22 week ultrasound plus some other cool stuff

The past couple of weeks have been pretty eventful for us! Last week we had the "Big" ultrasound. Which we found very interesting, and fun. They checked everything, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. All fingers and toes are present and the baby looks very healthy and strong! The heartbeat was 158, and all of Cletus's organs looked good. We were very excited to hear all of this of course. The ultrasound tech kept the sex from us well, although it was hard to tell what was what anyways. At the end of the scan she had us look away to check that area. She said she already knew though, so clearly we had no idea what we were looking at the whole time. She gave us a few pictures which are below. She told us Cletus was being shy, so unfortunately the pictures aren't very clear.

The weekend before the ultrasound was Lauren's birthday! We didn't do a whole lot, but it was a good day. The highlight of the day was definitely Melting Pot, which is a favorite of our's. We've gone there for several big occasions ever since college when we were dating. It was a great dinner and a fun time. Lauren had a virgin pina colada with dinner.

The next day we decided to go to breakfast and do some baby shopping. On a tip from our good friend Jamie, we hit up Burlington Coat factory (which I would have never guessed had baby stuff). They had the cutest bedding stuff, and we really liked this turtle themed bedding. We liked the jungle theme idea, but we really liked the turtles. We wanted to check out Babies R Us first (of course). After looking around there and not being too excited about any of the themes, we decided we were definitely stuck on the Turtle theme! After starting our registry at Babies R Us we went back and registered for the Turtle bedding at Burlington Coat Factory. We are really excited about it. So if you see any turtle themed stuff let us know!

Last weekend, we saw Lauren's parents and they gave us their gift to us for the baby. An awesome stroller and car seat travel system. It's really nice and we are very grateful for their generosity.

This past week Lauren was a little sick again. They were painting at her office and as you can imagine, the paint fumes didn't help. She is feeling a little better now, but we are laying low this weekend.

Halfway Point!

It's been a while since our last posting. We've been busy, but that's not really an excuse for slacking.

I started work in January, and it has gone really well so far. I'm really busy, which is definitely a good thing. It didn't really feel real for a couple weeks, but once I got my first paycheck and got to know some people, I started to settle in.

Lauren had the 16 week appointment a few weeks ago, and it went well. Lauren got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and it was very strong. Lauren's mom, Kathy went with her which was great, since I couldn't make. I was bummed that I missed it, but was glad to hear the baby was doing well.

This week marks the 20th week of the pregnancy, which means we're halfway there! This month has really flown by. A couple of weeks ago, Lauren caught a virus, and ended up with a sinus and an ear infection. She went to the doctor and got some medicine and is feeling a lot better. She went to the baby doctor and made sure everything was ok, and once again the baby was good. The heartbeat was at 155 beats/minute, which is about where it has been every time.

Last weekend we painted the baby's room. We've posted a couple of pictures for you. We decided on green. It's "gender neutral" since we're going to keep the baby's gender a surprise. We are very excited about the way it turned out, especially with the crib, changing table and rocker that we got. Let us know what you think! Lauren is thinking about doing a jungle animal theme in there which I think would be awesome.

We are really anxious about the next few weeks. We have the 20 week baby appointment on Friday, Feb 19th. And then, our 22 week ultra sound is coming up quickly. Our appointment is March 3. We are very excited about seeing Cletus again. And we will post new pictures as soon as we get them.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Announcement

We would like to welcome you to our new Blog. We are very excited! Not just because we want the world to know what's up with the Root's, but because it is now more than just Lauren and I. That's right, the Root family is growing! We're expecting!!! The baby is due July 5th, but we are kind of hoping for a Independence Day baby!

So, we found out we were pregnant around Halloween...Pregnancy tests are tricky little things, so after going through two different brands and a couple days of testing, we were finally convinced. It didn't sink in until the doctor confirmed it the next day though. (Actually, I'm not sure it has really sunk in for either of us yet). We have been to a couple of appointments since then. At week 9, just after Thanksgiving, we had an ultrasound done. The picture is below. We got to see and hear our baby's heartbeat. That was one of the coolest moments in both of our lives. One of the best Christmas presents we received this year was being able to hear the heartbeat of our baby for the second time, two days before Christmas, at our third appointment.
Lauren told me a couple weeks before we found out that she felt weird and that she thought she was pregnant. I told her she was crazy, because we had literally just stopped "preventing" and there was no way it had happened that quickly. Come to find out Lauren is very in tune with her body. She has had, what sounds like, a pretty normal first trimester. She felt very strange in the beginning, and was sick on and off for a few weeks. She hasn't really had any weird cravings, but I've ran to the store a few times to pick up some things that sounded good to her. No pickle flavored ice cream though, at least not yet. She has starting feeling a lot better the last couple of weeks and it shows. She told me it almost doesn't feel real any more, because she's only showing a little bit and the major symptoms have subsided for the most part. She is still tired a lot, but that has gotten better also. She did make it until midnight on New Year's Eve, which I was proud of.

We have had a ton of support from our family and friends. Which is very humbling, and we thank God for all of you. Our parents are very excited to be grandparents. Ian, Zach, and Brittany are super excited to be aunts and uncles.

We have decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise. We didn't want to call the baby "it", but Brittany, cleverly, came up with "Cletus the fetus" and after a good laugh, it stuck.

These past couple of weeks we've really started getting more prepared. We have been very excited about getting stuff for the baby's room. She has been watching craigslist like a hawk, and has found some great stuff for us to use in the nursery. So far we've collected a crib and matching changing table, glider, bassenette, and pack-n-play. All for great deals.

We are now at week 15 of our 40 week (plus or minus) journey, just starting the second trimester. Our lives are about to change forever and we are so excited to share with you! We will do our best to keep everyone posted along the path.


-----------------Addition to first post. -- January 17, 2010--------------------

Well, it has been an eventful week and will continue to be eventful this week to come. On Monday January 11th, Josh's birthday, he got a call at 8:30 in the morning to inform him that he got the job with Jacobs in their downtown office. You can imagine what a relief that was for both of us. Josh starts work tomorrow morning at 7:30. So in turn, tomorrow morning I will officially feel comfortable telling my office the big news. I thought about waiting another week, but I just can't do it. We were nervous to make our announcement before I had told my boss, so now that he knows, we finally feel safe posting our big news for everyone.

I have a follow up appointment for my knee Tuesday afternoon. This recovery has been very tough. A little over a month ago, I started getting a lot of pain in my knee and they restricted the amount of walking I could do. I don't sit still well, so the fact that I can't even walk much without pain has been really frustrating. I have my next baby appointment on Wednesday. I am 16 weeks tomorrow. This will be the first appointment that Josh will miss. We decided he shouldn't miss any work his first week, so my mom is going to head up from Steamboat to fill in. Thanks mom!

Love, Lauren and Josh