My First Post - A Big Announcement

So, I decided I wanted to write a blog.  But then I didn't know if I had anything to write that was worth reading.  So I've been waiting for the perfect topic to use as my first blog entry... and I finally have just the subject!  It's perhaps the biggest announcement in my life thus far... yes, bigger than graduating from medical school and bigger than getting married... so here it is:

Greg and I are going to have a baby!

We are both so excited that I cannot even express it to you all!  I have always wanted to become a mother, and married a man who has always wanted to be a father, and I can't believe that our time to have a baby is finally here!  Of course, all four of the grandparents are thrilled as well.  This baby will be the first grandchild on either side of our family!

So... the details.  I am almost 13 weeks pregnant, so the baby is due on May 10, 2011.  I'm hoping the arrival will actually be 2 days earlier, on May 8, which happens to be my 30th birthday as well as Mothers day!  Wouldn't that be crazy?  To have your first baby on your 30th birthday, on Mother's day?!?!  I think it would be incredible!  But I'm not holding my breath, of course. :-)  Babies tend to come whenever they want!  The timing of this is quite perfect (almost as if we had planned it, LOL!) as I will be able to take 8 weeks off from work, and then only have to complete 2 weeks of residency after the baby is born, and I'm finished!  Then I'm going to take the summer off of work to enjoy NOT working 80 hours a week, and to be home with our sweet baby!

We've had 3 sonograms so far.  The photos from the first two, while thrilling to us as the parents-to-be, are quite unimpressive.  Picture TV static with a peanut-shaped grey blob in the middle.  The third sono, however, was quite an experience!  

My sisters Emily and Elisabeth, Greg's mom, Diane, and my mom, Nancy.

We took Greg's mom, my mom, and my two youngest sisters along with us because everyone wanted to see the baby.  And it really looked like a baby!  Gone was the shadowy peanut, now we saw a 3 inch long little BABY (CRL 5.6cm), waving arms and legs, heart beating away at 168 bpm.  We counted fingers as she waved her arms around ("hi everyone!"), and then everyone gasped when in amazement as she did a complete flip as the sono tech moved the probe around my belly.  My mom declared that from the profile shot that the baby "looks just like Greg."  We shall see!  

Then the doctor came in to take a look, and he agreed that the baby looks perfect and he doesn't see a single thing to worry about.  Then my mom asked the Million Dollar Question... "can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?"  He looked at me and asked if I wanted to know.  OF COURSE!!  I must confess that I have already been referring to the baby as "she" since I really felt like it was a girl.  So he took another look and said, "well, I can tell you with 98% certainty that the baby is...  A GIRL!" 

WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!


I cannot even tell you how excited that makes me!  Greg is excited too.  He's going to be an amazing dad to our little princess, so gentle and thoughtful and caring.  I can't wait to watch him with her!  And now I can start picking out tiny pink dresses and dainty little girl things!  I've tried to hold off buying girl baby things until we knew for sure... and I was almost successful :-)

Here's a brief clip from our sono DVD that Greg put together.  I think maybe she inherited Greg's athletic talent instead of mine!  Let's hope so!

So, dear friends, that is my big news for my first blog post.  Hope you enjoyed hearing a little about something BIG in our lives!  We can't wait to introduce you all to the newest Galloway family member next summer!