milk.
I put the glass to my mouth to take a drink, and of course missed, spilling a bit.
I continued to drink the milk, thinking to myself "crap, now I'm going to have to bend over and clean up the milk off the floor!"
I finished my drink, set the down the glass and looked at the floor... only to find there was no milk spilled on the floor...
IT WAS ON MY TUMMY!!!

Yep, it's definitely growing...

LISTEN UP!

Toby and I were called in to see the doctor early b/c we're expecting a huge snow storm tonight... so we got to hear the baby last night!!!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW!

While listening, I had a HUGE smile on my face! I looked over at Toby, and he too had a HUGE smile... and a tear in his eye!!! It was soooooooooooo cute! He was hearing his baby for the first time!!!

The doctor said everything looks great... the baby's heart beat was everywhere from 150-162 beats per minute!!! Very fast!!! She said he/she sounds great! All my vitals are great... and I've only gained 3 pounds! I say "only" because I feel like I've gained 10+!!! She said I look great and I'm doing very well.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for January 22nd... but we're still not sure if we want to find out the sex. I really want to know; Toby really doesn't want to know... so we'll see what happens!

It's a Basketball!

I kept waking up last night because I was really uncomfortable. I've been avoiding sleeping on my stomach, for obvious reasons, but I'm so used to sleeping that way, that I tend to naturally go to that position. Well, as you can imagine, it's becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Last night was worse than normal... and when I woke up this morning I could see why... It seems the baby grew a lot over night... it looks like there's a basketball in my stomach all of a sudden!!

You can't really see it in these pictures, but when looking at me straight on, there's a distinct "roundness" to the baby area.



































I must say I'm very glad that I seem to be (so far) carrying the baby front & center. Everyone carries different, and every baby carries different. But, so far, it looks like I'm going to be carrying a basketball... which is fine by me!!!

Cheese curds?

Katie Kruz was eating Culver's today... and she had some leftover deep-fried cheese curds. She came out of the studio and said "cheese curds anybody?" Out of nowhere I say "ooh, yeah!" She asks "Really? You like cheese curds?"

My response: "No. Not really. But apparently the baby does, because now I want a cheese curd."

I ate it. And it wasn't bad.

Silly baby.

15 Weeks

I'm getting bigger!

Toby calls it "Baby Chunky," which is cute, I guess. He keeps telling me that I'm getting "cute fat" -- how romantic! ;o)

My next doctor's appointment is December 18th, and I'm VERY anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat again! Toby hasn't heard it yet, so he's very excited to hear it. It's truly an amazing experience and I'm so excited to finally share it with him!

I plan to take a digital recorder along, then I can upload the audio so you all can hear Baby Simpson!

Hope you're all having fun prepping for the holidays... I know I am!

Yo-ga! Yo-ga!

It's kind of like "To-ga! To-ga!" Okay, not really.

I went out and bought a prenatal yoga DVD that was recommended to me, and did it for the first time on Sunday night while Toby was out blowing leaves and putting the plow on the 4-wheeler.

I popped in the DVD, got my props (blanket and chair) ready on stand-by, assumed the position and began. They recommend at the beginning that you only do it for about 15-20 minutes your first couple times, so I only did two segments. Breath, stretch, breath, relax, breath, repeat.

Afterwards I was soooooooo relaxed. So relaxed that I moved to the couch and fell asleep... for 3 hours!!!

I'm going to try another segment tonight, so we'll see if I fall asleep afterwards.

"Namaste."

The Bella Band

What a fun invention! The Bella Band. Lets me wear my "pre-pregnancy" jeans as long as possible, with the button undone.

While in early stages of maternity clothes, it will hold up loose fitting pants.

Further along into the pregnancy, it will keep my belly from pushing my pants down.

And after the pregnancy, it helps again with still-tight pre-pregnancy jeans.

This is a must-have for all pregnant women!

I'm wearing mine for the first time today, with a pair of jeans that don't exactly fit comfortably anymore. It's nice to get as much use out of my pre-pregnancy stuff as possible. Although, I am looking forward to buying a new wardrobe!!!

13 Weeks

Alright, here's my first "bump picture." I realize there's not much there, but there will be very soon!

Special Parking

I had a day of retail therapy yesterday with mom and Aunt Mary. Our main focus was to get ideas for baby stuff. I'm all about doing research on everything baby, so I've checked out Consumer Reports on strollers, carseats, etc. But I wanted to go to a few stores to actually have hands-on with some of the stuff. Our first stop... Babies R Us. This is where I discovered the GREATEST INVENTION EVER...












Special parking for pregnant women! I was soooo excited! Later in the day, mom and I stopped at Steinhafels on they way home... and they had the same thing! Parking for moms-to-be and mothers with small children. What a great invention!!!

However, there was a guy next to us at Babies R Us, who didn't have children with him... and definitely wasn't pregnant... but he was parked in Stork Parking! Jerk.

Oh the joys of being pregnant... special parking!!

My first official craving

The other day I had my first official craving.

ON-COR SALISBURY STEAKS

Most of you are probably gagging at the thought, but my dad used to eat them. I probably haven't had them in 15 years, but out of the blue I HAD TO HAVE them!

So Toby, who's against eating anything "out of a box," manned up and cooked them for me, along with mashed taters and peas. Needless to say, he hated them. But I enjoyed them thoroughly!

Thanks for putting up with me and my cravings, Toby -- I love you!

Almost a third of the way...

Well, tomorrow will be 13 weeks. My first trimester is almost in the past. Looking back on the nausea, exhaustion, waking up 3 times in the middle of the night to pee, etc... I realize I only have 6 more months of that to look forward to! ;o)

To be honest, I'm really enjoying it so far... I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to finally feel the little peanut move!!! I'm so looking forward to that!

You may have noticed I've set up a little "poll" over on the right side... so place your bets now on when Baby Simpson will arrive, how big he/she will be and what color hair she/he will have. I've already got my ideas, but we'll see...

I'll post a picture of the slowly forming bump very soon!

'Til then...

Telling the family

On Saturday, November 1st, my whole family got together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, I realize Thanksgiving is at the END of November... but Uncle Rob & Aunt Marlene were hosting this year, and they'll be in Mexico over the actual Thanksgiving (jealous!)... and since Jim & Davina were visiting at the beginning of November, and since the 1st was Toby's 35th birthday, we thought it'd be nice to get everyone together then.

It timed out perfect with "the big announcement," since I wanted to tell the family when everyone was together. So, all 19 of us finally gathered in Casa de Zastrow and mom wanted to make a toast to the birthday boy. And then she made a toast to Rob & Marlene for having us all there and cooking such a wonderful meal. And then she made a toast to Jim & Davina for joining us and celebrating a traditional Thanksgiving with us. And THEN she said "oh, and before I forget... I'm going to be a grandma."



DEAD SILENCE.



Then it hit everyone. The room erupted! It was great! Everyone was shocked! "It's about damn time" was mentioned at least once! ;) Cousin Marie is also pregnant, and actually due 6 days before me! So we made a toast to each other -- with non-alcholic beer, of course!


So the whole family found out at the same time, which was great. Everyone was shocked that I was able to keep the secret for so long (4 weeks!). To be honest, I'm suprised mom held it in so long! Well done, mommy! Or should I say Granny Nanny?

Whew!

So I had my check up yesterday, and I didn't really know what I was in for. Dr. Joy talked to me about how I've been feeling, etc. She felt around my abdomen, and of course I did the oh-so-fun-and-exciting pee test. Then she pulled out her little hand-held doppler fetal heart beat unit. She proceded to lube up my tummy and move the unit around my tummy... for about 20 seconds... which is a VERY long time when you're expecting/hoping to hear a heart beat. Pure silence... then...

bu-dump, bu-dump, bu-dump, bu-dump, bu-dump

The cutest little sound ever! I remember hearing/seeing the heartbeat at 7 weeks -- I cried.
This time -- I cried. It is honestly the most comforting thing I have ever heard. I would carry around that hand-held unit all day if I could. I wonder how much one costs??

We listened for about 3 minutes... but Dr. Joy kept having to move the unit around my belly. Apparently the little guy is swimming around in there! She could feel it/hear it moving... I can't wait 'til I can feel it move!

So the doctor says everything's looking and sounding great. I'm in great shape health-wise. The baby's levels are great, my levels are great... everything is great.

Positive thoughts.

Signing off.

Toby Simpson + Erin Simpson = Baby Simpson

It's official... I'm pregnant! 11 weeks and 2 days pregnant, to be exact! My tentative due date is May 28, 2009.

We are sooooooo excited, to say the least!

No real bump yet, although I can feel it growing! The morning sickness has definitely calmed down... it was pretty bad from 6-9 weeks.

I'm constantly exhausted... and I mean ex-haus-ted. It's amazing how something so little (~2.25") can take so much energy out of you.

I'll be updating this site often, so you can track my progress with me! (And I promise I'll update it MUCH more often that I have in the past!)

I'll have Toby take a picture of the bump soon... it won't be long now until there's something to see!!!

Mommy-to-be signing off.