It's official we're having a...

We now know the sex of our baby and you will to if you just keep reading. To make this as anticlimactic as possible I am just going to get on with it and tell you the gender of the child Erica and I are having. The sex was determined during the last ultrasound we had on Wednesday, 8/5/2009 at 12:20 in the afternoon. Technically the sex was determined prior to that date and time and depending upon your belief system the gender of the child could have been predetermined well before Erica and I met and started our lives together, but I digress. Anyway, I was lucky to make it there in time to see the ultrasound. Not that I was late, the doctors office was running early and called Erica while I was still in route. Luckily there happened to be others waiting so Erica let another pregoes lady go ahead and waited for me to arrive. Once we got into the ultrasound room and were able to see our baby and find out the sex Erica was the happiest I believe she has been so far in this amazing experience. She actually cried, and although I have not ascertained whether the tears were in fact those of joy for the child growing inside her or because she had the realization that the child growing inside her was mine, it was still an incredible moment. So now begins the fun process of picking out a name, getting the room decorated, buying all kinds of fun outfits and other “essential” items, and getting showered with advice (We really enjoy it and sincerely take every bit of information to heart, especially the advice from those that have not had children of their own but are somehow experts. Awesome!) For your viewing pleasure there are some pictures below, the first 2 are profile pics, the 3rd is looking straight on at the babies face (when seeing this picture Erica said something to the effect that our child looked “creepy”) and lastly the 4th picture is straight up between the legs giving a clear indication of the sex of our little baby Phelps. Coming soon there may or may not be polls to help determine the name of our baby and there may or may not be pictures of Erica's belly. Obviously both of these are contingent upon me actually updating this thing. Hope you enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for an updated post in the near (or not so near) future.

IT"S GOING TO BE A GIRL!!!!

Yes, I am almost a week late with this post and NO this has no reflection on how I will be as a father. However, Erica is a bit concerned that I will not wake up in the middle of the night when the baby is crying. We will see...
Anyway, on to baby talk. We had our second doctors visit last week and got to see another ultrasound. Unfortunately it was not as exciting as the first one. This could be due to the fact that we waited 90 minutes at the doctors office before getting to see the doctor which was only exacerbated by the fact that Erica had not eaten all day and was a little on edge anyway. As I said before, we got to see our baby, which by all accounts appears to healthy and growing as expected. The best part of the visit was when we saw a our baby move. Now the movement was very brief and we only realized what had happened after the doctor pointed it out, but we saw it move non-the-less. There are pictures below, I know these look very similar to the first pictures but I can assure you they are new.
At this point the baby is supposed to be the size of a prune (as described by the ever so insightful book “What to Expect...”), just a note to future fathers-to-be you can skip the Father section. Anyway, please do not refer to the kid as baby prune, I have realized the error of my ways from the last time I call my kid a piece of fruit (I can't tell you how many people have made a reference to baby blueberry and realistically this is not something I want to stick with the child as it grows up).

9 weeks today! Nothing really new :(

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last update and the plan to have weekly updates is obviously out the window. I apologize to all that reorganized your life around the update of this blog, I will try to do better in the future. There hasn't been a whole lot going on at this stage in the pregnancy. Erica is feeling nauseous about half the time and doesn't have a much energy. Other then that and the lack of alcohol consumption there are no other physical signs of a pregnancy. I guess one thing to point out is that I have experienced my first “sympathy” symptom and it's this symptom I blame for my failure to update the blog in almost 2 weeks. This evil symptom I speak of is sympathy fatigue, lack of energy or laziness (obviously laziness only refers to me, not Erica).
Anyway, this week we have our first full check up and hopefully we get good news that the baby is perfectly healthy and growing as any 9 week old fetus should. I will have an update following the check up and hopefully more pictures. Also, remember its not to early to start praying the baby gets Erica's looks and will grow up to be an amazing highly paid athlete!
Keep an eye open for a few different items on the blog. I am going to try to have a weekly or bi-weekly poll for all 4 of you that visit the site (I am open to suggestions for ideas) and of course be on the look out for new food cravings.
Lastly, thanks for everyone's excitement and support thus far. It has been greatly appreciated.

There's a heartbeat!

We had our first ultra sound today, pictures are below but you need to read the the post before moving down. After all I am sure anyone who is visiting this thing is doing so for my “witty” commentary on the situation. Anyway, who would have thought something so tiny (apparently the baby is currently the size of a blueberry or 1 cm in length) would have such a strong affect on us. For my part I am not going to say my eyes welled up a little, but when I saw that little heart beat I felt as proud and excited as anyone could for a living and growing blueberry. As of today Erica is 7 weeks & 1 day along with an expected due date of January 3rd.

Surprise!

It's been a week since I first heard the sentence that would change our life forever. Erica had just finished taking what would become one of the most important test of her life and from the other room she yelled, “J come look at this and tell me I'm reading it wrong.” For my part I just stood there smiling, trying not to laugh, unsure what exactly to do. Luckily that initial disbelief and shear horror have subsided and given way to excitement and maybe just a little horror.