Oh, Baby!

Not sure if you've noticed the new ticker going across the top of our blog, but we're having a baby! Words cannot explain how excited we are! I've never been one to keep a journal, so this will be my way of documenting what goes in during my pregnancy and after the baby is born. Also, since my parents now live in Texas (dislike) and I have relatives that live overseas, this will be a good way for them to keep up with things as well. Since I have known for AWHILE now, let me start from the beginning:

July 5th: We were at my grandparent's house celebrating the 4th and I had some suspicion that I might be pregnant. Sterling kept telling me I should wait a few more days that it may be too early, but patience has never been one of my virtues, so I couldn't wait! Got a positive test! We were excited, but reserved because we knew it was early and lots of things can happen.

July 7th: Went to the doctor and it was confirmed that I was pregnant! For several reasons, we had an ultrasound, but was so early you really couldn't even see anything...we didn't even get pictures to document, but I was pregnant for sure!

July 21st: Went back to the doctor, had another ultrasound and we saw a tiny dot, only 0.24 cm long! But that was our tiny dot! I lay there while she showed us the pictures and just cried. I tried taking a picture of the ultrasound to post, but it's so small you really can't see anything. It's literally a .

August 4th: Only 2 weeks had passed since we went to the doctor, but look at the difference! In just 2 weeks, Baby Dahl went from 0.24 cm to a whopping 1.53 cm. I was now 8 weeks pregnant and although it was too early to hear the heartbeat, we were able to see it fluttering on the screen at 164 bmp! As a side note...they say a heart rate above 150 is a girl. We went to Austin for Presley's birthday that weekend and told our parents. That was the hardest secret I had ever had to keep and I was glad to get it out!

I had not felt one drop of nausea, morning sickness, or really any other noteworthy symptoms, which had me worried at time, but every time I went to the doctor, we got to see our baby, so I knew that he/she was in there! My doctor said I was just one of the lucky ones. In fact, to this day I have not been nauseated one time, had any food aversions, or had any morning sickness!

September 8th: Heard Baby Dahl's heartbeat for the first time! He used the Doppler to listen to the heartbeat and it was the most amazing sound I have ever heard. He went back and forth beween my heartbeat and the baby's and there was such a difference. Baby's heart rate was 151. In other news, I only gained 2 pounds since my first visit. After all the Labor Day festivities, I was convinced that I had already gained a minimum of 5 pounds! All my bloodwork came back great too!

So as of today, I am 14 weeks and 2 days pregnant! My due date is March 15th, 2011. Sterling is 100% convinced that Baby Dahl is a girl. The pencil test that has been correct on everyone in my family predicts for both of us, independently, we will have 2 girls (not at the same time of course!) So, we shall see. I'm not trying to get my hopes up either way. My only prayer is that he/she will be healthy. We have names picked out for either gender so let the monogramming can begin once we find out! I go back to the doctor on October 6th. I will be 17 weeks, but he said we won't find out the gender until the next appointment the first week in November. So unless I can convince him otherwise, I will just have to keep practicing that virtue of patience. No real bump to speak of yet, but once it pops I will post a pic.

For now, please keep us all in your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby come March!