The Sweet Pea's Page

I'm "borrowing" this idea from one of my pregnant pals because it is such a great idea and can act like a little journal that I can just print out to add to a baby book later. :) Below you'll find the significant milestones in our pregnancy...enjoy!

August 14, 2006: First day of the last visit from Aunt Florence I had.

August 25, 2006: We're pretty sure this is when the little pea got his/her shot at life. :)

August 28, 2006: Grandma Rocco's birthday!

September 7, 2006: Significant because it marks the day that I took my last dose of progesterone and the last dose of thyroid medication I took for that cycle...which matters because I was pretty sure that all the weird symptomology I had was due to my being a slug and not making it to the pharmacy.

September 9, 2006: Mark's birthday - little did he know that the best present he could receive was on it's way!

September 11, 2006: Grandpa Rocco's birthday!

September 25, 2006 (week 6): The big day when we were suprised with the news that in a few short months we would not only be Mark and MeLissa but also mommy and daddy! :) Here's the first glimpse of our little sweet pea (click to enlarge) who was a massive 6 mm long....

September 26, 2006: Like clockwork, whether due to my brain, the power of suggestion (the doctor said if I could make it just one more week, I'd be probably miss out on morning sickness) or otherwise, I headed into the land of morning, noon and night sickness. I'm thankful that this time around it was for a good cause!

September 30, 2006: Our first trip inside a Babies R Us store where we bought one thing - preggie pops. These are pretty tasty candies that are supposed to ease the morning sickness symptoms. I'm not sure how given their ingredients, but they do taste good. ;) I like the orange ones best.

October 1, 2006: Our first trip to church since finding out we were going to have a baby. Our little sweet pea received his/her first blessing from Father Rob as part of mommy's blessing since she can't really do communion anymore given the wheat and decided not to partake of the wine even though a tiny amount probably wouldn't harm the pea. Why take risks? :)

October 2, 2006 (week 7): My first pregnancy craving - chili. It turned out to be a bad idea giving into that impulse. This was the only time that I vomitted...but that wasn't the only payback. I got to feel sick and have tons of asthma problems for the next few days. Yippie! :)

October 9, 2006 (week 8): Our first official pre-natal visit (the first was a surprise remember?) where we asked all sorts of questions and got some nice answers like the fact that we can travel up to February 1. We also were able to see our little one again and we're looking a little more interesting though not much. However, he/she has grown to be 19mm! Way to go sweet pea...who now is called sprout by daddy.
The doctor also gave me some meds to help with heartburn but these ended up making me feel more nauseous...not so much fun that so we're only using them when I'm really really bad.

October 18, 2006 (week 9): My first maternity shopping spree. I found some very cute outfits at Motherhood Maternity in the Pleasanton mall. Today was also Grandad Allen's birthday!

October 19: 2006: Our first pregnancy scare. I had some spotting and a little tenderness in the baby's living quarters. We made a fast break over to the doctor's office and everything was just fine. In fact, we even were able to get a few more pictures of our little girl/guy who had grown to a whopping 28 mm! You can see that she's a friendly sort and gave us a wave in one of them. Another nifty thing about this impromptu visit is that we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was pretty neat since Mark finally got to enjoy a tangible bit of the pregnancy process!

October 20, 2006: Maternity shopping spree number 2: Japanese Weekend on Santana Row. A chic little boutique maternity shop that had many articles that I was happy to add to my closet. lots of these are great and should work even after the little one comes out. :)

October 24, 2006 (week 10): I started a job search on September 24 by calling up my old Safeway boss. things didn't work out with them but on this day, I selected a new job with a firm who's already looking into ways to make it so that I can be home with the sweet pea as much as possible while still making money for our family to live on. I will start on November 1. The doctor who wasn't so crazy about my wedding business will be mighty pleased. :)

October 25, 2006: In an attempt to cure yet another food craving - doughnuts, I found a recipe and made a batch that didn't have anything I was allergic to. Unfortunately, this craving led to me feeling quite sick since the oil temperature called for was much too low and the doughnuts ended up being greasy sponges. Not so tasty...I may resist future cravings...or I may just try to make doughnuts again with higher oil temperature.

October 27, 2006: At our regularly scheduled pre-natal visit, our doctor had a look at the little one and took a few more pictures. We love that he shares them so well with us! :) On this visit we were able to see the little monkey (a little nickname from the doctor) just squirming around and being ornery. He had a heck of a time trying to a get a listen in on the baby's heart with all that wiggling. We did get a few more waves and were able to catch a glimpse of a little footsie - way cute. Little eyes were also visible...we won't know about the aniridia potential until after the baby's born...


October 30, 2006 (week 11): The end of morning, noon and night sickness seems to be upon us. Unfortunately, a higher incidence of heartburn seems to have come in its place. And, of course, I am now ridiculously ravenous.

November 1, 2006: The first day back in an office. It's definitely not nearly as pleasant as staying home and I'm definitely interested in finding ways to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible even though I did negotiate a semi-suitable arrangement to work 3 days and be off two once the little sweet pea is here...we'll see where we go.

November 4, 2006: Yet another attempt at eating something I shouldn't. This time the craving was for spaghetti. Had I not wolfed down a ton of it, things probably would have went better. :) It sure was good, though...and it stayed in my tummy so that's an improvement over the chili!

November 8, 2006: I faced off against a mosquito while trying to catch some much needed Zs. I ended up with a bite. He ended up splatted all over our bedroom wall. That will teach 'im!

November 10, 2006 (week 12 - the last first trimester week!): So we made it to the 12th week and things seem to be going just peachy keen. To celebrate my new job, the recruiters who placed me took me to lunch at a neat little place called the Yacht Club. As an added bonus, we were seated at a table right next to football legend Joe Montana - not too shabby! :)

November 15, 2006 (week 13): Today I did a nuchal translucency scan and a blood test to see what our risk for Down's Syndrome and other disorders is. We'll know the results in about a week, but until then, I got a few more glimpses at our cute little guy or gal! Here's a couple of the best shots!
This is probably my favorite shot to date. I just love how it looks like the little one is scratching his/her little head. I figure it is because he/she is wondering where all the space went since I was having contractions that day...just practice ones, thankfully!

November 22, 2006 (week 14): Little sweet pea's screening came back with the thumbs up sign. Our risk of spinal abnormalities and other chromosomal disorders is very much decreased!

November 23, 2006: Thanksgiving meal preparations were a lot more draining on mommy this year. She never realized it took that much energy to put a meal on the table!

Nobvember 28, 2006 (week 15): Mommy caught a bug! Who knows what it was, but it was awful and she ended up losing 5 pounds in one day. She even shared with daddy who managed to feel just fine after one night of tossing cookies. At least it was kind of nice to be able to stay home with Pixie for 3 days...

November 29, 2006: Uh oh! Daddy caught mommy's bug! Lucky for him, he got over it in about 1/2 a day!

December 1, 2006: Mommy's birthday! Daddy had a birthday party for her and lots of her friends stopped by!

December 3, 2006: Mommy and Daddy went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We hope baby enjoyed the show!

December 6, 2006 (week 16): I had my AFP screening. Results should come back negative...but there's a bit of a lag since I changed insurance.

December 20, 2006 (week 18): We now know that our precious little sweet pea is a little boy!

January 12, 2007 (week 21): The sprout (as he's now more often called - Mark wins!) has made his presence known. It was a funny little sensation that I can't really describe, but it made me giggle. A couple of days later he did some synchronized swimming moves to express his delight that I'd had oatmeal waffles and blueberry sauce for breakfast - this kid has great taste! :)