3D Ultrasounds of Baby Ingram

August 3, 2011

For my 30 week appointment the doctor decided to do an ultrasound.  I was so excited because it had been 10-11 weeks since I had seen my little guy!  Brian was able to come during his lunch break and he was excited too.  He hadn't seen our little man since I was just 9 weeks along.  We had originally planned not to do a 3D ultrasound, but once we saw him in the 2D we were desperate to see his face better.

Here he is.  I'm not sure why the picture is on it's side.  I rotated it...oh well.  Isn't he super cute?  We loved that he threw up the peace sign (or as my parents say the "V" for Victory...meaning he's a USC fan already)! 

He was super active during the ultrasound, so much so that after a few minutes he flipped himself over and faced my back. We were sad that we didn't get to see more. But the ultrasound tech promised to take more pictures at my next appointment.

We found out at this appointment that my fluid levels are high, which is something that the doctor wants to monitor on a weekly basis.  It's a little scary because high levels can cause preterm labor.  The bonus is that I get an ultrasound each week.

August 10, 2011

I went in the next week for another check on my fluid levels (hooray they went down a little!) and I got to get more 3D pictures of my sweet little guy. 

He was still super active so a lot of the shots are a little blurry, but it's fun to watch him move around in my tummy. He's been pretty crazy active since I was about 27 weeks. It's fun, but definitely can be painful!  Brian loves feeling him move and kick and is constantly surprised at how strong our little man is.  We are so excited to meet him. 

Only 7 more weeks from today (8/23/11) (as long as my fluid levels don't go up)!

My Birthday

July 21, 2011

I can't believe I turned 29!  I'm starting to feel old.  :(  It was a great day though.  Sadly, Brian was at work, so I was alone most of the day, but we had a great evening.

Here are the flowers my parents sent me.  They were beautiful!

My parents also gave me a gift certificate to a maternity store, so I went out and bought a dress for my birthday.  Brian wanted to get some shots of me in my new dress.  Here I am at 28 weeks.  I felt huge!

Here's Brian at 28 weeks too.  He he.  His bump is much smaller than mine!

A super cute picture of the 2 of us.

We had Courtney and David over for cake (no pictures of them though...sorry).  Here's my ice cream cake.  Yay!  It was chocolate with peanut butter cups inside.  So yummy!

Here I am with my cake.  You might be able to see the nice bruise I have on my left arm.  The day before my birthday I had to take my glucose test at the Doctor's to check for gestational diabetes.  It was traumatic for me because I hate getting my blood drawn and they had a really difficult time finding a vein.  Brian was 99% sure that I had diabetes because I had been getting dizzy often and even fainted on him one Saturday while we were out.  Thankfully I had gotten a call a few hours before and they told me that I had passed and I was free to eat my birthday cake!  Hooray!  I was going to cry if I couldn't!

Brian is really good at surprising me with gifts.  I had no idea what he had planned to get me because he didn't ask for any ideas or anything.  He had been out shopping though, so I knew he was up to something.  My big gift was a NEW LAPTOP!  I was so excited.  I bought my previous laptop in 2002 and I had really needed a new one.  We had looked before, but didn't get it, so it was a great gift to get!  Plus it has a 10-key on the keyboard, which I think is super awesome!

Brian also got me a funny gift of food, but hey when you're pregnant, you want food!  I had been saying for the last couple of weeks how I had been craving potato chips.  So, Brian got me some!  Yummy!  Love Salt and Vinegar!

It was such a great birthday!  My BB is the best!  Thanks honey for making it awesome!

The Boy Who Read

July 16, 2011

When the Harry Potter craze began I scoffed at it. I figured it to be the next fad that was being forced down the public’s throat, a flash in the pan story/toy line/movie waiting to be replaced by the next manufactured “hit” from the media machine. Being a fan of films and books and such I should probably not be so cynical, but after reading and watching enough bad books and films it’s difficult to not suffer from some entertainment malaise sometimes. In truth I knew nothing about the series other than a boy went off to wizard school where they threw new words like “muggle” around. It wasn’t for me.

In early 2002, while interning at a production company in LA, another intern, Jung, thought it incomprehensible that I had not read any Harry Potter books and she sought to right that wrong. She bought me a copy of the first book and insisted that I read it. I did. I didn’t like it. I admit that my prejudice likely affected me, but it just didn’t grab me. I rented the movie to try that as well and it was more of the same. Jung looked at me with stunned disbelief and rolled her eyes. And that was that for my Harry Potter experience for the next 8 years.

My wife, Jen, is an avid reader and a Harry Potter fan. She’s the type that waited in line at a bookstore until midnight for the final book to be released so she could buy it and get started reading immediately. She did stop short of wearing a costume in case you were wondering. When she found out that I had read the first book and saw the first film and didn’t like them there was the obligatory stunned disbelief and rolling of the eyes. But Jen insisted that I read it again and all the other books too because they get better. I wasn’t sure they got better, but I did know they got longer and the thought of trudging through those thick tomes was not a welcoming one. But I knew the final two films were coming and that Jen would want to see them and I love doing things with her so I should try to get into it. Ah, love. I picked up the first book and read it again. It was better this time and not just because I was trying to be optimistic about the series. You know how you watch a film a second time and pick things up that you didn’t notice before? It was like that. The book was genuinely good. We watched the first film together. Good. I moved on to the second book. From there it was hook, line, and sinker. I read at home. I read during lunch. Any spare minute I could find I was reading. I’d finish a book; we’d watch the movie. Then Jen would hear me belly ache about how the filmmakers left out this or that or changed this or that and how they just didn’t do the book justice. I’d update her on what was happening in the books and guess where I thought the plot would go. It was a great review for her since she hadn’t read them in a while and I’d get so passionate about explaining what was occurring that it was lots of fun to have our Harry Potter update time at night.

I finished the last book in time for the release of part one of the final films and was able to escort my girl to the movies with the same excitement she had to see the end of the story translated to film. Last month we watched the very last film together in the theatre and were very sad that the end had finally come. But we get to share Harry Potter with our kids one day so we’ll get to relive it all over again. We can’t wait.

I’m not going to lie. I got very emotional reading the last chapter of the final book. It was a great ending. Harry Potter is definitely not a flash in the pan. J.K. Rowling has written a saga that will be read and re-read by each successive generation and will be a staple in literature forever. She’s a brilliant writer and deserves all the accolades she gets.

So now that I’m a full-fledged Harry Potter nerd I’ll disclose my favorite book and film. They are the same: Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. This is the next to last book. It had a great sense of dread that was going to lead to a horrific ending that would send the story reeling forward into the final book. I think this was by far the best film because it focused more on capturing characterization rather than action but still balanced the film with action. There’s so much juicy back story revealed about the villain, Voldemort, and the love lives of Harry, Ron and Hermione are wrenchingly displayed. It had great mystery and escalation and revelations and turned the entire story upside down to be played out in the final book.

That’s how I got into the Harry Potter books. I highly recommend reading them. And if anyone ever tells me that they don’t like Harry Potter, I’ve got my stunned disbelief and rolling eyes ready for them.

Fourth of July Holiday

July 3, 2011

Since we're new to the area, we didn't really know what to do for the 4th of July holiday.  It's been super hot here that we weren't in the mood to go to any sort of outdoor activity.  The heat has been miserable for me.  I hate leaving the apartment to go anywhere.  Anyway, I talked with my sister and we ended up going over to her and David's house for a BBQ.  Now, this BBQ was definitely fancier than any traditional BBQ.  David made some yummy cheesy bread appetizers, and grilled steaks.  Courtney was in charge of putting together individual chopped salads and she made homemade macaroni and cheese.  It was delicious!  We had fun chatting with them and some friends they had over as well.

I was in charge of dessert, which is my favorite thing to be in charge of.  I made something that I hadn't made for Brian before.  I made what I call a Peach Bake.  It's super easy and really good.  Brian's a fan of it now.

Brian of course wanted to get a shot of me with it.  It's a good bump shot too.  I'm about 26 weeks in this picture.

We had a great time, so much so that we lost track of time and missed the fireworks.  Oh well...maybe next year!  It's been so fun being close to my sister so that we can get together and do these things.