First Baby Gifts

Shortly after returning from the cruise, I came home to a fun surprise... a gift package from Jen!!

It had everything needed for "Mommy Pampering":

- fluffy towels

- books

- belly lotion

- chocolate

- massage oil

- and two adorable onesies!  One perfect for a girl; one perfect for a boy!

Froggy

The Monday we returned from the cruise, I had the First Trimester Screening appointment. Unfortunately, Patrick had jury duty so he couldn't join me. The appointment consisted of an ultrasound, blood draw and genetic counseling.

It was amazing to see how big the baby had grown. And it was active! I couldn't feel it, but I could see it moving around. At one point we could see that its arms were crossed. At another point it did a complete somersault!

The ultrasounds above and below are from November 5. The one below is why we have taken to calling the littlest Tarry "froggy".

Telling the Families

We had planned a cruise with my mom and sister for the last week of October and it turned out to be a great opportunity to give them the news in person. We arrived in Florida on Oct 27 and told them right away.

Interestingly, my mom had told my sister about a dream she had the night before: She dreamed that we were shopping and I told her I was 11 months pregnant. This was confusing to my mom (in the dream) because I wasn't showing. I assured her that everything was going just fine, but it was still unsettling.

To tell my mom (for real), I gave her a framed photo of the ultrasound from the beginning of the month. And when I gave it to her, I was 11 weeks pregnant.

After telling Mom and Tara, we got on the phone and called Patrick's parents, Dad and the rest of the family. It was fun to hear everyone's different reactions -- Jen almost drove off the road, Ross took a minute to process and then said "yeah, that's news!", and I think Christopher was jumping up and down.

The cruise and the rest of the week were wonderful. No, I couldn't zipwire through the jungle in Belize, but I could lazily float down a river through a series of ancient Mayan caves. Photos above and below are from the trip. Both are from Guatemala - also where Tara bought the baby its first toy, an elephant named "Jorge".