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December 7, 2002
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Just about 13 weeks!
Wow… it’s been SO long since I last updated my diary… almost a month! My computer has been having a ton of problems and we finally got it fixed. Actually, we got it back this past Tuesday, but my life has been a whirlwind and finding even five minutes to get on this computer has been a challenge. I am actually only checking my email every 2 or 3 days and when I do, I have about 50 new messages. I only have time to check it and never any time to respond! ARGH! But, that is what happens during the holidays! I have SO much to say and I am not even sure where to begin. I have the feeling this will be a long entry!
The Pregnancy
Overall, the pregnancy is going well and for that I am so grateful. I have still been quite sick, though I think it is finally starting to calm down a bit. I have felt pretty darn good the past few days. On Thursday the 5th, I went for my second doctor’s appointment. It was uneventful and again, I am thankful for that. They say that I am down by one pound but I really think they recorded my weight wrong from my first appointment, though I could be wrong… pregnancy brain and all. I thought I was up by four pounds, but hey, if they want to tell me I’ve lost a pound, I’ll take it! My blood pressure was excellent at 106/68. Urine was negative for sugar and trace for protein. I got to hear my little jellybean’s heartbeat for the first time and it was music to my ears. I doubt I’ll ever get tired of hearing that swooshing heartbeat deep within my belly.
My doctor discussed some things with me and then, as always, gave me a chance to ask questions. I laughed and said, “I only have one question this time around. Am I supposed to be THIS huge already???” He laughed. I told him that I was only half joking. I know that we only saw one baby on the initial ultrasound but I told him that I was beginning to entertain freaky thoughts about a tumor growing in there or something. I am seriously HUGE… I was nearly six months pregnant before I was this big last time. I am in all maternity clothes and last night, I finally had to get out my maternity scrubs for work. Anyway… he measured my fundal height and told me that if this was my first pregnancy, he would have called it 16 weeks, but because this was my second pregnancy (and so close to the first one), he said that I am fine. Deep down, I know he’s right. I am just amazed and how quickly my belly has expanded.
Exciting news… I schedule my fetal survey ultrasound! I didn’t think I’d even schedule it until my next appointment, but we went ahead and got the ball rolling. They said they do them between 16 and 20 weeks. So, we have our big ultrasound on the very last day of this year… December 31st. We are very excited. The only dilemma now is whether or not to find out the sex. For those of you who know me well, you are probably shocked that I am even mentioning this. It was always understood that we would find out because my husband really wants to know. Well, I think I bugged him about it one time too many and he finally caved and said, “Fine, we can just wait and be surprised. This is our last baby and we won’t be doing this again, so if you want to wait, then we’ll wait. I just think we could plan better if we knew in advance.” To be really honest, after all the whining I did about it, I never actually thought he would say that. So now I’m left torn in two… to find out or not find out… that is the question. I am almost half hoping the baby doesn’t cooperate for the ultrasound so that the decision won’t be on my shoulders. I have had people tell me that they have girl’s clothing set aside from me and are just waiting to hear. What IS a girl to do? I guess in the back of my head, I had just always thought we would find out and then name him/her. At the same time, I still think it would be incredible to just wait and find out at the time of the birth. I mean really, how exciting would that be after all the labor and all the months of dreaming and waiting?
Speaking of dreams... I am not sure if I mentioned this before (and yes, it’s late at night and I am not in the mood to go back and search!) but I had a dream about this baby a few weeks ago. With Ethan, I never had even a single baby dream. But, from the moment we found out we were pregnant, we were absolutely sure he was a boy. We always referred to him as “he, him, or his”. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to learn that he was indeed a boy at our ultrasound. With this baby, we felt the same… right from the get-go; we felt it was a boy. Then I started having some doubts. Well, when I had this dream a few weeks ago, I dreamed this baby is a girl! So ever since then, I’ve been terribly confused and have no idea what to think anymore. I’ll of course be thrilled with either a boy or a girl, but it’s just strange vacillating between the two thoughts.
Anyway… my next appointment will be after the ultrasound on the 31st.
My Mom
My mom flew in the night before Thanksgiving. I was of course at work at the time so Mike and Ethan went to pick her up from the airport. Ethan was really shy at first but let me just say that have fast become best friends. It has been absolutely wonderful having my mother here. I forgot just how much she spoils me when she is here. My house has never looked cleaner (except for when she was here last year!) We’ve had some GREAT meals prepared for us. My laundry is always caught up. She does it all. On top of all that, she made me a Thanksgiving/autumn table cloth and a Christmas table cloth, which we just put on today. They are gorgeous and make my house look so festive. On Thursday, we spent the entire day out shopping. I have to say, I didn’t spend a dime (because I don’t have a dime to spend) but she went crazy. She also bought me a very, very beautiful Christmas tree skirt. It is absolutely gorgeous… something I never would have spent the money on but something that I’ll cherish forever. She also has been spoiling my son rotten. He will have tons of presents under the tree, no thanks to his poor parents!
My mother is so generous. She gives and gives and never expects a thing in return. I of course can’t pay her back with money, but I do try and make her life as easy as possible in other ways. I just can’t tell you how nice it is to have her here. Mike and I have gone out a couple of times and it felt so weird to be able to go out alone. But at the same time, we never worried for a second about Ethan and were able to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. She is absolutely in love with her little grandson. I couldn’t be happier.
Our Christmas Tree
Last year, we decided we were going to buy an artificial tree. Well, we never got around to it. We had planned on getting it at Costco (where we could get the biggest bang for our buck!) but by the time we went back, they had all sold out. So, we went and cut one down at a tree farm. It’s Ethan’s first Christmas and we made a day of it. Also, my mother has never, ever had the experience of cutting down her own tree. The idea of doing this really made her excited. So, that morning, we got up and went to breakfast at a great little restaurant and then headed over to the tree farm. We had a lot of fun. It was cold and foggy… perfect holiday weather. Our tree looks so beautiful… all decorated with white lights and ornaments and my beautiful new skirt under the tree. This will be special for Ethan’s first Christmas.
Meeting Other Diary Writers
I have to admit… this is just a teaser. I am not writing about the experience here because I think we are all going to post our stories at the same time. But, I just couldn’t write this entry without at least mentioning that I did, indeed get together with them and we had a great time. I can’t wait to write all about it!
Ethan
I will write a more detailed entry about Ethan in his diary, but I wanted to just mention the highlights here. He will be 11 months old in less than a week. I can’t believe it. He is still not walking, but he is standing on his own. He just isn’t interested in taking steps yet. As I always say, I’m in no hurry. I know it will happen when he’s ready. He cut his 7th tooth this week! I know that #8 is right there as well. He is talking now a LOT… mama, dog, nana (food), Tuku (his word for Tutu, which is what we call my mom… it’s a Hawaiian slang term for grandmother… I called her mom Tutu also), “cocker” (his word for cracker), and hat. He can point to our noses and eyes. He also points to his diaper if you ask him where his diaper is. Right now we are working on “ears” and “tummy” and every other thing he decides to point at. He just amazes me. He is starting to have a much firmer grasp of the word “no”. He doesn’t say it, but he knows that if we do, it means business. He still loves clapping his hands and smiling when he is being praised. He is an absolutely beautiful child and I am so incredibly blessed.
I guess that is enough for one night. I have more to say, but the truth of the matter is that I worked last night and I’m exhausted, can’t think straight anymore, and just need to go to bed! I will try to do better with my updates… it’s just hard with the holidays here and my mom visiting!
Take care everyone!
~~Christina, Ethan, & the Jellybean!
P.S. Since we got out computer fixed, my cookies all got deleted and I can't locate my user name or password for my Babies Today diary. Since I am planning on closing out that diary next month anyway, I will probably just continue to post updates on Ethan here. I will write a more detailed entry about him next week!
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