Zach and I had been so looking forward to this week.  We had fun weekend plans with friends [which involved two movies and dinner at From Scratch…and lemon, raspberry, and salted caramel macarons].  But the highlight was our 11 week appointment.

But first we made headbands for Activity Days.  These girls definitely keep me on my toes.  Now if I only had a fraction of their energy…

My mom, grandma, and soon-to-be sister-in-law all got pedicures at a local Day Spa for my Grandma’s 80th birthday.  80 years old and it was her very first pedicure.  I’m not sure what she thought of it, but we all had a great time together.  We let Gram pick where she wanted to go for dinner afterwards and her top choice was Red Robin.

Mid-week I also conned my friend Angie into visiting the new Swig in Bountiful to get a sugar cookie.  Glad I have someone that appreciates their baked goods as much as I do.  Putting a Swig 6-8 minutes from my house was the most inconsiderate and marvelous thing that has happened to me.

Wednesday I had my viability check up with my doctor.  Zach came along in hopes to hear our babe’s heartbeat.  If I am being completely honest, I had been pretty anxious up to this appointment.  I haven’t been sick, and truly haven’t felt very different these past few months.  Some days I would wonder if I still was pregnant, or if this whole thing really was for real.  Once we arrived my doctor tried to find the heartbeat, but had no luck with this knobby thing she was jabbing into my midsection.  Also, she brought in a resident to join her.  He was from Egypt and reminded me of Sayid from LOST.  It’s true when they say there is zero privacy for a pregnant chick.

When the knobby thing couldn’t pick up a heartbeat, my doc decided to pop me into the ultrasound room to give the monitor a try.  She just used the other little knobby thing with a camera on the outside of my stomach.  There on the monitor was our little [blurry] nugget.  She verified the heart beat and we were on our way.  Right after her and Sayid (I realize this is not his name, but it’s all I’ve got) let the room, she popped back in before I could change back into my clothes.  She said, “If you want to stay undressed, Dr. Peterson happens to be here today and is willing to do your more in-depth ultrasound that was scheduled for later at the hospital right now.  Is that ok with you?”  Zach and I were both elated.  Dr. Peterson came in and did a more invasive ultrasound.  As soon as I saw the baby up on the monitor I had tears streaming down my face.  He gave us a quick glimpse and then did a bunch of mumbo jumbo measurements before going back to baby.  I think the most shocking thing was how much the babe was moving!  It’s little appendages were squirming around and was seriously break dancing inside of me.  Doc kept laughing at it, saying it was “jogging” with a heart rate of 202!  It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.  At one point, the babe looked right at us (more at the wand thingy) so we could see his entire face on the monitor.  Two dark spots for eyes, staring right at us.  Even though he looks like skeletor right now on the monitor, he is our little skeletor.  Oh, and also…I am calling it a he.  Saying “it” makes me feel weird.  Zach kept saying over and over again how incredible it was to see him moving around.  I am glad the doc let us take a couple of pictures home, because my entire view of the monitor was blurred with flooded eyes.

After changing I came out into the hallway to see my husband staring at the photos, smiling.  I think this whole experience made it real for both of us, but especially for him.

And he totally ruined the tender moment for me when he asked me if I wanted to go to Arby’s for lunch with him afterwards.  Upon our arrival he made me take the ultrasound pictures into Arby’s so he could study them more in depth.  Classy place to take your knocked-up wife and unborn baby.

It was the perfect way to kick-off our weekend.

Yes, the ultrasound pic is upside down… I’m new at this, alright?

We ended the weekend with my brother and Brittany over at our place Sunday night for a pasta dinner and brownie sundaes.  Because brownies make everything better…