Meeting with the Attorney

This past Friday we met with an LGBT attorney in San Francisco to go over the adoption process for my wife Sarah after the baby is born. It is very unfair that we have to go through something like this but we do. We live in California and have a registered domestic partnership which we have had since 2009. Since living in California with this domestic partnership Sarah will have all parental rights no problems, its all the other states outside of California that do not protect her unless they offer domestic partnership as well. We do not want anything to ever happen and I want Sarah to have these rights that everyone in the world should have.

We were super excited and nervous at the same time but there we were in the city holding hands on our way to the 14th floor to meet the attorney. She was soooo nice and for the entire hour she told us the in's and out's of each adoption and we asked our questions from our list we had written out together. After much talk and going through every scenario we decided on the type of adoption that best fit our needs and family and decided that she would be the attorney we would work with. She has over 20 plus years of experience with LGBT families and more important 10 years of LGBT adoption. We are very relieved that everything will be done with her and we won't have to worry about a thing except turning in the paperwork! Unfortunately, we can't start the full on process until after Harper is born but we felt a huge sense of relief that we are going in the right direction!

Baby Harper is doing great. She keeps moving more and more and her kicks are becoming more and more stronger. The other day we started playing music to my belly. She was having fun and kicking. It was the cutest thing ever!

Other than that life is going really well and things are going fast. We have officially 101 days until she shows up in our lives. We can't wait and as each day goes by we feel more and more blessed to be where we are at.

How far along? 25 weeks & 4 days

How big is baby? Eggplant still!

Total weight gain/loss: three pounds

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts/maternity pants

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Still feeling her kick

Miss Anything? Hot dogs

Movement: Movement each and every day!

Food Cravings: Donuts

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Short fused 

Major purchases this week? baby shower items

Looking forward to: Feeling her kick more and more often

Milestones-Hitting 24 Weeks!

Ever since we got pregnant we knew there would be many humps (milestones) to get over throughout the pregancy. At first it seemed as though days took forever and weeks took years and little by little we got over one hump and we were then able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. It seemed as though it was one hump after another and everytime we went to a doctor's appointment we were a bunch of nerves and then another sigh of relief.

Last Thursday, we hit one of the biggest humps we have been wanting to get over since the day we found out we were pregnant. 24 weeks. Many don't know what 24 weeks means and many do not celebrate this huge milestone. The 24th week of pregnancy usually marks the start of the age of vitality; the first time the fetus could potentially survive outside the uterus. This was huge for both of us! We know that if anything god for bid was to happen and our baby would have to be delievered there is a chance she could survive outside the womb. However, she better keep baking for a long, long time until she is fully ready to come! Last Thursday, like every other morning I woke up and reached for my phone to shut my alarm off and quickly I had remebered today was a very special day for both of us. We were both so happy to have gotten this far in the pregnancy and we celebrated that entire day.

While we were at dinner we were talking about all our milestones that we have overcome and we came up with a list...

1. Getting a positive pregnancy test
2. Seeing a sac on the ultrasound
3. Seeing a heartbeat
4. Hearing a heartbeat
5. Growth between the 6th & 8th week
6. Making it past the 12th week where miscarriage rates lower by half
7. Making it past the first trimester
8. Making sure all Trisomy and Down syndrome tests are clear and normal
9. Nuchal scan being normal and clear
10. Passing my first glucose test
11. Anatomy scan being normal and clear
12. Reaching vitality-24 weeks!

As time goes on with the pregnancy we will keep writing stuff down of our milestones that we reach. Such a beautiful thing to see written down.

This year Mother's day was such a wonderful day for us. I remember so much the past years crying and wishing we would be able to be given the chance of being mothers. Finally our time has come and we celebrated Mother's day as I had always expected in my dreams. We got each other gifts and we surprised each other with posts on each others Facebook. I swear I fall more and more in love with Sarah each and every day that goes by. 

How far along? 24 weeks & 4 days

How big is baby? Eggplant

Total weight gain/loss: Two pound=p

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Feeling her kick like crazy this past week

Miss Anything? Hot dogs

Movement: Movement each and every day!

Food Cravings: Nothing

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Irratable 

Major purchases this week? Closet organization

Looking forward to: Feeling her kick more and more often

Last but not least I leave you with a picture of our beautiful baby girl. She already is wrapped around our fingers! We love her SO much!

Feeling Harper Kick

From the moment we found out we were pregnant it felt surreal. As the weeks flew by I knew we were for real pregnant. Ultrasounds showed beautiful sights of our bouncing baby girl. She grew and grew but I still didn't feel pregnant. It might have been the lack of symtoms or the lack of baby bump but deep down inside my heart I knew she was there. I kept telling Sarah I would feel "pregnant" when I felt her kick because its her way of saying "Im really here mommies"! The past couple of weeks I was looking for signs of the so called first kicks. I couldn't really figure if it was a real kick or just my imagination. Sarah kept asking me everyday if I had felt her kick. My response was the same..."not yet". I was sad because so many other women around me had started feeling their first kicks....then I started to panic. Is everything okay with Harper?! Why is she not moving but again I was reassured at all her appointments that she was just fine. She was a bouncing baby girl full of energy. Maybe, she's already giving us a run for our money!

Then a couple days ago I felt this weird feeling in my stomach. Like a gas like bubble feeling. At first my instinct was my lunch didn't quite sit right so I kept going with my day. Then it happened again that evening. I told Sarah and we both got excited and before you knew it I felt no more. Then the next day again like clock work I felt this little flutter. I then knew it was no longer my lunch from the other day but rather a little tiny human in my belly named Harper. I couldn't help but smile and giggle of excitement. I looked down at my belly and said "I love you".

The past couple of days it has been happening more and more throughout the day. No specific time of day but I feel it. Its such a beautiful reassurment that she is there and that she is all right. Not sure what she is doing excatly...maybe baby aerobics, dancing or practicing on her basketball moves as my wife would say but she is there moving in my belly. The best feeling in the entire world. It's almost like a little kick to say get ready mommies because soon I will be kicking for your attention.

Sarah asks me over and over to explain to her what it feels like and the best explanation I could give her was it felt like my intestines were coming out. Now that I think about it that was NOT the best or clearest answer! I now know what people mean when they say it feels like a gas like bubble. It does! I can't wait for her to grow and get bigger so then I can really feel her and while I may be singing a different tune when she really kicks me for now it makes us both happy!

22 weeks & 2 days!

It seems as though ever since we became pregnant time has slipped right through and we find ourselves always on the go! Its amazing what your priorities change to once you are pregnant and you know a baby is well on the way. You want to make sure you are prepared and that means prepared with everything. Our weekends have continued to be organizing and getting the house ready for baby Harper.  We have been cleaning the outside and garage and just organizing and organizing every nook and cranny in this house.

Recently we got a package in the mail from a very close friend. She got us our bedding from Potter Barn for Harper!! We were beyond thrilled to see her bedding here as a pre-baby shower gift. It also shows us how much love we have from both family and friends. We have been blessed with such great people to surround us. We can't even explain how much we have received in little gifts for our baby since we announced we were pregnant. We can't wait to share the love of Harper with them just like they have showed their love with us.

On Monday, April 29th we finally had our anatomy scan. The doctor's office we booked with at 12 weeks was completely booked with appointments and the only opening they had was at 21 weeks! Most  usually have it as early as 18 weeks but nonetheless time went by super quick and before you knew it there we were waiting for our scan to start. As I was laying on the table with my belly bare as can be I got this nervous feeling throughout my body. I was scared the scan would not go okay and we would hear a bad report from the doctor. I left my worries with God and I knew that everything would be okay. The appointment was an hour long and it was the best hour scan ever! We were SOOOOOO happy to be able to see our little baby girl even if it was for measuring. The tech was super nice this time! Finally the doctor came in and did his scan and looked over everything and said everything was "perfect"! Best word I had heard in the longest time. There is absolutely nothing more in the world than nothing everything is clear and we are free to go and our worries are out the door. We got some beautiful sonogram pictures on disc and even another gender scan even though we already know shes a baby girl. 

Sarah took my 20 week photo mark and even though my belly bump is still small for almost 6 months I know when I can barely move or walk I will be singing a different tune! At my last doctors appointment my total weight gain for this pregnancy so far....drum roll please.......1 whoppin pound! WOWZERS! There is NO complaining here and even though I have only gained 1 pound my stomach is stretching out  I can notice this in my pants and shirts. The tech said my uterus has only stretched out 10% so if this is true I sure do have a long ways to go before we start to really see a baby bump!

Hope all is well with everyone and sending lots of baby dust from California!!

How far along? 22 weeks & 2 days

How big is baby? Papaya

Total weight gain/loss: One pound!

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts

Have you started to show yet? a little pooch

Sleep: Better

Best moment this week: Knowing there is a little baby in my belly that will soon be apart of our family so soon!

Miss Anything? Sandwiches

Movement: Very tiny movements :)

Food Cravings: Nothing

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Gender prediction: We already know its a GIRL!

Symptoms: Nada!

Major purchases this week? Decor for her room

Looking forward to: Vitality