Mini Marty Update

Time continues to fly! The last month has been as hectic as ever. As many of you know, I love to be organized and prepared (not quite sure why I'm so messy, but I just chalk that up to my "creative" side). Given that, I've spent the last month researching, planning and preparing for Mini Marty. Branden and I were finally in town at the same time last weekend, so I made him drive all over San Diego to take care of "baby errands". With a little more than half of this pregnancy left, we've got our stroller and nursery furniture purchased, we start childbirth classes next week and we are interviewing doulas this weekend. I know, I'm crazy! Surprisingly, Branden says this pregnancy has actually made me more mellow...what was I like before?! Honestly, I was overwhelmed when I realized everything that needs to be done in preparation for a baby and spreading out the tasks makes me feel less anxious about getting it all done. Now we just need to pick names, paint and set-up the nursery, write a birth plan, stock up on baby necessities, fill out my maternity leave paperwork, find childcare for after my maternity leave (do you know how long some of these waiting lists are?!), order birth announcements, etc etc etc...we have a lot to do, but we are so happy to do it!

I know you really came here looking for updates on Mini, so here is the latest. Mini Marty (aka "Baby Diego") is 18 weeks old now! He/she has a new nickname, Baby Diego, and I felt him/her start to move last week! That was incredible. I don't feel the movements every day, but my midwife says I will soon. Saturday morning, while I was at pilates class, Baby Diego was moving a ton! It felt like he/she was doing pilates right along with me. The other movements have felt more like little punches, which I don't appreciate quite as much. :) I can only imagine how those jabs will feel as he/she grows in strength and size.

I had a check-up with my new midwife this morning (my doctor got transferred to the East Coast) and Baby Diego's heartbeat is still strong, in the 150s. The midwife had our test results ready for us (for Down's, Trisomy, etc) and everything looks great. We are very thankful for that.

We have our "big" ultrasound (and likely, our last) next Friday and, of course, we are very excited for that. At this ultrasound, they will check Baby Diego in detail and make sure that he/she is progressing as expected. We love seeing our little one on the big screen and I'm sure the progress Baby Diego has made since our last ultrasound will be remarkable. Hopefully, we will get some great pictures and, if so, I will be sure to post them here.

I do want to take a quick moment to thank you all for your well-wishes. I've tried to keep up with the emails, but I know I haven't gotten back to everyone. Please know that we greatly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family sharing this experience with us.