Baby Gender Poll

Chris and I decided we were have just way too much fun trying to figure out what the baby was going to be on our own. We wanted to find a way to make sure all of you could join the fun also. So we have created a baby gender poll so we can all pitch in and vote for the baby's sex.

So what do you think we will be having, a boy or a girl? We have our own ideas but we want to hear from you. We will close the poll and give the final results on the morning of our 20 week ultrasound. We don't know the date of the appointment yet but as soon as we do we will let you know. To give you an estimate, we will be at 20 weeks on May 6, so any time around then.

To make this even more exciting Chris and I have decided to make this a nice little contest. The prize to be won will be your very own, creatively designed T-Shirt with the baby's name, our name, your name and something cute like.

To enter the contest you must:

1. Choose your gender on the poll to the right and hit vote. If you want, you can see the current results of all the votes submitted so far.

2. Make a comment on this post telling us what gender you choose and what you would like the baby to be named with that gender. We have some names chosen but we are curious to know what you think and still open for ideas.

3. We are opening this fun contest to family and friends. It's just easier and will help cut down on random strangers voting.

4. And that is it.

On the day of the ultrasound when we find out the gender we will close the voting and chose a winner. We will chose a winner out of the correct votes. For instance, if it is a girl all the people who voted for a girl will be put in a hat and the winner drawn. (We will video tape it so it is fair :) ) If you chose boy, then you will not be included in the drawing. And it if is going to be a boy then it will be reversed.

Sound Good!!! I hope so, enjoy, have fun and Good Luck!!!!

Peace Out,
Philippa Channer

Our 3rd Prenatal Visit

We are in the 2nd trimester and about 4 weeks ago we had our 2nd prenatal visit. Well, what felt like the longest 4 weeks in our lives finally came and we had our 3rd prenatal visit. We were all excited like kids waiting for Christmas. We had all our documents in order, like Phil always has. We had all the questions we wanted to ask. I mean, we had 4 weeks to think about them. Plus, every day we are watching the Discovery Health channel and baby stuff, so we always seem to have questions there and all we do then is write them down. And we were off. Appointment was at 9am.

So we got there, checked in, and waited to see the doctor. While waiting, we are racking our brains for other questions we might have missed or just thought of. Also, we are playing with the kids in the waiting room. Cute. Finally, we are in! I wait in the room while Phil goes off and does her vitals and stuff and comes back. The doctor...or wait, she was a Nurse Practitioner, comes in and we were like, wait a second, you're not the person we have been seeing! I guess people are allowed to have a day off too. But this NP was pretty down to earth and cool. She was lively and made us feel very comfortable and when we brought out our note pad with many questions, she just sat back and said shoot let's hear the questions. She likes questions :) All in all, we got all our questions answered and we were good.

Finally she said the words we have been waiting for for like 4 weeks, LET'S HEAR THAT BABY'S HEART BEAT. YYYEEESSSSS!!!! Finally :)

So she pulls out her Doppler, squeezes the cold gel on Phil's stomach and we were off. At first nothing. She reassures us that sometimes when the baby is positioned in a certain way, it's sometimes difficult to hear off the back. But then, there was the very familiar and welcoming sound we have come to just love, our baby's heart beat. There it was, thumping away interrupted by whooshes and knocks and cracks. I just thought that it was the Doppler, but the NP said, wow you have an active baby. All those the sounds along with the heart beat was the sound of our little one moving around. I guess he didn't care to be bothered. And I say he, because well we don't know yet, and I refuse to say it.

I took a video which I hope you can hear the NP as she explains the different sounds you hear from the Doppler. You'll hear the baby's heart, the baby's movement, and she showed us the difference between the baby's heart beat and Phil's heart beat which you heard through the placenta.

So, the next prenatal visit is in *sigh* another 4 weeks and very shortly after that we'll have the longer more detailed ultrasound to measure the baby and see what we are having. EXCITED!!!

In the mean time, take our poll. What do you think we are having? Boy or Girl?

Ok, here is the video. Enjoy.

Peace Out Folks
Chris C

Registery

Chris and I have been doing some research and we found the two areas where we will probably be registering for our up coming baby showers. It is awesome having such loving and caring families. Here in Orlando my mom and my cousin are working hard putting together a shower for me in July. Meanwhile in Maryland my great sister in law is working away on a shower for me there in June. Can't wait for them both. But in order to help them prepare Chris and I have to actual go to the store and start registering for the different items we are going to need for the new baby. We haven't bought a thing yet (but then again we are only 14 weeks so we have plenty of time). Each time we go to the stores I get the urge to buy a little shirt or blanket or something but I have to fight the urge. I want to wait until after the shower and allow my friends and family to get what they want first. We find out what we are having in the beginning of May so until then we will just put the regular generic stuff on our lists.


Well get ready to find us on Baby's R Us and Target soon. See ya!


Peace Out!
Philippa Channer

My Body Week 14

HOORAY!!! We have officially entered the second trimester. How exciting. We made a cake yesterday to celebrate.

Here is what babycenter.com has to say about our great milestone at week 14.

As for me, I am doing really good so this entry is going to be really short. I have been very active since I got so much energy back. I have been able to help around the house more and get some work done. Since I have stopped drinking milk in the mornings I have no heartburn or gas problems like before. I am still gassy here and there but no where near as bad.

Looking forward to our next doctors appointment next week. Then we should be either getting information about testing or actually doing the testing to determine if there are any genetic issues with the baby. Keep you posted.

Peace Out,
Philippa Channer

Changes Had To Be Made

I just wanted to share with everyone that we had to make a huge decision and gave our cat up for adoption. It was a lot harder then I thought it would be, but it had to be done. Chris and I drove her there this afternoon and filled out the paperwork we needed. I think on the car ride there she knew what was happening. It was so sad. We are going to miss her. We had several reasons why we had to do it, but none of them mattered when we were saying our good byes. At least we have loads of pictures to remember her. Koneko 'Kitty' Channer.

Peace Out,
Philippa Channer

Week 13 Belly Shot...

Well actually, we are heading into our 14th week, which means our 2nd trimester. This is a very exciting time for us. We consider the Wednesday of every week as a new week, right now we are 13 weeks and 4 days and counting. What I might start to do is spread out the pictures alittle, so we can see some dramatic changes, like this one. I was looking back and the last picture we took at 10 weeks and there is a definite change. I'm also going to try my hands at making the pictures look alot nicer. You know try my hands at being all professional and that :)

Next week Tuesday will be our 3rd prenatal doctor visit and I know both of us are very excited. We want to check up on our little one and make sure alls well. We'll let you know how that goes.

Lord, please continue to give our little one, Your Gift, strength and healthy growth and continue to be with Phil and I. Thank You. Amen.


Peace Out Folks
Chris C.

Medicaid Scare

Just some FYI. A few weeks back we were having some issues with our Medicaid application. For those of you who don't know Medicaid provides you coverage in the event that you become pregnant and don't have the means to financial afford the pregnancy. Florida's medicaid program is actually pretty nice, all my appointments and the delivery are covered 100% and any baby visits afterwards. Sweet.

Well the Florida Department of Children and Families is the party to accept or deny the applications and they are very picky. Something on one sheet of my application was not complete and they had rejected the entire thing. Well after weeks of worry and trips to the office it is finally cleared up and myself and the baby are covered. Once less thing to be concerned about :).

Peace Out,
Philippa Channer