Tickled Pink!

Baby Bacon is a GIRL! We had an amazing day yesterday with our families gathered to celebrate Mother’s Day, my Mother-in-law’s birthday and, of course, finding out what kind of bacon we’re making. In a word? Priceless!

We decided to do the cake thing to find out if we’re having a boy or girl. Matt wasn’t completely sold on this to begin with, but, well, it’s cake! How can you really go wrong with that?

We decided to cut it before we ate so we wouldn’t all be scarfing down our lunch to get to dessert. It was a precious moment!

Despite the fact that my hunch was girl very early and all the “old wives tales” pointed to girl, I was still genuinely surprised to see that pink frosting.

After everyone left, we were so excited that we decided to go shopping to get started on her wardrobe. Miss Eliza is going to be a well-dressed baby! 

I could barely sleep last night. I kept thinking about dollhouses and ballet recitals and those obnoxiously large hair flower/bows that I think are crazy cute. She’ll have plenty of opportunities for sports and trains and the “boy” things, too, but for now I’m just relishing the thoughts of sugar and spice and everything nice.

Until she’s 13 and screams that she hates me as she runs down the hall. But that’s going to be OK, too. I’m pretty sure that part is just called payback—right, mom?

Half Baked!

Holy cow! Today I’m 20 weeks—I can’t believe we’re half way through this pregnancy and that Bacon will be here before we know it. After a first trimester that c r a w l e d along, the second trimester is just flying by. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since, you know, everyone said it would be this way. They also said that the last trimester would go back to a snail’s pace, so I guess this means I should enjoy the next few weeks before time slows back down.

20 weeks!

Late last week we had our “big” ultrasound, also known as the 20 week ultrasound and officially known as an anatomy scan. This is a 45-ish minute scan where they look at bones and organs and even lips to make sure that everything looks good and measures on track. Bacon’s anatomy is perfect! And the little stinker isn’t so little—s/he’s measuring at the 88^th percentile in size. No tiny baby for us!

Sweet profile

We did get one bit of news that wasn’t perfect. I have a two vessel cord, also know as single umbilical artery. The cord usually has three vessels—a vein and two arteries. I have one vein and one artery. This is something that happens in 1-3% of pregnancies and could be problematic, but the doc is not at all concerned given the other factors that paint the bigger picture. I asked if this might keep the baby from getting the nutrients needed and she pointed out that at 88^th percentile, this clearly isn’t an issue. But there is a chance it could become one, so we’ll have extra ultrasounds and just keep a close eye on things to make sure the Bacon Bit keeps up the pace and growth remains strong.

Can't wait to squeeze those hands!

Wondering if it’s a boy or girl? So are we! It’s been written down and sealed in an envelope to be opened on Sunday. We’re excited to have our families coming over to celebrate Mother’s Day and we’re going to have a little extra fun by finding out together if we’ve got a Baconator or Baconette cooking in there.

Perfect little foot! Kicks are getting stronger--Daddy got to feel them for the first time on Sunday.

It’s hard to believe we’ve only been in Austin for a little over a week. So much has happened already—and we found a house! I’m shocked that it happened that fast, but would rather find something we love right away than go down to the wire looking. The contract was executed today and we’re scheduled to celebrate our first anniversary by closing on our first house together.

Looks kind of like s/he's doing a flip. We're head over heals for you, Bacon!

Whew. No wonder I’m tired.

17 Bathroom Breaks Later

Y’all, I’m just saying that 5 days is a lot of days to sit in a car. Especially when you have to stop all. the. time. to go to the bathroom*. That said, we made the most of The Great Cross-Country Road Trip Babymoon Adventure and we are now settling in to our temporary digs in Austin. 

All in all the move itself went well. We hit the road and spent the first night  in Joshua Tree, CA where we got to stretch our legs and play on the rocks in the park. We also got to spend a little bit of time with friends in Phoenix and then made another detour to see family. We made a very special stop in West Texas in the little town where my grandparents lived and my dad grew up. It was fun to show Matt the places where I played and to relive so many amazing childhood memories.

We eventually made it into Austin (did I mention it took FIVE days?) and in the past 48 hours we moved into the rental (which would be really cool if it didn’t smell a little funky), started house hunting, bought a new (to us) car (we donated the on-its-last-leg Jeep before me moved) and sent me back to work in the real world. No wonder I’m tired and jonesing for a vacation from my “vacation.”

So, yeah. It’s all good. I’m still not so sure about the whole getting up and putting on real clothes and makeup to work, but I’m adjusting and hope to get back into the routine without too much grumbling. (Well, I guess it’s really Matt who hopes the grumbling dies down.)

I should add that Bacon endured the trip well. We’re 19 weeks today--almost half way! To mark the occasion s/he started kicking hard enough for me to feel it from the outside. Really hoping Matt gets the chance to feel this little kung fu fighter soon!

* Fun fact: We really did stop 17 times to use the bathroom. I’m more than happy to report that only one of those facilities made me want to hurl. Bonus fun fact--gas dropped $.60 per gallon as we headed east. I’ll take it.

East Bound and Down

The time has come to say goodbye to Sonoma. So many people have asked me why I would possibly ever leave this corner of paradise and I can’t blame them. Living here is like living in a Norman Rockwell painting. Gorgeous scenery. Small town charm. Amazing food. And, of course, the wine.

The last year here has been one long honeymoon. From summer weekends spent poolside drinking bubbles, to hikes that kicked my butt but always delivered on the view from the top, to nights spent at our house enjoying dinner parties with Matt’s amazing cooking and a seemingly endless supply of delicious wine, to weekends out at the coast. We have been so beyond lucky to get to live in such a place. 

I will miss being able to walk everywhere. I will miss the common bond of an ag community. I will miss friends who became dear in a short time. I will miss the amazing Farmer’s Market on the square on Tuesday nights during the summer. I will miss watching the life cycle of the vines as they bud and bloom and are harvested. I will miss the smell of wine fermenting in the fall. I will miss the hustle and bustle around town as tourists come through on their wine country get aways. I will even miss our spin class at the gym where we’re “the power couple” because we’re 20 years younger than everyone else in the class. And did I mention the wine?

We’ll be back of course. California is in our blood now--especially Matt who’s spent most of the past decade here. We’ll bring baby Bacon back some day and tell him or her that this was where we fell in love from the moment we found out I was pregnant. We’ll come back and visit the place where we said our “I do’s.” We’ll come back for the wine.

We’re very excited about the next chapter and can’t wait to get to Austin and see what’s going to happen next. So we’re off. The movers arrive in the morning and “The Great Babymoon Cross-country Road Trip Adventure” starts on Tuesday as we make the most of a long few days in the car.

We took a hike today to the spot where we got engaged and I snapped this photo on my phone. 

Thank you, Sonoma, for everything. We’ve loved every minute and we can’t back to come back and see you again soon.

16 Weeks

When I left on previously we were headed back to the doctor for our 9 week appointment. I was feeling nervous, but I didn’t have the same sinking feeling as before, so I was more hopeful. The OB understood our anxiety and tried the Doppler before he did the ultrasound. I was surprised because I’d heard of so many women whose OBs won’t even try the Doppler before 12 weeks because it’s not so reliable that early, but there it was. Bacon’s little heart was just beating away. We recorded it on my phone and can’t tell you how many times we listened to that sweet little sound. Everything looked great on the ultrasound and Bacon was measuring a day ahead looking strong and healthy. 

Baby Bacon at 9w

At that point I think we started to let ourselves believe a little more. Up to that point I was feeling very pregnant (morning sickness has a way of bringing that reality home), but I was having a hard time connecting that with actually bringing home a baby in September. I wasn’t over the hump yet, but I did start to look at baby websites here and there and let a few little dreams seep in.

Another two weeks later we went in for the first trimester screening—an ultrasound that takes some key measurements and is combined with blood work to provide a risk assessment for Down Syndrome and a few other chromosomal abnormalities. We drove about an hour to a perinatal  practice and the quality of the images was just amazing. Our little Bacon Bit was squirming all over the place, literally bouncing off the walls and showing off by letting us get a good look at 10 little fingers as well as arms and legs and feet. We even got a good look at the brain. It was ah-mazing. 

Isn't s/he the cutest? 11w3d in 3D

Walking out that day I decided it was time to believe for real. I had fallen in love with Baby Bacon from day 1, but now it was time to believe that this baby is healthy and strong and we’re going to get to hold him or her in our arms in a few short months. 

Now, I’m PgAL, so that’s a lot easier said than done. I am more than aware of all the things that could still go wrong and I still have moments of anxiety. But I have more moments of faith and hope for this sweet child. Even if, God forbid, something else does go wrong, I want to enjoy every day that I have with this baby—even if I’m nauseous and exhausted and have the myriad of uncomfortable and embarrassing symptoms that come along with pregnancy. 

So here we are. 16 weeks and going strong. Still taking it all one day at a time, but getting more and more excited about the day that we’ll get to meet this little one and bring him/her home for good.

16 week belly shot

Here We Go Again...

Whew—what a rollercoaster this journey to parenthood is. As we were still licking our wounds and coming to terms with the loss of our sweet Beanie, we learned that we are expecting again. When we saw that second pink line we were excited, terrified, hopeful, terrified, cautious—and did I mention terrified??


Being pregnant after a loss (or PgAL in the loss circles) is a very complicated and overwhelming place emotionally and I was wholly unprepared for what was about to overcome me. In an instant I would feel the clash of joy and grief, hope and sorrow, anticipation and guilt. More than once I found myself crying happy tears for this baby that suddenly became an ugly cry of guilt and sorrow for the baby we lost. It was, um, an interesting place to be (and I’m sure my sweet husband was thrilled about living with someone whose emotions could turn on a dime).

Just a Bacon Bit at 5w3d

Because of our history and my age we got the Cadillac treatment with the doctors and we got our first glimpse of “Baby Bacon” at 5.5 weeks. Still too early to see much of anything, but we had the assurance that there was growth in the right place and development was on track. We went back two weeks later and had one of those life changing moments—this time we got to hear the sweetest little heart just beating away. Cue more tears, this time filled with happiness and relief.

Getting bigger! 7w3d

But when you’re PgAL, the relief is fleeting and you immediately begin to worry again. Beanie was “older” than that when we lost him, after all, so presumably if we’d had the same two appointments with him we would have heard his little heart before it stopped. I think the following 10 days while we waited for the next appointment and passed the time that little Beanie stopped growing were the hardest. Not knowing if Bacon was still OK in there or if we’d go back at 9wks and experience the same horror that we’d been through just a few months earlier.

During that time I think I might have prayed harder than ever before. With Beanie I knew something was wrong. It didn’t take away from the pain of the moment when we realized our fears were coming true, but it did do something to help prepare me for what was about to happen. I think that was a gift from God and I’m thankful that he was gently getting me ready for what was about to happen. I prayed for the same thing this time around—to either have peace and know that the baby would be OK, or if something was going to go wrong again, to have that feeling in my gut to help us prepare. In this midst of my anxiety, I did feel at peace and I chose to believe that God would be faithful again in preparing my heart for the appointment.

OK…I’ve already written a novel. I’ll tell the rest of the story in the next post. (Don't worry, you already know how it turns out.)

A Little News...

And we're moving back to Texas. All kinds of changes in our crazy little world--and we couldn't be happier to be all shook up!