Emily Kathryn Thomas

Lori took pictures of the ultrasound photos with her camera so she could e-mail them to us. Now we don't have to wait for them to get here in the mail. I thought I'd share them :)

I'm a GIRL!!! (the three white lines are what you're looking for!)


Abdomen


A great profile shot! :)


Shhhhhhh


I think she's sucking her thumb in this one :)


Another profile of our beautiful baby!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We found out this morning that we'll be bringing home a little baby GIRL! Eric and I are so excited!! I thought it was going to be a boy, but it seemed like everyone else was thinking pink, and they were right :) I am so incredibly happy to be getting a daughter! Eric would not guess either way because he didn't want to get into the mindset of having one and then it turn out to be the other, but he was talking the other night about how he'd be cleaning his gun if and when any future boys come over, lol!!!

Her name will be Emily Kathryn Thomas. I'm so happy I can refer to the baby has "her" or "Emily" now instead of "it."

Lori said they saw things from multiple angles, and she's definitely all girl. I think she wanted to be VERY sure because her last baby, Amy, was supposed to be a boy, and we all found out the day of the delivery that HE was a SHE!!! So, the MD got a lot of good shots to prove she's a she! Everything else looked perfect. Developing just as she should be, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver...all perfect. Lori is convinced she'll be a soccer player as much and as hard as she kicks! :)

So, now we can go out and get our chair rail to paint pink :) We can also start ordering our airplane decals for the walls!

I am on Cloud 9 right now. It seems like just when you think things can't get any better, they do!!

I'll be posting more ultrasound pictures as soon as they arrive. Lori said they got about 6 great ones that she'll send! I can't wait to see them!

YAY!!!!

20 Weeks...Half Way There!!!!

We're at the half way point! Tomorrow is the big day when we find out if we're having a son or a daughter. I really don't care either way. Right now, the only thing about having a girl is the abundance of frilly dresses and cute clothes, but they've come a long way in the boy's department too. Either way...I hope to be hitting Babies R Us tomorrow for a little shopping :)

Here are some interesting facts about baby at 20 weeks:

The baby is about 7 in (crown to rump) and 10 inches head to toe! Weight comes in around 10.5 oz. The baby is about the size of a cantaloupe!! This week the heart is growing stronger and may be heard from the outside by a stethoscope (I think I'll bring mine to CA with me next month!). The baby's immune system is beginning to form as maternal antibodies are transferred to the baby through the placenta. The senses are continuing to strengthen as the baby prepares for life outside of the womb.

Eric and I finally finished the baby's dresser. I'm attaching some pictures so you can see the before and after. I think it turned out really cute and will work perfectly in the nursery!

I'll post again tomorrow, hopefully to let you all know the sex of the baby :) Keep your fingers crossed that he/she cooperates! :)

Jenny


Before (when the dresser was in our room)


After





A fresh coat of paint and some knobs and it looks like new :)

19 Weeks

On Wednesday the baby was 19 weeks! Here are some interesting facts about what he/she is doing now...

The baby is approximately 6-6.5 inches long and weighs in at 8.5-9 oz, over half a pound! It's about the size of a mango!

It seems this week is focused heavily on brain development! The brain is quickly developing motor neurons which means movements are becoming more voluntary and purposeful. The areas of the brain which will hold the baby's senses of taste, hearing, vision and touch are also forming.

Whether the baby is a boy or a girl, his or her own reproductive tract is now fully formed and ready to produce the next generation...though that better not be for at least another 20-30 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric and I are anxiously waiting for Thursday! Lori e-mailed to let us know her appointment is in the morning and that she'll be calling us right after! She said she'll be drinking her one allotted caffeinated beverage for the day in the morning in hopes it'll get the baby moving and give us a good shot! Lori seems to be doing well. Her morning sickness has almost completely subsided, but has had it's place taken by heartburn (...old wives tale...maybe the baby has a lot of hair??!! LOL). She says the baby is moving a lot, and kicks like crazy. The other night she was on the couch and the baby kicked so hard she saw her shirt move! I got an e-mail from her the other day asking, "Can you please tell your kid to stop kicking me!" HAHA. I love getting all of the updates from her. I'm traveling out to CA at the end of August for Patti's birthday and will get to see Lori while I'm there. I can't wait to see her, and hopefully feel my baby move for the first time!!

Lori sends me pictures of her growing bump so we can see how big the baby is getting. I love seeing the progression. Here are the pictures I've gotten so far.


Eric and I will need to purchase our plane tickets soon so we can go out for the delivery. We'll need a ticket home from CA since we're driving there and leaving the car at Thanksgiving. The ticket to CA we'll almost definitely have to change the date on...so we have to see what the policy is on that. Otherwise, we'll just have to purchase and go at the same time! We've never travelled with a pet...so I hope Champ does ok. He's smallish...but has such long legs that he won't fit into the size of kennel that is allowed in the cabin of the plane. He'll have to ride as checked luggage :( Luckily it's not a super long flight!

In other news, my best friend, Liz, gave birth to her daughter, Abigail, via c-section on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 6:43pm here in Colorado. I was lucky enough to be her labor and delivery nurse. It was a surreal experience. I've been in over one hundred deliveries, but this one was special and I'm really happy I could be there for her. Abigail is a beautiful baby with a full head of black hair!! Mommy, daddy and baby are all doing great! I'm attaching a few pictures.

The Lin's first family photo. Cy, Liz and Abigail.



About to get her hair washed for the first time!!



Abby Sleeping



Eric holding Abigail (this one gets me even more excited about December! I can't wait to see him holding our baby!)




Me and Abigail


It has been an eventful and happy week! I'm more excited than ever for December to come (though we still have a lot to do). I can't wait to meet our little baby, and eventually see him or her playing with Abigail. There are a lot of fun times ahead!


--Jenny

We Hired An Adoption Laywer

Today Eric and I contacted a lawyer who will help us with all of the legal aspects of the adoption. We learned last week that we do not need to go through an adoption agency as we were first told. In Colorado, kinship adoptions by grandparents, brothers or sisters, and aunts and uncles are not required to use an agency. In fact, you don't even HAVE to hire a lawyer but because the forms are written in legal speak, which neither Eric nor I understand, we thought it best to go with an expert. One of the RN's I work with has a husband who is a lawyer. He is giving us a significant discount because I work with his wife. Compared to the >$7,000 we'd be paying the agency, the lawyer's fee of $500-$1000 seems quite reasonable. He said court fees in Colorado typically run up to $225, but we will also have to file adoption papers in California, since that is where the baby will be born, and he doesn't yet know what those will run us. Right now he is looking at the adoption statutes in California to see what kind of hoops we will have to jump through there. Because the adoption is being strongly supported by everyone involved, the process should be pretty easy. He had mentioned that in Colorado there is a right to grandparent visitation, which I said would be absolutely no problem at all. Eric and I will also be able to file a petition to waive our home study, which will be nice and save us additional money. I believe the home study was close to $1,500 and required multiple visits with a social worker before and after the baby is born. I completely understand the necessity for these things in any adoption other than a designated kinship adoption, but we didn't feel it was necessary in this case. Lori and Richard know what we are like and what kind of home we will provide and if they felt it wasn't right for the baby they never would have asked us to adopt in the first place. We figure the money we save on the home study can be put away for the baby and used for college later.

So, as it stands our lawyer will be researching the California side of things and will be in contact with us early next week to let us know what we need to do. He is sending us a packet in the mail that contains information pertaining to Colorado. It will be nice to finally have all of the paperwork started and get the process underway.

Eric and I plan to drive to California for Thanksgiving to visit family and see how everything is going. We will leave my car there and then fly back home. Ideally we'd love to be back in CA a few days before Lori delivers the baby, but this way if she goes into labor when we are still here in Colorado we can jump on a plane and fly out to CA. Lori will be term (37 weeks) at Thanksgiving so anything can go at that time!!! If the baby is born close to it's due date of December 16, the plan is to stay in CA until a couple of days after Christmas and then drive back home.

There's still 22 weeks to go, but I need to talk to my HR department about taking leave when the baby is born. I think I will be able to take the whole 12 weeks which is great. Eric and I will be able to pick a Pediatrician soon, and I think I already know who we want to go to. I have spoken to our insurance agency about medical coverage for the baby and they stated that coverage begins at the time that court preceedings begin. I don't know exactly what that means. Whether it means coverage begins at birth (physical custody of the baby) or when the adoption is actually finalized. We are insured through Eric's work, so he'll need to talk more to his HR rep to find out. If the baby will not be covered at birth by our insurance, we'll need to make sure we have money saved up for the hospital stay just in case.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly. The whole process is a little overwhelming with all of the things we still need to do and all of the paperwork that has to be done, and done right. I'm one of those who likes to make lists, and I have a list of the things we still need to do and will check them one at a time until everything is completed and we can finally relax!

I know December will be here before we know it! It has already been over a month since we decided to adopt, and it has flown by!


"Adoption is when a child grew in its mommy's heart instead of her tummy." ~Author Unknown

18 Weeks

Today baby Thomas is 18 weeks along. Almost to the half way point. This week the baby is 5.5-7 inches in length (crown to rump) and weighs 5-7 ounces. His or her chest is moving up and down to mimic breathing. The vocal cords are beginning to form and the baby may cry, though because there is no air passing through the cords no sound is produced. The baby can been seen yawning and sucking it's thumb on ultrasound. In addition to the lanugo that began forming a week or two ago, vernix (a waxy substance) is now forming on the skin to protect it from the amniotic fluid for the remainder of the pregnancy. Hearing is now acute and the baby can hear sounds from outside of the uterus.

Time is passing quickly, and now Eric and I are patiently waiting to learn the gender of the baby so we can continue with the nursery. I love the colors on the wall and can't wait to decorate more.

Crystal sent me a book called "Baby Bargains" and it has a lot of great info in it. I've been looking at it a lot trying to get an idea of what we really need. It lists baby items by category and gives a rating based on cost and safety. This is a book I would recommend to all mommies to be!

Well, that's about it. Not much exciting has happened so far this week. Work has been busy! Lots of babies being born in Colorado and keeping us nurses on the go. I love that I'm able to do both labor and delivery and also postpartum. Both have their pros and cons, though for more excitement in your night (usually) L&D is the way to go. My best friend Liz is due any day now with her little girl, Abigail, and I keep wondering if she'll come in on a night I'm working. Either way, it should be exciting!

I'll post more again soon!

:) Jenny

Finished painting the nursery

Today Eric and I had a lot of fun painting the rest of the nursery. I ended up lowering the chair rail. I thought it was too high, and it was bugging me so I went online and found out that a chair rail is typically 36 inches high in a room with an 8 foot ceiling. Well, I had eyeballed it and put it at 41 inches. Eric helped me re-tape the line and then we got to work. I was put on call for tonight, so I was able to say home and paint. It took us a few hours, but we finally finished. I think it looks great. I love the colors! We figure if the baby is a boy then we'll go with a white chair rail and if the baby is a girl it'll be pink. Here are some pictures of the walls all painted.

(We used Behr paint in Monaco (the blue) and Toffee Crunch (the brown). We went with a flat finish.

How the room started off today:


After we got the blue on the walls:


Closet


Bedroom door:


Time for the brown:


The wall where the crib will eventually go:


The closet again:



Finally fishished (except for removing all of the tape and putting up the chair rail!)


On another note, Eric and I just happend to drive past a garage sale a block away from us and spotted a table with 3 chairs. We had yet to buy a breakfast table and decided to stop and take a look. The set is missing one chair, but for $20 we couldn't turn it down! It looks great in our kitchen!!! :)









Last but not least, here's a little video of the thunderstorm we had tonight. Lots of lightning! :) The video was shot from one of the upstairs bedroom windows looking north.

Starting the Nursery

Today I went to Home Depot (I love that store!) to get some painting supplies and a sample of each of the colors that Eric and I liked. We decided to do a two toned wall and since we're doing an airplane theme we went with blue (sky) and brown (earth). I taped off the room, which I quickly learned is much more work than one might think! BUT, I learned that in order to do it right, you have to do all of the prep work! After taping, I painted on the sample colors. Eric and I both really like them! I know the colors look kind of boyish, and we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl yet, but if the baby is a girl then there will be plenty of pink in the room later. I work tomorrow and Saturday night, but on Sunday Eric and I are going back to Home Depot to get a gallon of paint in each color. Once we're done painting we can buy some furniture :) Here are some pictures of the progress so far :)

Mema's trip to Colorado

I had the pleasure of having Mema out here in Colorado with me for a week. She flew in on July 1st and stayed until the 8th. I had so much fun visiting with her. We did a lot of talking, and I loved hearing stories about when she and Papa were first married, what my Mom, Aunt Paula and Uncle Darrell were all like as babies and children, and about what Mema's childhood was like. Learning about those things are even more precious now that my mom isn't here. It is so interesting to hear about life and my family as much as 70 years ago!

While mema was here, we were able to make a couple of fun trips. The first was to Red Rocks. Red Rocks is in Morrison Colorado and is home to the ampitheater where many famous musicians have held concerts. We've always gone just because it is a beautiful place.

We were also able to take the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes peak. It's a great way to experience the mountain! Eric and I had drove to the peak last summer. Of the two ways to make the trip, I'd definitely recommend the Cog Railway. The trip starts in Manitou Springs and is about 3 hours round trip. Well, normally it's 3 hours! When we got to the summit, we learned that another train had broken down on the tracks and was blocking the way down. SO, what is usually a 30 minute stay at the peak turned in to a 2.5 hour stay! The first 45 minutes or so were fine, but after that you could really start to feel the effects of the altitude at 14,110 feet! We all started to get really sleepy, and were ready to get back down to town! The trip was great though, and the views were awesome. We learned on our trip that from the peak you can see Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico!!!

I was finally able to meet Kim, Mema's cousin who also happens to live in Aurora! We only live about 10 minutes from each other! Small world! It was fun visiting with Kim, Carol, and Mary (Carol and Mary were both visiting from out of state). I enjoyed listening to them share memories of my Grandma Sexton and Aunt Geraldine.

The 4th of July turned out a little different than we had expected! Last year, they shot off fireworks from the top of the movie theater in the shopping center across the highway. We were able to watch the show from our own backyard! I had assumed it would be the same this year. Well, I assumed wrong! They canceled the show for really lame reasons and I didn't find out until early afternoon on the 4th! So, we looked around for other places to go, but ultimately decided it was better to stay home. We didn't want to battle the crowds and possible drunk drivers! We BBQd, but a strong thunderstorm rolled in just as we were about to eat, so we ended up eating inside! When the sun finally went down, we discovered you could see fireworks from all over the Denver area from the upstairs windows! There were also plenty of people in our neighborhood shooting off their own fireworks. After the big shows were over, we watched the Boston Pops fireworks on TV. It ended up being a nice night!

Mema and I had fun doing a little shopping and looking at things for the baby. Mema bought me a couple of nice glass plaques for the wall of the Nursery. One says "You are my sunshine" and when you press a button it plays the music, which means a lot because I remember Mema singing that song to Patti and me when we were little! The other says "Grandmas are angels in disguise" which she got in honor of my mom. They were such nice gifts, and mean a lot to me!

I'm looking forward to the next time Mema comes to visit, and hope that Papa can make it too!

Here are some pictures:

Mema and Me on Pikes Peak



Eric and Me on Pikes Peak



Mema, Eric and Me on Pikes Peak



A view on the way up

17 Weeks

Today our baby is 17 weeks!! Only 3 more weeks until we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl!!!

I didn't post last week, because I was having a great time visiting with Mema. It was so nice to have her out here for the week! I'll post more about Mema's trip to Colorado and post some pictures tomorrow!

Here's the update on the baby at 16 and 17 weeks:


Week 16 - This week the baby is beginning to accumulate some fat cells under his skin. He is approximately 4.5 inches long and weighs in at 4.5 ounces, roughly the size of of an avocado! He'll experience quite a grown spurt in the coming weeks, doubling his weight and adding inches to his length! The heart is getting stronger and pumps about 6 gallons of blood per day. It beats about twice as fast as an adult heart. The baby now "breathes" amniotic fluid to practice for when he is born. The baby has probably discovered his first toy...his umbilical cord, but don't worry...he can't grasp it long enough to cause any harm. The urinary tract is fully functioning, and the baby is helping with the production of amniotic fluid.


Week 17 - This week the baby is approximately 5.5 inches long and weighs 5 ounces. He's about the size of a large onion. The skeleton, which has been made up of rubbery cartilage, is now beginning to harden. Joints and limbs are all moving very well. The eyes have taken their final place on the front of the head. His sense of hearing is developing and he will soon be able to hear sounds from outside of the womb! The umbilical cord is becoming thicker and stronger, providing oxygen and nutrients to the baby so it can grow. Meconium (from the swallowing of amniotic fluid) is beginning to form in the bowels and will eventually make up the baby's first poop (hopefully after delivery). The urinary tract, brain, muscles, nervous and circulatory systems are now all functioning!

It's amazing how far we've come! From a tiny zygote the size of a poppy seed (3&4 weeks) to an embryo the size of an apple seed (5 weeks) to a fetus the size of a raspberry (8 weeks) all the way to our 17 week little onion! We're almost to the half way point, and time seems to be flying by!