SOOO you know those people who say there going to do something and ..well.. they don't.... Well apparently we have somehow become those people. Yes we are woefully delinquent on our blog postings (so much for weekly updates) In our defense it has been a pretty busy few weeks with work schedule changes, fatigue, and a wedding in that time frame. Here's hoping those of you who are following along and checking in will forgive us and take solace in the multiple postings we now provide for your reading pleasure.

So heres the lay of the land. Below are postings relevant to each week we have missed and some subsequent background info on any happenings that week, as well as a picture for that weeks view of "Bump", as our little gender neutral addition has affectionately been named. (No that will NOT be the poor bugger's name!!! but we are reserving the right to use it as a potentially embarrassing nickname later in life. Every parent needs a little future leverage right??!!)

Alright so here goes......




17 WEEKS



We would like to think that each week has an abundance of interesting things to blog about, however not so much. Week 17 was, well, a typical week with no real surprises. It was during this time that we came up with the nickname "Bump" from some mutual friends of ours " Thank you Jess and Andy!!". As an aside, Jess is 10 weeks ahead of us and currently at the 30 week mark with a baby girl on the way ( Andy DEFINITELY has his work cut out for him in a house full of ladies....Good luck, brother...;) )









As you can see Mama's Bump has been progressing right along nicely. Our reference guide gave us some info on Bump's likely appearance. Baby is about 9 inches long and about 8 ounces and is developing the Vernix. Lets just call it Bump's raincoat for a long 40 week soak. OH !! did I mention the bladder tapping!! Seems this week our little one just found this really neat ballon to play with... Mama was definitely impressed with that find!









18 WEEKS



We (meaning Donlyn, of course) can put this week down in the books as the week that Bump went 10 rounds with both the ovaries and the bladder... Don't think I need to tell you who is winning..... Bump's love taps have been getting stronger and a bit more frequent. Neither of us have been able to feel movements from the outside yet but believe you me no problems feeling them from the inside.












It is really amazing for both of us to watch as this life grows bigger by the day. As of this week, we were informed that depending on the sex of Bump, ovaries have formed or testes have formed and begun to drop. We are also noticing that Bump seems to have periods of sleep or rest and periods of activity. Sounds by all accounts things are right on track!!







Thought we might include this picture for a little Mama's perspective. " Hey is that a toe growing out of your belly button??!!" It looks like this is the last holdout remaining to be seen beyond the ever-growing belly. And the weeks keep on ticking away......





19 WEEKS



19 weeks found us a bit on edge. After feeling this little one move about for the better part of 4 weeks, there was suddenly no movement felt at all. We were quite worried that something was wrong. Even though we had an appointment the next day, the nurse had us come in right away to do a fetal heart rate check. Sure enough, she easily found the heart beat. It was a very strong 150 BPM and she even felt Bump push back against the doppler!









She told us it was very common at this stage of pregnancy to go from feeling a lot of baby movement to none at all. There is a ton of amniotic fluid in there and only a teeny tiny baby in comparison. This means that the baby's movements are absorbed by the space before there is time to feel them.









With our minds at ease, we went home. It turns out that three days of worrying with little sleep will exhaust an already tired momma-to-be. Bozley sensed this need for rest and immediately (after his excitement at welcoming us home) jumped up on mama's lap to help with the resting by protecting Bump with his body. It looks like this pup is starting to warm to this whole baby thing. Trust us, that has not always been the case, but that is a blog in and of itself...for another time.

Its been a long road...BABY...

We've decided it's finally time to announce that we're pregnant! Ok, Phil's not pregnant, but he's definitely starting to look that way!! :o) But on a more serious note, we wanted to start a blog for those people who are far away and for those that we have not had the chance to tell of our luck and fortune. We also hope that this blog will serve as a record for our unborn child to look back upon one day, and realize the craziness that he or she has put us through! But more importantly, to see a part of his or her life that few of us have ever gotten a true chance to see and understand. We also hope, for those of you with interest, that you will follow along and share with us as we venture on this journey and become a family of not two...but three...

WARNING: Some people may find the following extremely boring (this is aimed more for the people who are just learning of our pregnancy). Please feel free to skip the next few paragraphs as we will be recapping some of the highlights of the first few months. With that said...

So, it's June 9th, and Phil receives a most hysterical phone call at the hospital where he works. His wife is on the other end, freaking out and mumbling a lot of gibberish; something about a tornado and he has to come home right now! (note to the reader, Donlyn is deathly afraid of tornadoes... in Maine... go figure...) He calms her down enough to get out of her that she is not physically hurt and agrees to come home for a short time to find out what's really going on. When he gets home, Donlyn is lying in bed still crying, apologizing for making Phil come home. There is no tornado. She's had a really lousy day. Oh, and by the way, we're pregnant ... (waterworks... again...) (and stunned silence...) And so the journey began...



The next few weeks were a blur, waiting for doctor's appointments and not really believing that we were expecting. Had we known this process would take nearly 18 months, we might have bought stock in pee sticks. Phil was able to be present for the very first dating ultrasound. (baby is due January 31st but we all know how that goes!) But missed the first appointment with the doctor because he thought it would be a good time to leave on his 29-day yearly Navy obligation. (just kidding, honey! this trip was planned well before we knew. and P.S. did we mention Donlyn's absolute dislike of everything hospital??) Donlyn spent the month of July traveling back and forth to her family camp every weekend because being alone and sick at the same time just kinda sucks! Phil got home at the end of July (right around 14 weeks) just after the second ultrasound which was for a sequential screening to rule out spina bifida and downs syndrome. (the title image is from this ultrasound) Since then, we've had a blast watching mommy's belly grow before our eyes (not to mention, the fun of watching mommy gag at the sight of random foods too! woo hoo!)

That's our story in a nutshell! Our plan is to attempt weekly updates, or sooner if interesting events occur. Tuesday is the start of a new week and so tomorrow we will be at 16 weeks. So take a look below at a few pictures of how things are growing, and please keep checking in with us for updated pictures and stories. Oh and feel free to comment ...




15 weeks 6 days




15 weeks 6 days
(pretty impressive belly, huh??)