R & T + 1

Hello everyone, just wanted to shout a quick update with what's going on. Last Friday, Tiffany reached the end of the first trimester! I have to admit, both of us were pretty skeptical about her nausea and stuff going away after the first trimester. I swear, though, that it seemed like magic that since last week Tiffany's been feeling much better. This is a good thing. Oh boy, are the hormones starting to kick in, though...

The animals have been nothing but trouble for the past few weeks. Who'd a thunk that Max would come out of this as the best-behaved one. Most things are going pretty well for us right now. We're still looking for a house/condo/not a-stupid-apartment-where-I-can't-play-my-Rock-Band-without-pissing-off-the-neighbors-and-I-have-to-take-the-stupid-dogs-multiple-times-a-day. So I guess pray for that to open up some opportunities.

Anyways, the main reason I wanted to update is that I realized I didn't tell everyone when something exciting was happening next. Our next appointment with Dr. Shallackalack is April 6. Just a routine check up then. April 21st is an ultrasound appointment, and we should be able to find out the sex of the baby at that time! We're both very excited and anxious to find out.

Tiffany has been teasing me recently about how I better not pass out during the birth. I don't think that will be a problem, because I'm not going anywhere near the nitty-gritty nastiness that will be going on. I'll be up there by her head hoping she doesn't punch me in the face (or at least that she doesn't punch me too hard). Besides, after reading about what is supposedly less nasty stuff (but still ridiculously nasty) in her little book, I don't think my stomach could handle it. I almost threw up just reading about stuff that happens post-birth. Just thinking about it now makes me want to puke. Blech.

On that note, glad you guys are reading and that the comments are finally working. Hope this blog finds everyone well. A few prayer requests to close:

House. A place to live, not the TV doctor--although that's a great show in case you don't watch it.
Patience. More for me than Tiff.
Health. I always pray for Tiffany first, then the baby, then myself, if you want to throw that in also ;-)

-Ryan J. Schwimmer

First of all, for those of you who were trying to leave comments (and bless you if you are because I love them), I have a temporary fix in place. It's a tad irritating, but it should work for now. When you want to leave a comment from the main blog page, click the link at the bottom of the post (if there are no previous comments, it will say "0 Comments"). From there, there should actually be TWO links that say "Post a Comment." Click on the one nearest the bottom of the page, and it should take you to an entirely different page to post a comment. Sorry about the trouble, let me know if you have any more.

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to update everyone with what's going on. Tiffany just had an appointment with Dr. Shallywag or whatever this morning. Everything is great, in short. It was a very short visit. Tiffany had to pee in a cup for the umpteenth time. Then the doctor talked with her about how everything was. He said that there was definitely a bug going around earlier this week which explains the puking and feeling like poop. She also asked about her hip hurting, and he said that it's perfectly normal. Basically the hips are making room to be able to move apart to deliver the baby, and they should tighten back up again after the pregnancy.

No ultrasound today, but he did listen to the heartbeat. The little fart decided he was going to make things difficult (it is my child, after all), and moved around a lot. Just as Dr. Shanpop or whatever would find the heartbeat, it would swim away. After about four tries (and Tiffany having to push her jeans down way farther than she'd hoped), the little squirt finally stayed still long enough to discover that the heart rate was perfect at 158. And before some people jump to conclusions (looking at you Mrs. Claunch), know that the whole "heart-rate-determines-baby-gender" thing doesn't work this early.

Anyways, hijacking the blog for my own personal interests... I also had an appointment today, with Dr. Fisher. I'm down 10 pounds from where I was six months ago, which was down 12 pounds from 6 months or so before that. He said everything is perfectly fine with my thyroid and all that. Blood pressure was 120/74, which is perfect, so that medicine is working well.

Anyways, so that's what's going on with us. Hopefully comments work this time around. LEAVE ONE!

-Ryan J. Schwimmer