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Week 13

Well, it's finally time to spread the news! Yes, it has been one of the worst kept secrets I can remember, and yes, Katie and I are going to have a baby!

We've been working on it for a while (practice, practice, practice) and we're really looking forward to the months and years ahead. It's sure to be both fun and frustrating, but hopefully we'll get through it with few major scrapes.

So, here's the scoop: check on these pages for the latest in what's going on in our little world and with the little one. I'll use this page as a springboard for news on the baby's development, my own thoughts and feelings, and Katie's experience as we go through the next six months. From week to week, I'll put up a new update and archive the prior ones in another section of the site.

The content? I can't say it will always be the most important information you'll receive on any given day, but it will be an intimate, honest view of our lives. And don't forget -- if you've got precious words of advice or parental wisdom, pass it along now, while we're still asking!

News from week 13: Monday we went to the doctor for our third visit. We were really nervous at the thought of any complications -- I guess that's normal in the early stages of this, but it's no consolation when your palms are all sweaty . . . But all of our concerns were for nothing. Everything was fine, and for the first time, we heard our child's heartbeat! Katie was told to keep taking her vitamins and she had to give a urine sample -- which I guess was normal since we haven't heard from anyone.

Katie's doing great in the first three months of her pregnancy. She's still got the food funk -- not really knowing what she wants to eat, eating breakfast for dinner and the like.

She gets tired earlier in the evening and sleeps just about horribly. I know, because she tosses and turns all night trying to get comfortable, but it never really works. Her abdomen is growing enough that her normal (petite) clothes don't really fit, so she's shopping for some early maternity clothes -- ones with style.

Katie's really beginning to get excited. She's getting pregnancy books and magazines and starting to talk about how we need to rearrange the house for the baby's room and all.

She thinks she's going to have a son

It's week 13 and everything is humming right along. We heard the heartbeat at the doctor's office and everything looks good medically.

What do the experts say? Here's the scoop, from Baby Center:

How the baby's growing: The baby's face is beginning to look more human. The eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their normal position. This is the beginning of the fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs that have already formed in your baby's body rapidly grow and mature. The baby's intestines, which initially develop in a large swelling in the umbilical cord, will start to move into the fetal abdominal cavity about now.

I have to say, the idea of being a dad is at the same time scary and thrilling! For the past three months we've been kinda walking around in quiet anticipation, not really talking much about the baby because of the uncertainty we've come to dread. But that all changed on Monday when I heard my child's beating heart. That changes everything! I'm feeling really good about that.

It's been hard to understand what Katie is going through with food and all, though. As you know, I love to cook, and when she gets into her funk, I just don't know what to do. I see taking care of dinner as one of the few gifts I can give her -- making that part of our lives something she doesn't have to worry about. When I can't do that because of her quirks, sometimes I feel lost. We've tried to talk about it -- so I can get things from the store that she'll like to eat -- but she doesn't even know what she wants ahead of time. I hear she'll come out of it soon enough.

In my own way, I'm gathering information on our pregnancy, too. I found a book called The Expectant Father that talks about the journey from a dad's point of view. The 'net is also a great source of info.

And I need all the information I can get: Since I work out of the house, I get to be the "primary care giver." It'll be fun to be an at-home-dad! And Katie says I have to get a safer car -- not the jeep. At least I get to keep the bike.

And the Beat Goes On . . .

Check back next week --