IT'S A......

Well we can't just give it away that easily!!

So yesterday (Friday the 18th) was our most exciting doctors appointment....the 20 week sonogram!!! we were so excited to find out if Baby Huss was a Boy or a Girl. Ironically the survey on the blog was at an even split of 50/50, however the majority of people thought it was a girl, and I think a part of Mark and I thought the same thing. Of course since we were anxious, the doctors office was behind so we had to wait a little longer. Finally they called us in and it was time to start! It was within the first minute and we already knew... that we are having....A BOY!!!!

We are obviously so excited, especially Mark who was thrilled when we found out it was a boy (he even did a little silent cheer!) but obviously he was happy with either gender. Baby Huss did not hide his gender at all! He was sitting with his legs spread wide open and his hands over his eyes, he definitely wanted everyone to know he was a boy!!

Boy Parts



I had eaten a small box of nerds before the appointment in order to make sure Baby Huss was moving so we could get a good picture... and it worked!! except that he was actually moving soooo much that the technician was having a very tough time getting all the necessary pics. So much so that at our next appointment we will be having another sonogram just to make sure we got all of the pictures we needed. She did get a few 3-D pics but they are tough since he was on the move, but this one is our favorite since it appears our lil guy is ready to suck his thumb!

I love my thumb!



The doctor told us that everything is great with Baby Huss, he's growing at a perfect rate and has no signs of any problems at all! We are so thankful to be having a healthy baby boy!!

Now... the name of Baby Huss you ask? Well we did have a few final contenders....Landon Thomas, Maksim Thomas, Kolin Thomas. So what will Baby Huss's name be??

MAKSIM THOMAS HUSS

We really like the name Maxim but weren't crazy about the spelling or the nickname spelling of Max. So we looked for some alternate spellings and determined that Maksim is the Hungarian spelling (My maternal grandmother is Hungarian) and that Maksym is the Polish spelling (Mark's Mother is Polish). We really liked them both but decided we like the Hungarian spelling best!! Plus we love the nickname spelling of Maks! Also, his initials will be the same as Mark's so that is pretty special to us too. So, we obviously reserve the right to change our mind, however we are pretty stuck on it at this point.

So that's of course the big news...we're having a baby boy and naming him Maksim Thomas. We could not be more excited. Yesterday was truly one of the absolute best days of my life. I can not wait to watch our little boy grow up to be just like his father. I couldn't be happier! However, I do recognize that I am completely out numbered in this house now... with 4 boys to 1 girl! Oh boy! (literally!!) So I guess in our house....

I'm still feeling great and being very thankful that this pregnancy has been pretty easy for me (knock on wood). In fact the doctor said to us yesterday, that" this has been so easy for you that I say we go for twins next time!!!" ummmm I'm not so sure we're ready for that yet!! (however, Mark's Paternal Grandmother is a twin... so I suppose that could happen!)

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations and well wishes that you've sent our way. We are feeling very blessed and continuing to look forward to more adventures to come! xoxo



Daddy's Hand and Mommy's Belly

Baby Daddy Blog

This blog is going to be slightly different from the usual. This blog is coming from the fathers point of view. So everyone who thought Jess was a good blogger just wait till you read my (Mark) blogging skills. I will start out by saying thanks to everyone who has congratulated us, sent us a card, supported Jess, and for all of you reading our blog.

We recently went to the doctors for the monthly check up, it was pretty routine. We got to hear Baby Huss's heartbeat, even though this time it wasn't so easy for the nurse to find Baby Huss's heartbeat because Baby Huss was moving all over the place. It is funny because when I picture babies in a womb I picture them in one of these....

If in fact Baby Huss is in one of these, we can be 100% sure it will be an astronaut. The rest of the doctors visit was normal, doctor asks us if we have any questions, Jess asks questions about iron, and if her gummy vitamins are good enough. Luckily enough, Jess's gummy vitamins are getting the job done. Not once does anyone ask me how I am doing or if I have any questions. I got a laundry list of questions that needs to be discussed. Just kidding, the doctor addresses both of us and Jess does a great job of including me.

Jess insists that I talk about how big Baby Huss is and other statistical information about the babies progress. Here it is folks, the moment you have all been waiting for....what fruit is Baby Huss the size of now......Baby Huss is the size of an.....AVOCADO!!!!! Jess is currently in week 16, Baby Huss is 4 1/2 inches long (Head to Rump) and  Baby Huss weighs a staggering 3 1/2 ounces (still in the lighweight division). Stay tuned for next months reveal....Boy or Girl?????? Which basically just means do we buy a Blue and Gold or a Pink Sabres jersey.

Jess is coming along just great, she thinks that she isn't showing as much because she has more room in her body because she doesn't have a colon anymore...and apparently she could be right because the doctor agreed with her. Crazy, I know. Now is the time that I am supposed to talk about how I feel with this whole situation and how I am coming along. I also am showing a little bit more, unfortunately I do not have the luxury of not having a colon and having more room. We have been eating a little bit more unhealthy (compared to the ridiculosuly healthy eating of south beach diet) and a little bit more frequently, and of course I am going to take advantage of this. Just yesterday we were picking out ice cream and I was trying to sway Jess to the one I wanted. So what, I am taking advantage of the situation...don't judge, you would do the same.

On the emotional side I feel as if I am doing well, it still is a little bit unreal but more and more each day I get a little bit more excited and nervous. I think that once we know the sex of Baby Huss it will get a lot more interesting; picking out a name, colors for a room, do we want themes or different designs and all the accessories we will need to start picking out as well. Dealing with Jess's emotions are a different story, she does have some minor mood swings, nothing extreme, except when I was trying to influence her about that ice cream, she yelled at me and punched me in the my face. Of course I am kidding, that didn't really happen, like I said everything has been pretty minor. We are our usual selfs around each other, we often make fun of each other and push each others buttons but in a healthy and controlled way. I think all in all the last 16 weeks has gone by great and I couldn't be happier.

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and my point of view, we have to go take Beckham for a walk now. Be sure to catch next months blog, it will reveal the sex of Baby Huss and will be written by Milo and Beckham, yes that is right the cat and dog have a point of view on this whole thing as well.

Growing into the second trimester

I'm officially in my 13th week... and headed into the second trimester! I can't believe we're already 1/3 of the way there! Some days it feels like its flying by and other days it feels like April is years away. We just had our 10 week check up and things all looked great! I had a lot of blood work and actually had a glucose test too since diabetes runs in my family. I had just started to get a cold that day and was eager for it to go away so I decided to drink alot of orange juice throughout the day (I drank about 30 oz), however I forgot that I had my glucose test that afternoon....oopsie! I was sure I was going to fail, however as luck would have it... I passed! YAY! We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat again at this appointment and it is definitely a strong lil Huss. At this point our lil Huss is almost 3 inches long and weighs nearly an ounce. Some websites reference that to be about the size of a medium shrimp, a nutter butter, or a peach....I'm going with peach...I like the fruit comparison (Sorry Mom and Dad, an eggplant isn't until week 25-28!) We couldn't be happier to know that everything is on track and Baby Huss is healthy! I'm still feeling great, however lately my nose has been working overtime...the other day I was smelling some delicious fresh baked cookies as we were driving and tried to get Mark to go on an instant search for them... but he wasn't going for it, he just laughed at me! better luck next time I guess.

So far we haven't purchased anything for the baby, we were waiting until we found out the sex and until we were a little closer. However, we did just get our first official baby gift! Thanks to my Aunt Barb who made Baby Huss a beautiful blanket that we are sure he/she will love!

As I mentioned in my last post, Mark and I have begun to notice a bit of a baby bump. Its more noticable when I'm not wearing a shirt, however I will not be posting pics of that..sorry! My clothes are still fitting however I have to admit that my old "Fat" pants (aka 1 size larger than my normal size) are more comfortable right now than my normal pants... I guess I better get used to that! We did finally take our first picture of me with my 13 week bump....I have to say I feel MUCH larger than this picture shows!! Some days more than others, but you can judge for yourself.

Lastly, we've made it truly official now... we've released the flood gates and announced it openly to all that we are having a Baby Huss! It feels great to have the news out and we feel truly blessed with all of the sweet congratulations we have recieved! Thanks to you all! xoxo

The Big 1-0!!

Baby Huss has officially been a part of our lives now for 10 weeks!! I get daily updates about the growth progression of our lil Huss and its amazing to think about this little baby in my belly who is apparently working non-stop! (must have Mommy's work eithic!) At the end of this week our baby will officially be a Fetus! Baby Huss's kidneys, intestines, brain and lungs are now all in place and its little fingers and toes are seperating into their tiny 10 fingers and 10 toes. Since Baby Huss will be further developing it's brain this week by producing 250,000 neurons every minute, I'm sure that means that I will be extra smart at work (2 brains is better than 1)! As of this week our little Huss weighs about a 1/2 an ounce and is about 2 1/2 inches.... doubling in size each week!

As of now, I'm still feeling good (knock on wood)! Apparently I'm one of the lucky ones who is able to avoid morning sickness. I have however began to encounter a little big of pregnancy brain (good thing Baby Huss will help me out this week). At work, I've had a couple moments of ditziness - completely missing obvious things (example 1: I had "completed" a development plan for one of my employees and after showing it to my manager, she nicely pointed out that I had referenced that all of that employees development activites were to be completed by other employees....which clearly will not help his development!) At home Mark has enjoyed the opportunity to laugh at my pregnancy brain incidents which usually occur in the kitchen while making dinner.

Still no intense food cravings, however peanut butter has been tasting extra delicious lately! The other night for dinner when Mark asked what I wanted, I replied Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and tator tots....he gave me a blank stare.... and we ended up with chicken sandwiches and french fries! (he did make me a PB&J for lunch the next day though).

We are starting to see a tiny bit of a belly bump (or how my lovely husband put it "you're getting a baby pooch..hmmmm) but its still pretty small and not noticable when I'm completely dressed. Which is helpful since I have still not told anyone at work except my boss.

Wondering if we're going to have a Boy Huss or a Girl Huss is constantly on our minds! We continue to get mixed answers, Mark says Boy, Dad Z says Girl....even our quiz on this blog is split evenly right now! We consulted a Gender Prediction test online....Boy; and the Chinese Gender Prediction Chart...Girl; as you can see they were not helpful! So we'll try to be patient about our lil Huss's favorite color- Pink or Blue. Until then, I'll continue to read my baby books and look for clues.

Intro to Baby Huss

Hello everyone! Since we are so far away from most of our friends and family we decided to create a blog about our pregnancy and the life of our Baby Huss. I must give credit where credit is due however, I decided to do this after seeing the fantastic blog my cousin Jamie started when she was pregnant - thanks Jamie!!

We found out we were pregnant on August 6th when I took an at home pregnancy test. We kept looking at the test over and over again, just to make sure that positive line wasn't going to disappear....and it didn't! On Monday we went to the doctors to get further confirmation that there would be a Baby Huss coming into our lives. The doctor walked into the room and nonchalantly said "congratulations" - Mark and I just looked at each other and were like, wait what? It's true? We're having a baby! Of course we were very happy!!

Lucky for us we were headed to NY for a wedding (and to see family and friends) in the next few weeks so we'd be able to tell our families and closest friends the fantastic news. Since it was still early - I was only 7 weeks- we were careful to tell our immediate family and closest friends only. Of course, everyone was thrilled as well!

Our first official doctors appointment was Tuesday 23rd. We were so excited to see our little blueberry!! We were able to not only see that it was a healthy growing baby, but we got to hear the heartbeat too!! It was definitely an amazing experience. The doctor told us our due date...April 6, 2012 - my Mom's birthday!!! (i'm guessing this will be enough of a present for her!). We were also told that everything looked great and we had a less than 5% chance of a miscarriage! We felt a sigh of relief after hearing this, and decided it was time to tell the rest of the family!! We are waiting a little longer until we tell the rest of our friends and co-workers so no Facebook shout-outs yet!

So now you're all caught up!! I've been feeling good overall, just tired. No weird cravings yet, although I did enjoy tomato sandwiches for about 4 days straight! Mark has been fantastic, always willing to make dinner while I rest and even give me a nightly foot rub! He's a fantastic support (especially when he tells me how thin and fabulous I'm looking!!)

We're looking forward to this new adventure in our lives!!!