Alright, we just got new phones that take videos and pictures. I bought a micro-SD card so I could transfer them to our computer and post them on the Internet. I practiced just before the ultrasound and discovered I had to hit the SAVE button before I close the phone or the video would be lost. How hard could that be???

I took 2 sample videos and thought I was prepared. Forgive me Danny (my brother is in the TV industry)…

Lights, camera, ACTION!

Baby Woodruff’s heart was flickering away. The doctor was narrating the whole thing. She pointed out the head, arms, legs, umbilical cord, etc… Baby Woodruff was ready for his/her movie career and I was ready to be a movie producer (sorry Danny). Then the baby starts to move. The doctor was saying how cool that was and Victoria and I were amazed. We were so excited and I had it on video!!!! We just couldn’t believe it. Did I already say I had it all on video… All of it on video to share with all of you… Great, right? Nope. In my proudest moment to this point, I stopped the video and CLOSED the phone. (I didn’t realize it yet.) We continued to watch as the doctor took measurements. We kissed one another a couple of times and kept saying how amazing it was. We were feeling great!

The doctor finished up, told Victoria to get dressed, and left the room. I started to take the phone out and this is when it hit me… I CLOSED THE PHONE WITHOUT SAVING THE VIDEO!!!!! aaarrrggghhhh I can’t believe it. Victoria has been telling me for the 2 hrs not to worry about it.

Oh well…I am still upset about it. We will probably have another ultrasound in 6-8 weeks and I hope to be better prepared then. Until then, enjoy this story and the pictures I posted earlier.

Love you guys!

Here is a video of Victoria waiting for the doctor to come in. We must have waited 10 mins for the doctor finally to come in, but it seemed like forever. Even Victoria was a little nervous and saying “where’s the dang doctor.”

Here is a video of Victoria just prior to the ultrasound — there is nothing on the ultrasound screen.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, download Apple’s “QuickTime 7.1.6 for Windows 2000/XP” here.

…and it is just one. No twins, triplets, or others (thank God). The baby was moving around in there — it was so cool to see. I had it captured on my video phone, but I’ll write more about that in a bit. The doctor pointed out the head, arms, heartbeat, and legs. It was cool.

We have a couple of pics and we will put them online and annotate the best we can.

There is a heartbeat and the doctor said it is right on track based on its size. So the delivery date will be around January 30, 2008 . We were so excited and just thought it was so amazing to see the little baby moving around inside of Victoria.

We are proud parents-to-be.

Baby Woodruff’s first pictures:

We have less than 24 hrs before we see the first heartbeat.  Victoria and I have been waiting anxiously for this and can’t wait until tomorrow.  I’ll scan in the ultrasound printout(s) tomorrow evening for all to view.

Everything is moving so slowly…  Where is the fast forward button on this journey?

I made the comment today that time is moving too slowly. It has only been 4 weeks since we found out we are “parents to be”, but it seems like it was months ago we found out.

It is a shame we can’t just hit the fast forward button and have the baby tomorrow. I imagine that is probably how Victoria will feel once she gets further along and we might be asking for a pause button on those sleepless nights to come.

For me, January 30th cannot get here fast enough!

Victoria and I are scheduled to visit her doctor next Thursday for our 1st ultrasound.  We are very excited.

We keep joking that she has twins or triplets because of the size of her tummy.  Hopefully the 1st ultrasound will tell us how many little ones she has inside of her.  My dad was a twin and Victoria has twins on both sides of her family (previous generations).

We shall see.

I plan to post the images from the ultrasound (assuming we get a print out or possibly even the video if I can use my phone in there).   Check back next week!

Most of you might not know this, but Victoria is not much of a chocolate lover. I am more of the dark chocolate and M&M type where she goes for the Reese’s Pieces instead.

Well, much to my amazement she has had a chocolate craving lately. There is hope for our baby after all (as a chocolate lover). She bought double fudge frozen yogurt the other day — she would have never bought that in the past.  In the past, we have had to compromise on something with less chocolate and more of a “nuttier flavor”.

And tonight she baked brownies for the 2nd time since we found out she was pregnant. They were double fudge chocolate brownies. I guess Baby Woodruff is letting her know what real dessert is — not that peanut butter truffle she always goes for. The real test is when we go to Cold Stone or Maggie Moos — will she get her “usual” or will it be the triple chocolate devotion????

I turned Victoria into a fish, shrimp, crab, and lobster lover. The baby will turn her into a chocolate lover.

Victoria and the baby weigh in at 99.8 lbs this week. We had to buy a few extra pair of pants, shorts, and shirts because of Victoria’s “water gain”.

Today, Victoria and I went to her Doctor’s office for our first official prenatal visit.  This was just for the standard consultation and to receive materials related to help educate us on the pregnancy and tests that we may choose to have performed.

We also talked about what our insurance covers.  The woman that deals with the insurance in the office was just amazed at what the City’s insurance plan covers.  We will have one $20 copay and then only have to cover 10% of lab work, etc…  She said that we are very lucky to have that good of a plan.  I guess working for the City does have some benefits 😉

Initially, they didn’t recognize Victoria was an “older” woman (or maybe I should say “mature”).   It wasn’t until we were almost done that they realized it and then gave us an extra magazine for women that are over 35.  They said she did not look anywhere near her age.  That made Victoria feel good.

They took her blood pressure (which was “excellent”) as well as 4 vials of blood for standard testing.  We go back in two weeks for our first ultrasound and are looking forward to hearing the heartbeat for the first time.

Victoria had already been taking prenatal vitamins at the suggestion of Jaime prior to this visit — so we had a jump on it.  The nurse gave Victoria 4 different types of prenatal vitamins and said to try each one.  When she finds one she likes, then we can get a prescription for that kind.  Evidently they are enhanced with DHA (omega 3) from a non-fish source.  It was nice to hear this because I had started Victoria on flaxseed oil (omega3) sometime ago, so she has had this in her system for several years now.  Evidently this helps with the development of the brain and eyes.

Victoria says she is over 100 lbs today because of all the pancakes she ate this morning.  I’ve told her that it is mostly water gain and the reason she is seeing it so soon is because she was very fit to begin with.