Joining the Club

I've officially joined the Mickey and Dennis club, and purchased Baby Girl Fowler her first two bathing suits.  They are so cute.  Now I just need to find her a sun hat.   

Grandmom

Below is an email I received from my mother today, and it cracked me up:

-----Original Message-----

From: yekcim412@aol.com [mailto:yekcim412@aol.com]

Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 10:55 AM

To: Karen Hanks

Subject: My Granddaughter

Hi Cathy and I went out shopping and we picked up her first doll. Love you Mom

Daddy's Shopping Spree

Dennis has embraced the fact that we are having a girl much sooner than I imagined.  Yesterday, Dennis bought a little wardrobe for Baby Girl Fowler.  I came home to this wonderful surprise of girly clothes with ruffles, bows and bonnets.  His favorite is a Calvin Klein jumper with pink hearts.  He even bought pink and white Adias booties.  I loved everything he picked out, and relished in the fact that he too was excited about buying clothes for our baby girl.  Oddly enough, the borderline shopaholic (that's me) has not bought one item with the exception of the Tough Mudder onesie.  I had planned to have the baby room cleaned out and ready for decoration in January, but based on the amount of clothes my Mom and Dennis have already bought, I think I need to move up that date.      

Second Sonogram

With all the hype surrounding the sex, I almost forgot to discuss how awesome our second sonogram was.  I didn't laugh hysterically this time; instead, I was just amazed.  We saw our baby's hands and feet and her little fingers and toes.  She still looks like an alien, but I think she's the cutest alien ever.  She was moving so much. Just somersaulting around the entire time.  I still haven't felt anything though.  My doctor says first time mothers usually take until week 18 to feel something.  I can't wait until Nov. 11 because I want to see her again. 

It's a Girl!

We found out yesterday that we are having a girl.  Dennis was really pulling for a boy.  While I know he's happy baby is healthy, he is still disappointed.  As much as I wanted a girl, I would have been perfectly fine with a boy.  In fact, the more I saw how much Dennis wanted a boy, I actually began to hope it was a boy. I know he wanted a little baseball player, and even though girls can play sports too, softball just isn't the same.  Although the doctor was pretty confident in his assessment, he still gave Dennis a modicum of hope.  He explained it was still early, but we would know for sure at our next appointment (Nov. 11) because the baby would be twice in size.  That's all Dennis needed to hear.  So according to Dennis, Baby Fowler is only tentatively a girl. 
The more I think about it, I'm beginning to regret I ever hoped for a girl because she is going to have Dennis wrapped around her finger.  He's already like that with Snickers.  He may not admit it, but he treats Snickers differently than Tucker and Maverick.  He lets Snickers do things that I just don't allow.  So you know what that means? I am going to be the mean parent and Daddy is going to be the nice parent. 

Filling Out

Technically, I'm still not showing.  But I'm definitely filling out.  My clothes are super tight, in part because of my stomach, but more so because of my boobs.  It's depressing that I am coming to the end of being able to wear all of my beautiful clothes. I walk into my closet everyday and think "nope, can't wear that."  I also hate the fact that I'm not obviously pregnant.  If I have to get fat, then at least make it obvious why I'm fat.  Is this too much for a girl to ask? 

Tough Mudder

By now everyone knows I completed the Tough Mudder race while pregnant. Only a few knew beforehand.  My doctor was less than thrilled when I told him about the upcoming race, and Dennis didn't want me to do it at all. But I started training for this race back in June and just couldn't bear the thought of backing out. So I made a deal: I would not do certain obstacles that had a risk of falling from major heights and if I felt bad or experienced any cramping I would quit immediately.  I was a little nervous about the race because my first trimester side effects took me out of my training routine. So for 7 weeks leading up to the race, I did no exercise whatsoever.  Fortunately, I felt great during the entire race. I ran the first quarter of it, and completed 20 of 28 obstacles.  I skipped the berlin wall obstacles and the electric wire obstacle.  But baby and I still did the freezing cold mud hole (that took my breath away), we crawled under barbed wire, not once, but twice and have the cuts and bruises to prove it (well I do at least), we trudged through more mud holes than I could count, we carried logs, we climbed over logs, we climbed under ground and through tunnels and we scaled cargo nets.  These are just a few of the obstacles we did, and all over a course that spanned 12+ miles.  In fact, this was the hardest part of the race; the length of it.  My legs were so tired.  Sunday was a rough day. My legs hurt so bad I could barely walk.  Fortunately, today I feel much better. I still have some sore muscles and bruises all over my legs, but I can move much better. We also had our second doctor's appointment and baby's heart rate is right where it should be and he/she is kicking a lot. I got a head band and a t-shirt for completing the race and baby got a onesie that says "Future Tough Mudder."  I'm going to have my Mom sew an "X" through the "Future" part b/c Baby Fowler is already a tough mudder. 

Announcement to the Parents

Yesterday, we announced our pregnancy to our parents.  Both sets of parents were excited, but no one was more excited than Dennis' mother and his little niece and nephew.  They were just beside themselves. It really brought a huge smile to my face hearing them cheering for joy in the background.  It also made me realize I haven't experienced that sort of excitement.  Of course I am happy, but I have been more focused on the logistics of everything.  Not to mention just trying to survive the first trimester.  This also wasn't a planned pregnancy, so I think that accounts for the lack of excitement.  That is not to say I am unexcited; I'm just not jumping up for joy (yet).  Instead, the analytical side of me is just more focused on the huge responsibility we are about to undertake and getting a plan in place to handle that enormous task.  It's also still all a bit unreal.  Yes, I know I'm pregnant, but with the exception of my pants fitting a little tighter and my boobs getting larger, I am not showing.  And with the exception of suffering all the first trimester symptoms, I don't feel pregnant.
      But there is a frame sitting next to our bed that says "My first photo," and it has our first sonogram photo in it. Every time I look at it I smile, and my heart warms.  I think that constitutes excitement for a girl who didn't picture herself with a kid, ever.