A OK!

Hello everyone! Sorry it has taken so long to get back on the writing wagon. We are doing pretty well. You can see that the baby is growing more and more with each passing week. We will hit the 6 month mark on Tuesday.

We are in the states now so we have been overwhelmed with registering for a couple of baby showers that we will have while here. Jennifer and I both think that registering for stuff that our baby girl will play with and use is much more fun than when we registered for our wedding showers. I think that is especially true for registering for a little girl. Everything is so cute and cuddly. With all the pink that will be floating around I sure hope there wasn't a mistake in the ultrasound!

Anyway, the baby is good. We had an ultrasound about 2 weeks ago to check her heart. The doctor told us that she gets an A++! We are happy to know that all is well with her. Please keep praying for an uneventful pregnancy - especially since we are in the states and our doctor is in Brazil.

Updates

There are a few new things to update you on:

1. Place of birth - We had been in "bad" standing with the Brazilian government concerning our visas since last October. We had hope that everything would work out and that we would be permitted to stay in Brazil, but we really didn't know what to expect. Being in transition like that with a baby on the way is pretty stressful. We literally had no idea what country our little girl was to be born in. Well, we are now in "good" standing with the Brazilian government and are permitted to stay in Porto Alegre. So, our first baby will be born in Brazil.
   
2. A new sensation - While we were sitting at the Federal Police last week waiting to be talked to Jennifer said that she was feeling the baby move. She has felt the baby more over the last couple of weeks. This typically occurs when Jennifer is lying down to go to sleep at night. This time, since I was awake, I reached over and put my hand on her belly. She repositioned my hand just in time to get a little kick! It was awesome! It was something that I don't know how to describe for those of you who haven't experienced this before. At first, you are thinking "this is kind of creepy". You begin to think of the movie "Alien". Then your mind is settled on the precious life that is right there and how you are having your first experience communicating. It is unreal!
   
3. "Can you hear me now?" - The doctor told us the other day that we are at a point in the pregnancy where I may be able to hear the baby's heartbeat by placing my ear against Jennifer's abdomen. I feel very previledge that I am the only one who can experience this (Jennifer hasn't been able to touch her ear to her stomach in quite some time and I don't think she will allow lines to form for this one).
   
4. Welcome to the party! - We learned yesterday that Jennifer's brother and his wife are expecting their first child too! How cool is that! Jennifer's parents will get their first two grandbabies 2 months apart (June and August 2006).
   
5. Name game - We have spent a lot of time discussing name options for our little girl. We have been favoring one, but still are not sure. We want to wait until the baby is born before we give her a name. We want to look at her and feel that the name chosen is the right fit. The name we are favoring has a really cool meaning - so it just might be the one to stick (Jennifer is 90% sure and I am 95% sure). We will just have to wait and see.

Watching in Amazement

After numerous viewings of the ultrasound video that we recently required it is really starting to hit me that we are having a little girl! Without a doubt, seeing our baby flip and turn about and make spacelike movements is the coolest thing I have ever seen. She looks tall. Her arms and legs are really long when she stretches out. Because the ultrasound is a type of x-ray you can clearly see her bones. It is easy to recognize all her fingers and toes. You can see the two bones in each of her forearms. Everything about this precious baby is wonderful. There are a few moments when she pokes her face up to the TV screen as if to say "hello!" At one point you can see one of her little ears! We have seen her open and close her mouth and make a grip with her little fists. I think the neatest thing we have seen her do is cross her legs at her ankles. Jennifer and I both cross our legs at our ankles when we sleep on our backs and when we are sitting. To see our baby do the same thing is amazing! During the ultrasound the doctor points out her kidneys, bladder, stomach, and heart; all of which are functioning perfectly. I am literally swept away by the awesome power of our Creator and the delicacy of our baby girl. I am really excited about being a father to this little person; helping her become who she will be in the future. I pray that God will give Jennifer and me patience,wisdom, strength and love. I know we have the latter for sure!

Anyway, I feel my self starting to ramble. Just wanted to share my thoughts on how amazing it is to watch our little girl. Can't wait to see her up close and personal. Just 4.5 more months!

It's a ...

Well, after our ultra sound today we feel with certainty that we are having a little girl! We had a video made so we can watch it over and over to make sure! We are surprised because we both thought that we were having a boy. I really don't think that either one of us could be happier though. It has been a good day for us. We really needed it too with all the anxiety and frustration that we have had over our visa troubles. Jennifer and I are releaved to be having a girl in Brazil for a couple of reasons that I said I would share in an earlier blog.

1. It is rare for baby boys to be circumcised in Brazil. It is a big ordeal trying to find someone like a Rabbi to perform the procedure. Most Brazilians think that it is cruel and unnecissary. That little difference of opinion has led to some interesting conversations :).
   
2. Having a baby in Brazil means that the child will have duel citizenship. Our daughter will be a Brazilian American. Pretty crazy. Boys automatically are registered with the government and must serve in the military when they turn 18 years old. If we had a boy we would have to go through a nightmare of paperwork and maintain it to get him out of having to serve in the Brazilian Armed Forces. This would be the case even if we moved back to the US!

We would have been happy either way, but we really kind of wanted to start our family with a girl. She won't have a big brother to chase away the punks that want a date, but I'm sure that I can put on an intimidating face if I need to ;).

Anyway, we are pumped! We are thinking about names and wondering about how to decorate her room. It is a lot of fun. By the way, no names will be revealed until our precious gift from God arrives. We want to make sure that her name fits her face. We don't want to name her "Julia" if she looks like a "Molly". You know what I mean? So, stay tuned for updates. She is really growing. I will try to post some pictures of Jennifer soon so that you can see some evidence.

Tchau

18 Weeks

Well, it has been a while since I last blogged. There really hasn't been a whole lot to report. Today Jennifer completes the 18th week of pregnancy. We should be able to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl by now. We have an appointment to find out tomorrow! We are both really anxious to discover the sex of our baby. We hope that there is full cooperation. Stay tuned to find out what we are having...

Here is another excerpt from babycenter.com. It is pretty interesting information.

Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

-He better not!

Baby's first picture!

Here is a picture from our last ultrasound. Just click on the thumbnail and you can clearly see the baby.

This picture is mainly focused on the little guy's head. It is a profile of the right side. You can see his little nose, mouth, chin, cheek, eye, and ear.

Even though we don't know the sex of the baby I am referring to him as a "he" in this blog. It sounds better than using "baby" or "it" so much. I will be sure to post more pictures as we get them.

Enjoy!

Ultrasound #2

Tuesday we had our 2nd ultrasound. The first ultrasound was pretty big because that was how we discovered we are pregnant. This one's purpose was to make sure that the baby is growing normally and that the spinal column is fine. In the United States I think that it is pretty typical to have just 1 or 2 ultrasounds. Brazil does things a little differently. This was the 2nd of maybe 5 or 6 ultrasounds. Healthcare isn't nearly as expensive, so it allows us to do more things like this.

I have seen several ultrasounds on tv and in the movies, but nothing can compare to seeing your unborn child moving around in your wife's tummy. We could clearly see the baby's little nose (looks like mine), ears, arms and legs. We could see the baby's spine and brain and it's powerful heart. Everything looked perfect! Even though it is too early to know the sex of the baby (just finished the 1st trimester) we thought it looked an awful lot like a boy. The doc did say that little boys and little girls look the same at this point. We will probably find out if the baby is a boy or a girl in about 6 weeks.

One of the coolest parts of the ultrasound was when the baby woke up, rolled over, and stretched it's little legs! He/she really got active and started moving around quite a lot. It was pretty amazing. Jennifer can't feel the baby moving around inside her just yet, but this baby looks like it will give her plenty of chances in the near future. He/she has grown to be about the size of a lime (5cm from head to bottom). Speaking of bottom; the baby turned at one point and practically mooned us! It is a natural!

Jennifer is starting to show a little and is looking so cute. I think she is the most beautiful pregnant woman I have ever seen! (Hope you read this sweety!) She is finding that her clothes are tighter with each passing day. Needless to say, she has hit a few online stores looking for a new maturnity wardrobe. She is feeling pretty good; not quite as nauseated but is still pretty tired. I think that she is excited to be moving into the 2nd trimester where things will be easier and she will feel better. We do feel blessed that she hasn't been nearly as miserable as some women do.

Well, this is all for now. I will continue to keep you "posted".

-Tchau

Our little kumquat!

Babycenter.com has great information and gives us a weekly update on the baby's development. Here is what the site had to say about our baby as we begin week 10:

Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she now has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body rapidly grow and mature. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function (although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy). Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear.During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will later recede to give her a more human appearance. Each day, more minute details — including tiny fingernails, toenails, and peach-fuzz hair — start to appear on her body. Her fingers are now completely separated; her arms bend at the elbow and curve slightly; her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart; her legs are lengthening; and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. She is busily swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking her legs.If you could take a peek at your baby this week, you'd be able to clearly see the outline of her spine through her parchment-thin skin. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord.

I find the information that I read on the development of the baby so amazing. God is pretty amazing in His design of life. He knows exactly what he is doing at each intregal part of our growth. Jennifer and I love talking about how for 6 weeks the only beings who knew that our baby exsisted were God and our baby. Now the only beings who know if our baby is a boy or a girl are God and our baby. I love thinking that there is already a relationship between our Lord and our baby. I pray every night that the Lord would grow this baby and bless him with health and that he would grow to know and honor the Lord.

I think that the word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 is more powerful to me now than it ever has been. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..." Powerful stuff! I know that the Lord knows and is blessing our little kumquat.

The Discovery...

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about how we found out that we are pregnant. He encouraged me to blog the story for everyone to read. So, here is the story of how we discovered that we are having a baby.

On November 4th Jennifer had an appointment to have an ultrasound. I normally don't go to doctors appointments with her, but I knew the location of this particular lab since I had been there once before. So, I drove her and was prepared, with book in hand, to sit in the waiting room.

Jennifer had been in with the doctor for a few minutes when a nurse came out and began speaking with the receptionist. I could overhear them speaking about Jennifer, but I couldn't understand what all they were saying (they were talking in low whispers – in Portuguese). They both looked over at me and asked if I was Jennifer's husband. I nodded and they motioned for me to follow them to where Jennifer was. This made me a little nervous. I was thinking that they found something wrong with her. She had taken a pregnancy test a couple of weeks earlier that came back negative. Being pregnant was the last thing on my mind (it doesn't help that I am pessimistic about health issues most of the time). I walked into the room that Jennifer was in and she said, "I just thought you would want to see your baby!" I was in shock! I couldn't believe it! I sat next to her and watched as the doctor pointed the baby out to us on a monitor.

During the exam, instead of finding something wrong with Jennifer, they had found an "embriãozinho" (little embryo)! Right off the bat we were blessed to see our baby – only about the size of a pea at that point; and hear its little heartbeat! It was an amazing way to find out that we were going to be parents. Needless to say, the rest of that day was pretty exciting. We were on an emotional high unlike any other and I don't expect that we'll come down any time soon.

8 weeks

Well, we've reached the 8th week mark. Jennifer is doing well, but is tired and a little nauscious. The baby is growing into a little person now. According to BabyCenter our baby's fingers and toes are growing longer, her eyelids are pracitcally covering her eyes, and her embryonic tail is just about gone. The baby is about the size of a kidney bean, or roughly a half inch in length. We won't be able to tell the sex of the baby for several more weeks, but the BabyCenter site says that "many moms-to-be say they have an inkling early on - and often they're right!" Right now Jennifer's inkling is that the baby is a boy. Believe it or not, a boy would actually be a little more complicated. We both want a little girl, but will shout for joy either way. I will save the details of the complicated issues that boys bring in Brazil for another post.