Like father, like daughter...

Mmmm after a large portion of manicotti for our first early Riccitelli Christmas Dinner while Dad and Karin were in town, Dad and I sit back for a little R & R....both of us showing our bumps! All of Ron's family came down the house and we had lots of Italian food and plenty of Momma R.'s famous chocolate chip cookies. And, no, I did not have any peanut butter fudge ; ) ! We had our last doctor appointment on Wednesday and got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time which was very, very cool. It was a healthy 156 bpm. Our next appointment is on Jan 9th (a day before my bday), where we'll get our next sonogram and finally know the sex. I'm going to finally put my own prediction out here. I think its a boy. I had dreams at first it was a girl until my first sonogram but after that my intuition is saying boy, boy, boy. Ronnie thinks its a boy too. I hear so many old wives tales on how you feel with a boy vs a girl and if any of that is true, every way I look and feel is saying boy. I could be completely wrong, of course. I would be happy with either or, so we are anxious to find out. Less than a month away and a great birthday present!

2nd Trimester

I've heard so much about this wonderful "pregnancy glow" that pregnant women get..we'll I've figured out that that's a bunch of BS. This pregnancy glow just means an extremely oily face...with a little acne on the side. That's the worst of my symptoms though so I have no room to complain. The pants you see I'm wearing in this picture are the only pants I can button at this point. They used to be my fat pants, but now they are the best things in the world. I bought the Bella Band which is something I can wear over my unbuttoned, unzipped work pants. Every now and again I'll find that the band has slipped upwards and my exposed underwear are out for my coworkers to see. I've also felt like a pervert while having phone conversations with my clients... I'm so short of breath nowadays I'm sure all they can hear is my heavy breath in their ear. I've suddenly gotten tired again and slept from 10-9:30 am last night...other than the two bathroom breaks because my bladder is getting crushed. Mom and Steve came in for Thanksgiving and they got the crib for us. We picked it up from JCPenny's and Ronnie and Steve set it up that night. Its so nice and a bed that the baby will use for years because its convertible. It even becomes a full-sized bed with head and foot boards, but I have a feeling it will stay a crib for many years.

Baby's First Photos

Well 37% of you were wrong...no twins. There is one, tiny, healthy heartbeat at 171 bpm. We had our first sonogram today by pure luck. Normally, our doctor doesn't send patients for their first sonogram until week 18, but when I told him how great I felt, I guess he wanted to make sure everything was okay! I've hardly felt pregnant so far. This picture above is a great side view. This was so exciting! At first, the sonogram machine was facing the doctor where only her and Ronnie could see it. I just watched Ronnie's face as he saw our baby for the first time. He just kept smiling. Finally, the doctor turned the screen towards me so we both could watch and I couldn't believe my eyes. This picture above is a very good picture of the side/frontal view of the baby's face. You can see its nose, mouth and chin. Its hand is up by its face. It almost looks like its about to suck its thumb. The baby was moving quite a bit during the entire sonogram. Its little arms were waiving and its legs were kicking. I started crying which made me shake, which in turn make the screen unclear, so I had to keep myself under control so we could see everything in the little time that you have in there. It was by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen. That little tiny life is my and Ron's flesh and blood and it was definately having a party in there. I'm sure it was dancing and singing too....

Month Three!

I'm really starting to see my body change now. AND I will definitely be one of those pregnant woman with the protruding belly buttons. Its already starting to happen. Its funny because now I can't pinch as much fat as I used to be able to off my stomach... Now its hard! There is a definite baby bump and now its beginning to really start to feel more real for Ronnie. He looks at me as I walk in the room and just stares at my belly and smiles. I've always felt it but now he can see it. Its hard to imagine that you have a baby growing inside of you until your belly starts to get big. I feel great emotionally and physically. I'm not nauseous unless I have an empty stomach, I don't feel irritable or crazy anymore, and the fatigue went away last week. Now, I'm just growing. I felt the 'flutters' the other day. That was an unbelievable feeling. I felt like it was pretty early to feel the baby but I looked it up and it said it was possible if you are in tune with your body, if you don't have much stomach fat, if the placenta is positioned closer to the surface of your skin, and/or if you are carrying more than one baby!!! That is always a possibility because my grandmother's sisters are twins and my grandfather is a twin. That fluttering was a feeling I've never felt before right below my belly button and it wasn't gas...trust me, I know what that feels like! HAHA

No more bragging...

Month two: Its been nice telling people how great I feel so far...well I should have knocked on wood every time I said that. Today was a new day. I cried on may way home from work for no reason and I couldn't decide to either shove my take-out down my throat before I got home because I'm so hungry OR to pull over on the side of the road to throw up. I also contemplated going out to my car to take a nap in my company's parking lot during my lunch break....I think I've lost my mind. Not to mention, poor Ronnie. He probably wonders when he'll get his normal wife back. Anyhow, there's no bump yet, just bloatedness. I just wanted to post a 'before' picture.

One more to go!

Emily is still in Australia and she'll be back this weekend, so the other aunt has yet to hear the good news. She'll be happy but Chris might be a little worried that he'll have to take care of the 'sticky' baby. HAHA! We told Mom this weekend in WV at the Stonewall Jackson Resort. We gave her a 'Tonight's Specials" menu at dinner and she didn't quite catch on right away but after she figured it out she cried and couldn't believe she was going to be a grandmother. I told Dad and Karin today...They were of course very excited as well. They have my old crib from when I was a baby and said they'd keep it there for our California visits. It will be the first grandchild on my side of the family.

We have a bun in the oven!

Ron and I are pleased to announce that we will be welcoming a bundle of joy in the late Spring of 2008. Thanks to my cousin, Karin, who started a blog when she found out she was pregnant, we decided to start one as well. Its such a good way for everyone to keep in touch and updated on the excitement! We won't be sending out this link for awhile though because three of the most important family members still do not know; my mom, sister and father. We're waiting to tell all immediate family in person (if it all works out) because the look on their faces is the best part! Ron's mother almost collapsed when we told her on Friday by surprising her with a fall wreath for her door...and obviously a much bigger surprise too. His family is unbelievably happy!