Last weekend was a big, fun one!

On Friday September 15th we celebrated one full year in California. Jack baked chocolate chip cookies to take into work to mark the occasion. Wow, what a year!

Also on Friday, Maribeth came to visit us from Seattle. Just what the doctor ordered! I had been given clearance to go to the beach a week earlier, but hadn't ventured out, so off we went. I got the whole back seat of the convertible Cadillac on the way, which felt very much like sitting on the couch. Maribeth was surprised at how incredibly wimpy I am. I had to sit down twice walking from the car to the public bathroom and that was only 25 feet. That was the day the temperature got to 98 degrees. Jack assured her I'm lightyears ahead of where I've been, physically. We loved having her entertain us both, and look forward to her return visit in November.

Monday marked the three year anniversary of my last surgery. That is quite a big deal, since I had six abdominal surgeries in less than two years up to that point. To celebrate I took a shower - sitting down, of course. The little gipper has been kicking and punching, and perhaps head-butting me quite often. I love that! Now that I'm protruding, I feel burning pain in two particular regions, which is most likely due to the mesh patch stretching out of its stitches. I'm still barfing and bleeding, but no hospitalizations, and I'm stronger than I've been in months. This is my 25th week of pregnancy. Yahoo!

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Our niece Jessica participated in a triathlon in Seattle to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund today. This niece is also the mother of two tiny sons and works with children when she's not training. Not only that, she's been first in line for four years to host our embryos, since we've never been sure if I could pull it off. She's a model mama!

When we had our ultrasound two weeks ago, the little gipper was measuring 15 oz., which we were told is the 54th percentile. As a Jennings, I must admit that sounds dinky. This week, she should be over a pound and be about 11 inches long. I'm starting to feel her kick, and if I tap on the spot where she's kicking she sometimes kicks back. During one of our ultrasounds the perinatologist remarked that she's an acrobat. Must take after her Daddy!

Also this week, her ovaries are completely developed with all their eggs for life. I am grown from an egg that developed in 1930 and Jack is grown from one developed in 1926. So we figure in another forty years she might use one of her eggs to give us a grandchild. This week she should start putting on fat and growing hair. We are very curious what that will look like, since we have blonde, brown, red and black hair in the immediate family, as well as straight, wavy and curly. Any guesses?

Some have reported difficulty interpreting the ultrasound photo I posted. Here are clues: it's a head shot and she's looking directly at you with her head tipped to one side. Only one eye is visible and, due to the depth of the ultrasound reading, it looks like it's wide open, although in reality she probably had it completely closed. Later I'll post a profile shot.

We are getting a kick out of the pet names people are giving our little gipper. Maribeth is calling her Lolita, Laura is calling her Bunny, and I think Aunt Kathy is calling her BG for Baby Gipper or JM for Jack or Mary. Granny a.k.a. the Queen Mother is calling her the Little Princess. Uncle Mark is calling her Jesusuzy ("Hey Suzy") because she seems to be immaculately conceived and certainly has been long-anticipated.

OUR OB IS MIGHTY PLEASED

Today we made it in to our follow-up OB appointment - Mary's big day out. He was clearly pleased I had made it 4 whole weeks without delivering. After the midnight bleeding scare, he had been gravely concerned I could hold the pregnancy through this month. Both he and his nurse were excited I hadn't needed another hospitalization. Now my OB wants me to go one more week for a "viable" baby, and another 4-6 weeks for a healthy preemie. No problemo! We are scheduled to see him again in a month and then we see the perinatologist for a re-evaluation of the placenta. Of course I'm to call if there's any problem between now and then.

I thought I was having a big problem with my blood pressure, because I can't shower or dress (two things I now avoid) without having to suddenly hit the deck panting and sweating, with a thunderous heart and the threat of fainting. My OB gave me iron supplements, assuming I'm anemic, so that should help. And bedrest continues - so far, so good. Jack did ask permission to transport me to the beach once in awhile if I promised to behave and just sit quietly. We got the okay for that, which is HUGE.

So all in all we are pleased, too!

Beer gut or pregnant?

Today we attempted to capture the miracle of life as it's being displayed on my new physique. I must say, it's probably just fine that I'm on house arrest I mean bed rest and no one can see me - I'm not looking all that cute. Even so, I dug out my favorite tee shirt and put it on, along with my gargantuan new bra so Daddio could take my picture. In the end, I'm posting the Mama's-eye-view of pregnancy. That tee shirt felt like I was wearing a rubber band. Note that my belly sticks up farther than my chest, which has also gained in altitude. Also, I uploaded the close-up ultrasound of our baby daughter taken in the middle of the night 3 weeks ago - see the second blog post for that.