18 Weeks

No news to report this week other than we had a very disappointing experience at the doctor on Monday. Its a long story but the hospital group that we are using (not the one that Karl works for) is going through some major changes related to their OB/GYN services. The doctor we had selected will be leaving in July along with several others so only two doctors will be left in this practice. We knew this a few weeks ago and wanted to wait until we were able to talk with our doctor and get his recommendations on where to go next. There are several options in town but leaving this particular practice would mean changing to Karl's hospital rather than the brand new one and would also mean that our pediatrician would not see the baby in the hospital because he doesn't have privileges there (another long story). After talking about our options and asking lots of questions we decided to test out the other male OB in the same practice for our May or June appointment... or so we thought. Apparently the doctors aren't aware that no patients are allowed to switch providers until after yours leaves and even then the two remaining OBs aren't open to new patients. Surprise...definitely not what we had been told for the last 30 minutes. The whole experience was very disappointing because the ladies at the scheduling desk were extremely rude and not helpful in any way, which is the total opposite of how our OB has been through all of this. It goes back to when my appointment was canceled in march and they were the same way. My OB was never informed that I wasn't seen at all and it turns out I didn't get all of the info I should have from that cancellation. Anyway, this actually helped make our decision easier because now we are forced to switch to the other hospital system in town. We had already gotten several recommendations on who to see so I called one later that day and was treated wonderfully so we will begin with a new smaller practice with three OBs at the end of May. Karl and I both really liked the doctor we had chosen and the idea of the new hospital but in the end, this will work out better I think. Karl already works with all of the nurses at the hospital where I will deliver and knows all of the ins and outs over there. Hopefully I feel comfortable with the new OBs and we wont have to deal with all of this stress again.

As for the player to be named later, he/she is growing and had a steady heartbeat at 140. According to babycenter.com he/she is the size of a bell pepper and weighs about half a pound. Not really feeling it move yet but I'm not sure I know what that feeling should feel like at this point. When my March appointment was canceled they failed to tell me that I had to schedule my ultrasound separate from my regular appointment so we didn't get to see anything this time. I will be going back on the 13th for the 20 week ultrasound where we will get to take home pictures and video of the baby. This will also be our last official activity before we make the switch so when the appointment is over I will have all of my records released and be on my way to a new doctor. While I was pretty unhappy on Monday, I am confident it will all work out for the best and we can't want to see our little guy/girl in a few weeks.

No new pictures to share this week. Not much has changed.... I look like I'm trying to smuggle a basketball out of the office under my shirt.

17 Weeks and Growing!

Its hard to believe that 3 months ago yesterday I was able to tell Karl our exciting news! I wouldn't say that the time has gone by fast but I think the next 5 months will soon become a blur. After about 9 weeks of some serious sickness, I seem to have finally turned the corner and am no longer hating life every morning and evening. I'm not all the way there yet but its a huge improvement. Things are finally slowing down at work for me so Karl and I are starting to plan our strategy for all of the things we need to do to get the house ready for a baby. We have some projects that we had in mind and now our list will include cleaning out the garage, the spare room closet and moving everything from the computer room to one of those locations. I think many trips to Goodwill are coming up considering some of the stuff in the garage and in the closets we haven't really touched since we moved in almost 3 years ago- school work/books, twirling costumes, stuffed animals, and other random things we each had in our own apartments . Out of sight, out of mind right? I'm really excited to get the baby room ready and have been spending time looking and bedding, paint and decor online when I don't feel like doing work. Who knew there were so many options? Its still a little unreal but as I grow and as we start to plan more for the next few months its becoming more of a reality that Ella wont be the only baby in the house soon.

I have my next OB appointment on Monday and we are really excited. When my March appointment was canceled I was disappointed so we are both really looking forward to seeing how the baby has grown and hopefully getting a good ultrasound picture that we can share. We are still undecided on finding out the sex, which we will most likely have the option of doing on Monday. All we want is healthy so right now we are leaning towards not knowing. I finally decided to get in front of the camera now that there is actually something to see. Enjoy and more to come after Mondays appointment.

Oklahoma... not quite OK

The trip to Oklahoma City for the women's sweet 16 and elite 8 games was quite an interesting trip. It was exciting for the team to get to continue their season but Oklahoma City was not exactly the most desirable of locations. We landed in a snow storm that threatened to dump 8 inches of snow on us but we were spared and had two days of snow flurries and freezing rain but nothing that stuck. Our hotel was located literally 10 steps from the arena but that's about all it was close to. The "popular" area of town everyone pointed us to was called Bricktown and consists of several bars and restaurants in big old brick buildings, a new movie theatre, and a baseball field. Unfortunately not too exciting.

The first game against Rutgers was just awesome! We jumped out to a big lead and weren't about to give it up no matter how hard they tried in the last minutes of the game. On the day off in between the sun finally came out and Corey and I walked to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial and ate lunch in an awesome restaurant inside the Bricktown Ballpark. The elite 8 game was a totally different story as it was basically a home game for the number one seeded Oklahoma Sooners. The crowd was deafening... honestly, I have never experienced anything so loud in an arena before. There were almost 12,000 fans there and 11,950 of them were cheering for OU. We played a great game but just couldn't stop the Paris sisters down the stretch. It was a tough loss but really they couldn't have done anything better. I always fear the flight home after losses but the whole team was taking it pretty well by the time we got on the plane (3 hours after the game ended). I was excited to have the chance to travel with the team and it was fun having Corey there to hang out with too. I would have loved to spend this weekend in St. Louis but being gone for almost 2 weeks has made me happy to be home. I'll just watch the Final Four action from my couch this weekend and hope that our teams can fare even better next year.

Big Ten Tournament Champs

Here are a few of the best shots from the men's Big Ten Championship game. It was our first event with the new camera so the pictures were kind of an experiment. It was my first men's tounament game ever and our first tournament title in a long time! Im so happy we were able to be there to see it live and I hope we can do it again next year.

13 Week Update

No real news on the baby front. I just wrapped up the end of my first trimester and am looking forward to big changes coming in the next few weeks. According to the babycenter.com website which compares the size of the baby to a food item each week, baby Kraebber is about the size of a medium cocktail shrimp. All of his/her major organs are in place and he/she can kick, bend and bounce around but I can't feel any of it yet. The two most frequently asked questions by far are 1- are you sick and 2- are you going to find out the sex. The answer to question one can be summed up in just one word... YES. I really thought I was going to escape the morning sickness but apparently I am being paid back for the trouble I caused my own mother back in the day. Getting out of bed and getting the dog out or getting in the shower still doesn't happen without a pit stop first.... its very unpleasant. I've heard its a good sign and that morning sickness equals a healthy baby but after a month and a half of this I am really over it and nothing anyone can say will ever make me enjoy throwing up all of the time. The answer to the second question is a little more difficult as we are still in a disagreement about it. I still want to know but Karl still doesn't and we both have valid points on the topic. We are looking for some sort of bargaining tool and we may have found it- if Karl can get the new flooring for the kitchen that he wants (we have a crack across our tile floor since our house has shifted with age) then I can find out the sex of the baby. Sounds good to me! Baby is starting to stick out a little and people at work are starting to notice. I didn't make any grand announcement so little by little its getting out that I have a reason for getting fat.

I was hoping to have some pictures to post after my doctors appointment yesterday but it was canceled and rescheduled for the end of April. I was really disappointed but I suppose I will be happy when my doctor clears his schedule when I go into labor too. Oh well.... its all one big waiting game anyway! More updates to come and hopefully I will be feeling great and have more energy by then. Don't forget to cast your vote in our boy or girl poll, we love seeing your guesses.