BABY ALERT!!!

The time has finally come!

The time for us to share the sex of little Baby Serrano!

We had such a wonderful visit today and the ultrasound was everything we could have imagined.

We saw the baby's head, the brain, and the little beating heart, with all four chambers!

After that we saw the baby's spine, the strong little femur bones, and the arms floating dreamily in the amniotic fluid.

Then there was the full face, where we saw everything - the eye sockets, the mouth, the nose....

And then finally, we got to the best part.....

We saw the baby's little winkie!

So, we are proud to announce that little Baby Serrano will be a

B O Y ! ! !

Our little guy was such a good model, he turned for the technician as if on cue. We got to see him making chewing motions with his mouth and I swear we saw a little smile :)

We also saw him punch up into my tummy at the exact moment I felt the jab! That was the coolest thing ever to actually see for the first time what my baby was doing at the same time I felt it.

We saw from the top down and the bottom up and saw him curled up into a little sleeping position along the bottom of my uterus.

It was something I couldn't have imagined. We loved it!

New Belly pic - Week 19

Here's a new belly pic of the baby - taken today in the back yard...

Weird stuff, man....

I just found out some very interesting news from a friend of mine in Israel, named Yossi. He and his wife, who were married last year, are also pregnant. Not only that, they are in exactly the same week as me!

That makes 3 people, all in week 19 this week.
Me, Andrea, and Yossi (well, his wife).

How weird is that?

Yossi already knows his baby will be a little girl
Andrea finds out her baby's gender this week. I have no basis for why I think this, but I believe her baby will be a girl too.
I find out my baby's gender one week from today.

Wouldn't it be nice if I had a little boy and already had two great options for future girlfriends for him? LOL!

Houston-bound

As most of you already know, we have decided to relocate to Houston, TX. This was a really difficult decision for us because we absolutely love our home and being in Southern California. But with a baby on the way, frequent travel for me was becoming troublesome, and we'd also like to be nearer to family for support.

So, we made the big decision to make the move to Houston this summer!

The move will be made easier by the fact that I'll continue to work as normal for my company, ePartners. My boss has been very flexibl and considerate in finding a way to make the move happen for us. With my employment situation all lined up, we've been able to focus on how we would transition Alberto.

We've also contracted with a Property Management company to rent out our house here in San Diego. That way we'll keep the property...who knows, we may come back one day!

In preparation for the move, Alberto and I just spent a week in Houston. We drove one of our cars there (1,500 miles and 21 hours!) to leave in Houston so we wouldn't have to worry about transporting with the rest of the stuff. Then we spent the week doing a number of things:

• Looking for a place to live
• Looking for work for Alberto
• Looking for a doctor for baby+me

We got some excellent referrals on all three important tasks from our friends - thank you everyone! Because of all of the help we received, we managed to accomplish all 3 of our goals!

So, we'll be moving to a cute little house in Hyde Park (Montrose/W. Gray area) that was built in 1910, has all hardwood floors and a garage apartment in the back. Dudley will have a little yard in both the front and the back for sunbathing, and a wooden porch outside of the kitchen to watch the squirrels from.

Alberto got some great referrals and and after a few days of calling, finally got connected with a tile company that was so eager for him to get started they actually asked for him to start work the very next day. He managed to wiggle out of that one, but has a standing arangement to start with them once we get into town for good.

Finally, I found a great doctor in the medical center for me and the baby, thanks also to a great referral. Dr. Samuels is a very straightforward and no-nonsense woman who has over 20 years of experience delivering babies. One notable about her in this Olympic summer season is that she is also the doctor for Mary Lou Retton :)

We also had a great time getting to know the area that we'll live in and meeting up with friends for meals and entertainment. Thank you to everyone who was able to share some time with us!

As we were waiting to head back to San Diego on Sunday evening, Alberto and I chatted about how well the week had gone, and how good we feel about the move. Now that everything is in place, and now that Alberto has had some time to get to know the city and what it's like and what it's potential is, we both feel like we're ready for the big event.

We'll be spending the next few weeks packing what we want to take with us and selling the rest. Garage sales are happening this weekend and next, so feel free to stop by and see what we've got!

Third OB visit - 7-7-08

My third OB visit was today, and I met with the nurse practicioner of the office. It was very routine, nothing at all to really remark about.

We heard the heartbeat again - it was 148 beats per minute this time. This is down a little from 160 bpm last time, but she said that it is constantly fluctuating between 120 and 160 bpm.

I asked if we could find out the sex today since I am in week 17 and my next appointment in 4 weeks would actually be past the 20 week mark that they like to do it. They told me no, but instead scheduled my next appointment for 3 weeks from now, so it will be during the 20th week.

So, here is the big news of the day:

We will find out the sex of the baby on Tuesday, July 29 in the afternoon.

Look for updates then!

Week 16 of pregnancy

I am back from another trip to Dallas - arrived Friday night. We spent a very nice weekend relaxing and getting out of the house, which did wonders for my perspective on things. I have become too firmly entrenched in the day to day operations of work and needed to come up for air.

Our biggest secret - no longer a secret!

You may be wondering what took us so long to come back online and post again. (or you may be thankful that you had 2 months off). Whatever the case may be, we had a very good reason for not going online. It's hard to send messages to our family and friends without spilling the beans on the biggest secret around.


But that time has come and gone now, and we are happy to share with you the biggest news of our lives -

we are going to have a baby!


Tomorrow will be the beginning of my 13th week, and I am doing very well. We have confirmed that everything is just fine, and have also been able to hear the baby's heartbeat not once, but twice.

I absolutely refused to believe it at first, and had to take three pregnancy tests just to convince myself of the truth. After wanting this for so long, it's hard to acknowledge that it's finally happened!

But each test showed an immediate positive with absolutely no doubt, so I decided I'd better start taking it seriously :)




Two HcG blood tests from the doctor later, it was confirmed, there's a bun in my oven!

Our first OB Visit

Our first OB Visit was on May 8. Dr. Murillo did a check on our family history for anything she should know about, and then talked to us about what I've been feeling and how things have been going.

After going over a few things, it was time to do the first ultrasound :)

As far as ultrasounds go, I have to say I'm very impressed with mine. My little baby was very helpful in very clearly showing us his shape and form. (by the way, we are calling it a 'he' until we know for sure) I never know what I'm looking at in those blobs, but mine is pretty easy to make out.

Dr Murillo confirmed we were 8 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and said that our due date is going to be December 13, 2008. Another December baby!


Then we listened to the heartbeat and it really was as amazing as people say. I couldn't help but get all teary and Alberto laughed and took my hand in support.

I left the office with a lab slip for a ton of bloodwork to be done, all routine checks on me and the baby at the beginning of the pregnancy.

Our 2nd OB Visit

Yesterday we had our second appointment, and this is when we heard the heart beat again.



This time it was just an audio device, no video, and we had trouble finding him! The doctor called him 'a little stinker' and said that at this point in the pregnancy it's really easy for the baby to evade the sensor because he's still so small and has lots of room to move around.



After about a minute though, his heartbeat came through loud and clear. During one funny moment, she picked up both my heartbeat and the baby's heartbeat, so the room was filled with an odd kind of syncopation.


I also learned that my blood type is O negative, so I have to get a shot at 28 weeks to suppress antibodies that might reject the baby, just in case Alberto has a blood type that might not be compatible with mine and he passed that to the baby. Fun for me.



Otherwise, all of the bloodwork that has been done for cystic fibrosis and every other thing they tested for have all come back fine. I am due for the downs syndrome test next month.



We'll continue to post updates as needed so you can learn what's happening too!