Week 12, Day 2:  I had some experiences over the past couple of weeks that I thought could be morning sickness.  One day I had nausea and I often have food cravings and fatigue.  I did some research and found out that men can actually experience a little morning sickness; it's called couvade.  This comes from the Carib Indian tribe, which held rituals so that fathers-to-be can understand what it feels like to be pregnant.  

Here is a synopsis of an episode from the TV series House, MD:  "A male clinic patient suffers from high estrogen levels that allow him to experience his wife's pregnancy - including morning sickness and labor pains in the “Skin Deep” episode of HOUSE."

Week 12, Day 1:  We decided to move the office into the guest room and the guest room into the bonus room.  The room where the office is now is going to be converted into the nursery.  I painted the bonus room today to make it more hospitable for guests.  It's also more spacious and comfortable than the current guest room.  

I usually make buying decisions based on price.  Even if the more expensive item is better, I can usually convince myself that the cheaper product works just as well.  I got the environmentally friendly paint from Home Depot, which is about twice the price of regular paint.  I didn't want Vivian to be exposed to all the chemicals in regular paint.  I wasn't really expecting it to make that much of a difference, but it did!  While I was painting I could hardly notice the smell of paint.  It was kind of strong for about an hour after I painted, but a few hours later the smell went away completely.  

Week 11, Day 4:  We rented a Fetal Doppler machine to listen to the baby's heartbeat at home!  Click here to hear the heartbeat posted on Vivian's blog.  

Week 11, Day 2: I started to read a lot about pregnancy.  There are a lot of pregnancy books, but I find it interesting to read something that is written directly to the father-to-be.  It teaches expecting fathers how to care for the mother-to-be, what to prepare before the birth, and how life will change after the baby is born.  Pregnancy books are filled with hundreds of things that a pregnant women should not eat or do, such as it's unsafe to consume caffeine or stay outside in the heat too long.  

I know some people don't read anything and end up having perfectly healthy babies, and other people read every book they can find, but have many complications during pregnancy.  I think about 90% of it is luck, but if we control even 10% of the outcome, then it's worth it to do everything we can.  

Week 9, Day 4:  There are a few wives tales about pregnancy that I find interesting; (1) the faster the fetal heart rate, the more likely it is that you are having a boy, (2) if you crave sour you are having a boy, and if you crazy spicy, you are having a girl, and (3) if your hair is shiny and full-bodied, instead of thinner and stringer, then it is more likely you are having a boy.  According to wives tales, it's more likely that we are having a boy.  I don't believe any of these are true and I'm not too worried about the sex of the baby.  I just want to have a healthy and happy baby boy or girl!  Vivian said she might want to wait until birth to know the sex, but I don't think she would be able to tolerate the wait.  I really want to know so that we can start thinking about names, but we will have to wait until the next planned ultrasound, around week fifteen.  

Week 9, Day 3: Vivian's nausea was terrible today.  I think I got sick for a reason last week.  I needed to understand how bad it feels.  Vivian said she had to vomit all day.  She couldn't hold down her breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.  I ran out to Kroger to get her some apples, chocolate ice cream, and a lemon pound cake from Starbucks.  She couldn't eat anything without getting sick.  Vivian's weight dropped eight pounds in the past two weeks.  So many things trigger Vivian's nausea.  I can't even say certain words without making Vivian sick.  I'm not even going to type those words, because Vivian might get sick reading my blog.  

Week 9, Day 1:  The ultrasound below shows the baby at 8 weeks and 5 days.  

The doctor showed us a 3D picture of the baby, and if you look close enough, you can see a face on the bottom-right picture!

You can't tell from the picture above, but we can see the hands and feet dancing and swimming when we watch the baby in motion.  The baby looks happy and playful.  The heartbeat was measured at 169 beats per minute.

Week 8, Day 5:  I got food poisoning last night from dinner.  I couldn't sleep too much at night and felt too sick to go into work this morning.  We have an ultrasound today to see how much the baby has grown and determine a more accurate due date.  The current due date is January 10, 2009, so we will see if that changes.  I'm starting to feel a little better and I definitely do not want to miss the appointment.  I'm so excited for every chance we get to see the baby.