Last night Tim and I were watching TV and I was laying propped up on my back on the couch. All of a sudden I felt something and gasped and Tim knew what was going on and paused the TV. I was feeling our baby move for the first time!! It felt so weird! The only way I can describe what it felt like was if you take your two fingers and put them on your wrist and move them back and forth (like little feet kicking?). It was a tiny "flutter" feeling. It was right below my belly button and only lasted for about 20 seconds - but it was amazing! I had tears in my eyes and Tim was so excited! I wish he could feel it but that won't be for awhile still.

I laid really still for a long time afterwards but I never felt it again last night. I am just so happy right now!!! I want to let everyone know that I felt my baby!! I'm 18 weeks 3 days today so it's about the right time I guess. It was so faint but there's no doubt that's what it was. I've never felt anything like that before!!

I'm sure I'll be home every night laying on my back seeing if I can feel him/her move again too! :) We only have 5 more days until our ultrasound too! So many wonderful things are happening and coming up - we're just so excited and can't wait to share it with everyone!

Love,
Steph & Tim

Today I am 16 weeks 4 days pregnant. On Monday I was 4 full months pregnant. Time seems to really be flying by lately! Especially when I think that in just 3 weeks, I will be half way through this pregnancy!! There haven't been any significant changes since I last wrote, but I thought that I'd just update on a few things I hadn't mentioned in any previous entry.

One of my new "symptoms" of pregnancy that I've been experiencing lately is forgetfulness. I have what some call the "pregnancy stupids" from time to time. One night I drove Tim and I to his moms house to visit. I got out of the car, and proceeded walking to the door when Tim called out my name and asked me if I was forgetting anything. I said no, obviously. He then asked me if I was sure. Turns out, I'd left my keys in the car....with the car still running!! I have never in my life done this before! I felt very silly. A couple weeks later I was looking for my keys one night and just knew that Tim had lost them. I continued to harp on him about how he'd lost my keys, etc. Mostly because he always loses the keys! Well, a few hours later after I'd given up my search, I was getting a glass of milk and I found my keys - they were in the refrigerator! I quietly took them out and put them in the key drawer and didn't tell Tim about this "incident" until about a week later :) Those are just a few of my forgetful moments that I thought I'd share with you guys. I find them much more amusing now than I did at the time!!

Another thing I had previously forgotten to mention is the "Secret Stork". Ever since my boss and co-workers found out that I was expecting, I have received a weekly gift on my desk with a label that reads "Secret Stork". Now, I know it is all of my department involved and no one will tell me who it is and they all give me dumbfounded looks when I ask them about it and act totally shocked when I accuse them of being my "Secret Stork". I'm assuming that towards the end of my pregnancy, the "Secret Stork" will reveal themselves and I can properly thank them for everything they've given us. Some of the gifts they've left include diapers, various toys, baby wash, rubber duckies, disposable dirty diaper bag carrier, etc. We've gotten so many gifts from them and each one is so cute and I am so thankful to have such great people that I work with! I'm very lucky to have such a supportive group of people!

I've also come to the realization that this baby of ours will be an Aggie Baby. Within the past few weeks, my mother has given me an A&M bib and Tim's mother has given us A&M booties, A&M baby cap and A&M pacifier. I believe all the grandmothers-to-be are excited about this pregnancy! This week I also received a beautiful black tunic from Tim's stepmom for me - with room to grow! Seeing everyone else so excited and happy for us only fuels our excitement even more - if that is possible! :)

I've still not felt the baby move yet but I'm told it should be soon - probably within the next week or two. But we shall see! I'm very excited for that to happen too! I try not to dwell on it too much, but I can't help but wonder every now and then when I might start to feel this little one! :)

Also, after today, my thoughts on whether or not I was obviously showing were confirmed. Two different women have come up to me and mentioned that, from my profile, they can tell I am showing more and are so happy for me. I was a little shocked at first because when I look in the mirror, I just see that I'm bigger, but apparently I am beginning to take on the "baby bump" shape. One woman even commented on how it's at a stage now to where it can't be mistaken for just weight gain! So that made me a little happy because sometimes I feel that it's only weight gain but apparently there's a noticeable bump there in my work clothes now. Before it was just mostly noticeable to me I think! :) Apparently the baby is making his or her presence known to everyone else now too! :) Very exciting!!

This weekend I was extremely motivated to decorate for the fall season. Tim and I went shopping and bought a few things to decorate with and I spent a lot of the weekend baking, cleaning and setting up the house. It has such a warm feeling to it right now and the "cool front" we're having makes it even better! I think that with everything going on, I'm just in even more of a mood to celebrate and I'm looking forward to the holidays even more this year! There's only 94 days until Christmas and that makes me so excited!! Everything lately just feels so perfect! I wonder if this is the second trimester boost I've heard about? It must be because I've been feeling great and have been in the best mood! I'm very excited and anxious for things to come!

That's really all the news I have to post about right now. We're still super anxious to find out whether Baby Daugherty is a boy or girl - and we'll know 3 weeks from today!! And I'll definitely post another belly picture sometime within the next week or two and I'll make sure to update as soon as anything new happens!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Love,
Steph & Tim

The appointment itself was shorter than our other ones and went really great. I've been feeling great lately and have had no problems, so there was nothing really to discuss as far as problems or concerns. After she talked with me and felt my tummy, we talked about my next appointment. She said that we'll do an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby!! I'm so excited about that! She gave us the okay to bring our mom's and my sisters to the appointment too - so it will be really special to have them there as we find out if we'll be buying pink or blue!! :) Since I'm so impatient, this month is going to go by so slow....I'm so ready for it to be October now! She also said that we can bring a video tape with us to the ultrasound and they can give us a tape of it. That will be really special and we can show our families the baby!

I'm 15 weeks 4 days today and on Monday I will be a full 4 months pregnant and entering into my 5th month. Time seems to be flying by lately! At my next appointment I will be half way done with the pregnancy - which is both very exciting and a little scary to think about! Our little one will be here in no time and I'm so ready to be able to start planning for his/her arrival! Once we find out whether we're having a boy or girl, we'll be able to think about nursery decorations and registering.

The next big thing coming up will be feeling the baby move. They say that anytime between 16 - 20 weeks, I'll begin to feel "flutters". I cannot imagine how amazing and wonderful that will be to experience!! With each milestone, things get more and more real for us and the more excited we become.

I also posted another belly picture on this website. If you compare it to when I was 5 weeks along, my tummy is definitely thicker and more round than it was before! We'll start taking pictures more frequently to post since I will be growing much faster this trimester than in the first trimester. So keep checking back for updates! Things should all start happening a little faster now and we'll keep making sure everything is updated and pictures are posted!

We're so happy to be able to share all this with everyone! Thank you all for being so happy and excited for us! We truly have such a wonderful support system in all our family and friends!

~ Steph & Tim

Good News!!! I officially have a small baby bump! I can no longer hide it under loose clothes. People are constantly tell me that I am showing and offering me their congratulations. It's very exciting! I can't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy pants anymore either. So, thanks to Kenna, I have a lot of maternity pants that I will get very familiar with in the next 5 months! I can still wear most of my pre-pregnancy shirts and I assume I'll be able to wear a lot of them for a while longer still. I'm guessing that since the baby bump is now here, it will continue to grow faster and faster as the time goes on!

More good news is that the naseau has pretty much subsided completely now that I'm a few weeks into my second trimester. I've still yet to get my energy back all the way, but hopefully that will come as soon as I can fight off some of these allergies.

We go to the doctor again next Thursday. This will be a routine prenatal checkup and we'll get a heartbeat count (we didn't get one last time because it was still too faint to really hear). Then, during our next appointment in October, we'll get to find out if Baby Daugherty is a little boy or a little girl! We can't wait!!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!!

Steph & Tim

Yesterday was my 2nd prenatal appointment. Tim and I got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time!! They had a bit of trouble finding it at first and it was really faint sounding because the baby is still so little, but we finally got to hear it and it was amazing!! It just made everything a bit more "real" for us. We were so happy to be able to experience that!! :)

They also took my blood for the first time ever in my life. I was totally freaked out and was squeezing Tim's hand but I managed to survive. Tim said I was a champ and did better than he thought I'd do (I have a very low pain tolerance). I didn't cry but I did have a few tears in my eyes because I was so scared. I didn't look at it at all until after she was done and they had taken about 6-8 vials of blood! The technician was great and she used the smallest needle possible so that it wouldn't hurt as bad. She did it perfect so I just felt the pinch and then I was done. I didn't like it though, so it's not going to be fun to do it again. Oh well, I guess that's all part of the experience of being pregnant!

We asked her when we'd be able to tell the gender, and she told us not until my October appointment, when I'm about 20 weeks along. I was a little disappointed because I'd like to know sooner, but I can wait if I have to. I'm just really anxious and excited to know what we're having so we can start planning everything :)

So, all in all, everything is going really well. It was kind of a milestone appointment with us being able to hear the heartbeat. I'm 11 weeks 4 days today. At the end of next week, I will be finished with my first trimester and entering into the second trimester. I'm really excited about that because that's when I'll be able to feel the baby move and find out what we're having! Time seems to be moving along a little faster lately!

The nausea has seemed to wear off except for a day here or there and the tiredness is finally tapering off a bit. There haven't been any crazy mood swings or anything like that - I'm sure Tim is thrilled about that! :) I'm not really showing yet but my pants don't really fit me anymore, so I can tell it's coming soon - probably within the next several weeks!! That will be exciting!

Much love to everyone for your love and support!!

Love,
Steph & Tim