Jolie Kate Ackermann

Two weeks ago, Drew and I went for the 18th week sonogram of Baby Ack.  We really wanted to find out what this little person was, and I was told by some wise women to drink a Mountain Dew before going to ensure baby moved around a lot.  Since our appointment was at 8am and I had to drink the fluid an hour before, I was up at 6:30 chugging 16 ounces of Mountain Dew.  Ick.  Halfway through, I told Drew that I never wanted to drink Mountain Dew ever again.

It paid off, though!  Not only did we get to find out sweet baby's gender, we got to see her move around like crazy!  Drew stood behind the technician's shoulder, enthralled, and I smiled like an idiot the entire time.

We wanted to find out the gender alone, so we had the technician (who was super nice) print out the image and put it in an envelope for us.  We planned on having breakfast together to open it, but couldn't even wait until we go to the restaurant.  We tore it open in the car.

She kindly drew us a diagram. :)  Sweet baby GIRL!  We both were ecstatic and started calling people right away.  We had already decided on names for either gender, and we're happy to announce that her full name will be Jolie Kate Ackermann (first name pronounced JOlee).  Holy moly, I love her already.

At breakfast, I couldn't stop being excited.  Maybe it was all that Mountain Dew. :)

The technician printed out so many images for us; the paper stretched out was my height!  Here are some cool ones:

Beautifully formed spine:

Suuuper creepy image of her face.  We both kind of jumped when it came up on the screen.  I got to see her sweet little lips move around and I totally think she has my jawline :)

Profile!  Drew's nose maybe?

Arms and legs both crossed:

The technician showed us her four heart chambers, different organs, brain, everything.  I was amazed.  Everything is looking good and I came out of there feeling so, so grateful.

Now that we know she's a she and she even has a name, I feel so many things.  I have moments of intense fear over everything, and I have days of deep, deep contentment.  Mostly, I am finding how crazy it is to love this little thing so much without ever having seen her face to face.  I can't wait to dress her up and sing to her and take her places and to call her Jo and for people to say, "She looks just like you!".  I can't wait for the rest of her story.

Proof...

There IS something growing in there! I can't believe I've become one of those people who post pictures like this:

Whatever.  I'm freakin' excited. :)  New pictures of baby girl (!!!!) coming soon!  And more pictures of Ackermann adventures.  I promise not to become the person who only blogs baby things. :)

Great Gorge

Holy moly, we've been busy!  Closing on the house and moving was a crazy experience.  Our close date got moved at least 4 times.  The last time, we had already packed up the truck and feared we would not have a place to sleep!  We did close, FINALLY, and worked our butts off the next 5 days.

Renata and I were so proud of our husbands.  Since closing was such a rush and we had such little notice, Drew and Tom did the majority of moving by themselves.  They packed up the truck alone, unpacked the first load with the help of Drew's dad, packed up the second load alone, unpacked the second load with Jason and Mike, packed up the third load alone, and unpacked it alone.  And that's just the official moving truck.  Many trips were made to our houses in cars and much was moved by Drew and Tom's sore muscles.  By the end of the 4th evening, Drew crashed into bed, told me how sore he was, and promptly fell asleep.

Renata and I did as much unpacking as we could.  And, before you can ask, I only used the pregnancy card a couple of times during the whole process :)  Just kidding!  Sort of.  I was trying to keep busy, but was absolutely not allowed to lift anything, push anything or even travel up and down the stairs too many times, to my chastisement!

We do want to thank Drew's parents, Jason, Mike, Tom's parents, Kim, and Shannon for being huge helps!  (Seriously, thank you thank you for making my bed on the first night!)

Renata and I had one weekend, yes ONE, to get a lot done before our fall wedding season took off with 6 wedding weekends in a row.  We're finding out that, between the two of us, we'd make the absolute perfect housewife!  Renata is so clean and hates clutter (soooo not me!) and keeps our place looking neat and clean.  I have loved doing the cooking and haven't even minded doing the dishes!  We spend at least a little portion of each day together and I'm loving it!

We still have a long way to go, but I figured I could at least give a little peek into the house!  Welcome to the first shots of Great Gorge or, as it's being affectionately referred to, the AckerJanes.

Here is our living room, which we are super proud of! :)

And my favorite room so far, the giant kitchen!

We found some old Polaroid film in a box and decided to use the 40 or so shots left to document the first guests in our home and stick them on the fridge!  There's still some room left, so come over!

We're still ironing out some necessary kinks, but so far it's been fantastic.  I've been joking that it's like getting married again.  Nobody has to go home after a late night of hanging out.  We just go to our rooms.  We share meals.  There's almost always someone to hang out with.  You can be jealous. :)

I promise we will showcase a full tour of our house in a month or so!

Cribs, strollers and...skulls?

On Saturday, Drew and I decided to venture out on our first baby shopping trip.  Renata and others rave about Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  I, of course, brought along my new Canon point-and-shoot. :)

This store is freaking huge.  Huge and inundated with pregnant women.  I felt a little like an impostor since I'm not really showing.  Needless to say, if you would like to be overwhelmed at the thought of having a child, I would highly recommend going.

We did have surprisingly a lot of fun, and even picked out Drew's super manly diaper bag (who would carry this?!  What are you feeding your child?  POISON?!):

We made a day of it and had a leisurely Tex-mex lunch, which is the only type of food that has not attacked my gag reflex thus far. :)

A good day indeed! We haven't actually purchased anything yet (though I do have my first official purchase in mind!), but I'm sure this isn't our last visit to Great Beginnings. Oh my.

Moving on and moving out

Apparently, Drew and I can't do just one big life change at a time.  We got married 3 months after I graduated college, 2 months after I started my first real job.  Neither of us had never lived anywhere but our parents' houses outside of college.  What a whirlwind time.  Now, at the onset of the pregnancy, we are preparing to make another huge life change: moving.  And not only moving, but living with another family.  

We decided to live with the Janes in late winter and began joint house hunting.  After 2 failed offers, we were beginning to feel discouraged.  Finally, on a whim, Tom and Renata found a new development of townhouses being built right near our church and parents.  We signed a contract in April and the house went up quick!  We were supposed to close today, but due to several different things, we are still in our basement room with our boxes.  

We are excited to move into our brand spankin' new house and even more excited to live with some of our best friends.  We should probably credit Tom and Renata for encouraging our desire to have kids, as they have two incredibly cute boys.  

Both families know we're giving up some things.  But the pros outweigh the cons.  We've all prayed and thought and discussed and made lists.  While it will be challenging at times, this decision is allowing both me and Renata to stay at home and still afford a house.  We'll be working from the house, as we do from our homes now, but our priorities are our families, and this gives us the opportunity to serve our families better.  And the biggest plus?  No longer throwing away money for rent.  Yesss.  

Hopefully closing will happen sometime this week.  And I'm sure I'll be posting pictures I take with my new little point-and-shoot Canon, which Drew and I bought this weekend!

The Thank You post

It's been 13 hours, 50+ Facebook comments, 3 text messages, and many phone calls since our news went public.  And we want to say THANK YOU for the kind words and support!  Being privately pregnant is a much different beast than being publicly pregnant and we are so grateful for our friends and family. :)

I'd love to chat with everyone who asked us questions, but since that's not possible, I figured I'd post an all-clarifying list of facts:

1. Yes, it's true.  I am pregnant.

2. I am due smack in the middle of March.  We found out at the end of June and I'll be 12 weeks along on Tuesday.

3. The past 2 months were challenging for me, with a lot of nausea and tiredness (especially not being able to tell anyone!), but the past two weeks have been looking up and I'm feeling better all the time!

4. I'm not showing at all really, so don't think I'm lying if you see me in person.

5. No, Baby Ack's name will not begin with the letter "A" or be another kind of derivation from "Andrew", like "Andre".

6. I think we're ALL hoping it looks more like me than Drew.  Just kidding. :)

It's been fun telling and getting reactions like these:

• Let's hope he/she looks more like you, Drea.  Thanks, Bob! :)
• To Drew: So, you figured it out, huh?  Uncle Alex in CO
• I can't wait until little Jessica Sheena Ackermann is born...Maybe Sheena Jessica Ackermann is more appropriate...Maybe Booze Sheena Jessica Ackermann would be best.  Jessica, Sheena, Jenn via email

Seriously though, thank you for the messages of support!  Please feel free to call us, take us out to dinner, join me in peer pressuring Drew to sleep on the couch so I can have the whole bed once in a while, suggest great baby music, and get excited :)

Baby Ack's first pictures

Today was our first doctor's appointment, and it felt like it took forever to get here!  I am a week further behind than we originally thought, about 11 weeks, and due in the middle of March.

We finally got to see Baby Ack!  With a heartbeat just a fluttering, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

We're allllmost ready to go public!  We need to tell some more family members, a few key friends and then, Facebook here we come. :)

The first 11 weeks

Week 11

Finally!  My appetite is returning!  I got on the scale last week and was shocked to see that I have dropped 10 pounds.  TEN.  Um, shouldn't I be gaining weight?  I'm sure it will come soon enough, but it was a little concerning.  

Reading over the last few weeks makes it seem so short.  But time has been dragging!  As I approach the end of week 11, and the beginning of coveted week 12, I feel so many things.  I'm almost relieved...and I'm still scared...and I'm just ready.  On Monday, I have my first doctor's appointment and ultrasound and, if everything is well, we go public.  And I'm still not sure how I feel about that.  It will be a different experience for sure.  Our poor parents have been troopers and I think everyone will be relieved after Monday.  

I can definitely tell that my uterus is expanding this week!  It's positioned lower than I thought, but I did a double take in the mirror when I saw it.  

It still hasn't quite sunk in for Drew, yet.  But I have money on the fact that he'll shed a tear or two at the ultrasound on Monday :)

Week 10 & 2 years

Here I am, at the beginning of week 10, trying to choke down a tuna sandwich. My gag reflex has been on overdrive lately. It seems I can hardly brush my teeth without gagging and I have to yawn very carefully. Another fun fact, my ears pop a lot. It feels like they are clogged, which causes me to yawn, which causes me to gag...which we know is trouble. Pregnancy sure is glamorous.

On a happier note, today is Drew and my two year anniversary! It's been so overshadowed by the baby thing and the moving thing that we nearly forgot. But at this moment, I am overwhelmingly grateful. Grateful for my sweet hearted husband, grateful for my life.

Weeks 8 & 9

Am I being monotonous yet? Week 8 & 9 are about the same. It was a little crazy to pass the 2 month mark and I'm starting to get very anxious to just get to 12 weeks, see the ultrasound and tell the world. It's just so close...it's getting harder to keep my feelings in check. I find myself being extremely anxious sometimes about everything: miscarriage, finding out the sex, birth, being a parent. The list could go on.

I am finding already that just as marriage has been used in my life to draw me close to God and shape my character, being pregnant is another heart changer.

Week 7

Dear Week 7 baby,

You were so much better than week 6.  I can't describe how happy this has made me.  Even though you only let me eat about 1/4 of what I usually do and sleep frequently...and be winded after going up the stairs, I am appreciative.  

Thanks for waking me up promptly at 4am every night.  I appreciate the bathroom break reminder, and so does Drew.  

Because of week 6, I actually weigh less this week; my pants are a little looser!  It's difficult to tell if there's a little bump...but that will come soon enough. :)

We told our LifeGroup about you this week!  They were all very excited and are praying for you, which we are grateful for.  

Baby, you are doing weird things to my body!  My body hair grows extremely fast!  I have to shave 2x more frequently.  

Even though I still have several food aversions and am pretty picky, I am grateful for you.  And hopeful that I will get to see you soon.  

Week 6

The first 5 weeks of my first pregnancy have been relatively uneventful, at least body change wise.  The 6th week, if I may say, was a bitch.

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling queasy.  My first instinct was just a stomach bug.  But it didn't go away.  On Wednesday, I picked up my week-by-week pregnancy book only to find out that morning sickness usually begins around week 6.  Awesome.

Since then, I have been nauseous everyday from sun up to sun down.  My appetite is 1/4 of what it usually is, even though sometimes I feel hungry.  Since I can't eat, my body is tired all the time.  I get winded going up the stairs.  And I wake up several times during the night, either to pee or just continue feeling nauseous.  I've been taking about two naps a day, once in the late morning and once when Drew gets home.  

This week, we celebrated Drew's 26th birthday!  We took a trip to Philadelphia to celebrate and Drew was very gracious with his sicky wife.  We also took our video camera and Drew made this:

VIDEO

Here's hoping week 7 is better!

The first 5 weeks

This week marks the sixth week of my first pregnancy.  Sometimes, I can really tell.  Sometimes, I forget.  I've felt some tingles in my body that feel like what I imagine mild electrical stimulation would feel like.  I haven't had any nausea yet, so that's a plus.

I have been craving green vegetables, especially spinach!  I've been really wanting ice water and having to go to the bathroom what feels like every 20 minutes.  

We told our parents a couple of weeks ago.  We told Drew's family on a whim while on vacation at Hilton Head, scaring a couple of people in Panera.  We told my parents at home on the porch.  Everyone's excited, but still trying to be cautious.  

I don't have an appointment with my OB/GYN until the end of next month, so we'll find out a lot then, I'm sure.