Baby Bean Dimino is a.......

GIRL BEAN!!!!

We didn't get any great printed photos of the "money shot" but the doctor confirmed she's for sure a little lady. We saw three lines on the screen and that's how I knew. All of her measurements (brain, thigh bone, etc) are on track and she's estimated to weigh 11 ounces. 

Mom has only gained 5 lbs so far.. amazing considering the amount of carbs and ice cream I've allowed myself,  for the sake of the baby of course! 

It's funny. Many of our close friends and family thought for sure we were having a boy and in the past few weeks I talked myself into believing it was probably true. Partially because I didn't want to seem disappointed when we found out and partially because I had always wanted a girl and it took awhile to get used to the idea that this quite possibly could be a boy bean we were dealing with here. I was all set to hear that we were having a boy and was actually a bit disappointed to hear otherwise! Funny how that works! BUT that lasted for a whole mili-second and I'm soooo glad we're having a baby girl. Angela Jr.. what a great name!

Angelo Guido will have to wait for baby #2.

We've vowed 'no pink room' but will probably do something in a light blue/brown with white accents. We'll be sure to post nursery photos when we get to that point. So far we started to empty out the nest to make room for baby. We've sold lots of items in the past two weeks (including Matt's bachelor dressers) and goodwill will be receiving a whole closet full of clothes/linens to make room for baby. Let the shopping begin!

Updated Baby Bump + Our # 1 Question

Can you believe we're 16 weeks into this already (actually 16 weeks and 4 days but who's counting!)?

We go in for the big ultrasound on June 5th. As long as the baby cooperates, when we leave, we'll know if we having a girl bean or a boy bean. I can hardly wait to find out!

Our # 1 question (after "how are you feeling") has to be if we've picked a name for the baby yet.

Our standard answer is yes.. Angelo Guido Dimino. Don't you love how it rhymes? hee hee If it's a girl, we're thinking Angela Jr. but I'm not sure about a middle name yet.

Actually I don't think we're going to share possible names with anyone in advance. When the baby is born we'll be sure to make an announcement.
We're doing this to 1. protect the sensitive pregnant person's feelings and 2. because we won't even be discussing until after June 5th.

Everyone has special feelings towards one name or another.. those feelings aren't always positive and rather than subject ourselves to complaints or questioning about our choice.. we're going to wait until the little darling is here. No way will you be able to look at him/her and tell them their name is stupid or that you had a crappy ex in high school by that name. :)

My feelings towards having a girl are starting to change.. having a little Angelo might not be so bad!

The Beat Goes On

I just wanted to update everyone on Matt and his crazy ordeal. For those of you who may not know, here's what happened:

About two weeks after returning from our wedding in Cabo, Matt was on the couch and felt a terrible pain in his chest. He's not overweight, doesn't smoke, and is in generally good health. He chalked it up to gas and was going to see what happened. A few days later it happened again just after breakfast, not wanting to take any chances we were off the ER. His EKG came back fine but was told to look into it further.

He needed a referral to a cardiologist and had to find a primary care doc first..(HMO) Fast forward a few months and a few tests later, had an angioplasty done on May 6th. That's right, my 35 year old husband with a new wife, and baby on the way... We knew we were in good hands after meeting with Dr. Khamaj Dave, the Cardiologist performing the procedure but were still concerned about the what if's and the unknowns.

Matt's main artery on the front of his heart was almost completely blocked (I saw the photos).. a night nurse later told Matt that artery is called the "widow maker"... He's home and doing fine today but please, no matter your spouse's age, if they aren't feeling well, encourage them to look into any chest pains further. You're the only one that knows your body. Nobody ever thought someone as young as 35 would have a clogged artery.. usually that takes years to build up. His cholesterol and blood pressure results were all within normal. Matt could have easily brushed this off and I'm so thankful he had a final nuclear stress test that showed a blockage.. otherwise I hate to think about what may have happened to our family.

This week Matt is back at work and the large bruises near his groin and on his arm are fading.. I look at him while he sleeps and can't help but tear up and think about what might have happened. Matt's my family and I (we) need him.

A huge "thank you" to all our friends and family who showed nothing but great support for both of us while we went through this. We appreciate the dinners, cards, and phone calls with all your concern and well wishes.

We love you all!

Matt after 7 hours of not being able to move his right leg..He was finally able to get out of bed

Baby Bean moves into the 2nd Trimester!

I had such a wonderful 1st trimester! No morning sickness, average energy, and with this week 14, we made it to the start of our 2nd trimester! I heard lots of horror stories of girls being so ill and feeling generally miserable that I feel really lucky. AND Matt has been so wonderful! The perfect husband to his pregnant wife. Although he does have to be nice to me, I am after-all the designated driver!

I have had my moments. I was making dinner a few nights ago, stirfry and wanted to use our jar of garlic. I couldn't find it anywhere in the fridge and was getting frustrated. After checking and rechecking for a few minutes, I asked Matt to come and take another look because I really didn't remember using it up last time. He came to look and couldn't find it either. I gave up, turned around and there it was on the counter! I grabbed it first thing when getting other stuff out of the fridge and a second after doing so forgot I did it! :) Baby Brain strikes again!

Updated Ultrasounds

The baby has changed so much already! At week 6 he/she was a baby bean.. then at 10 weeks resembled more of a lizard (sorry to say that about my lovely baby but the pictures speak for themselves!) On the 18th we went in for additional testing for Down Syndrome and Trisomy screening. The best part of the test is we got to spend 20 minutes watching our bean on a screen bouncing up and down and waving hello to mom and dad!

We're really excited to find out the sex at our June appointment. I'm hoping for a girl but most of our friends and family are guessing it's a boy. Judging by the newest "alien" photos it may just be a boy! He/she does look a bit like Matt. :)

Baby Bumps

The pants are getting tight!
I've been using a belly band for a few weeks now. It looks like a tube top that you wear around your waist. It allows you to leave your pants unbuttoned yet they stay up. Our bean is getting bigger. We're on week 13 and he/she should be almost 3" in length. Too small to feel anything but big enough to make mom's gut look like she had one too many beers!

Baby Bean is doing well

We had our 2nd doctor's appointment today. We were given another ultrasound to confirm how far along I am. As of today, I'm 10 weeks and 3 days.

The date was changed by one day (even though I know when I ovulated) so based on measurements, our due date is now October 27, 2008.. but they say only 5% of babies are born on their actual due day so it's more of a "due week" that we're working with. The Dr also informed us of two things.. we can't have the baby on a Friday evening or when the USC Trojans are playing in town. I thought he was joking at first, but no joke. lol His son plays football on fridays and he goes to every game. His wife is a HUGE Trojans fan and when they're in town, they go. I checked the schedule and we cannot go into labor on Saturday Nov 1st (It's their homecoming game!) or the night of the 31st between 4-9pm... If baby bean sticks to those rules we'll be just fine!

The baby's heart sounded very strong. We made an appointment to see a Perinatologist (fancy word for a specialist) to have our first trimester screening done on April 18th. That doctor will perform another ultrasound and conduct blood tests to check for Down Syndrome. However, our doctor was able to locate a nasal bone that would likely be missing and said everything looked good, but we'll need to see the specialist to confirm. About 80% to 90% of babies with Down Syndrome can be detected using this screening test.

Funny story that happened this morning. We went in to talk to an insurance agent about life insurance. We had met with this gentleman a week or so ago to give him information. When we arrived he showed us the numbers and I noticed he spelled our name incorrectly, Dimon. Not a big deal.. happens all the time.. Heck, the priest announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Dim-in-O

Anyhow he continues to talk and says "... when baby Demon comes out.." I lost it. I couldn't stop laughing. Through my tears I asked Matt how he knew our child was a demon. I said "it's a baby bean, not a demon seed!" This poor guy was sooo embarrassed and probably thought for sure he blew the sale. It still makes me giggle to think about it. We told the doctor the story before the ultrasound so as he ushered us into the correct room, he says to Matt "let's go see Lucifer".. too funny!

I didn't realize this but the Dr. has 3-D capabilities on his ultrasound machine. Baby Bean was giving us his/her back but he was able to get a profile shot.

DEMON BABY



BABY DIMINO (alien maybe, but no wings or tail as of yet)