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Janet's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 9/28/01 -------------------- 9/19/01 8/31/01 8/29/01 7/4/01 6/6/01 5/23/01 5/16/01 5/9/01 5/2/01 4/24/01 4/17/01 4/12/01 4/10/01 4/3/01 3/26/01 3/19/01 3/12/01 3/5/01 2/23/01 2/16/01 2/9/01 2/2/01 1/9/01 1/1/01 12/25/00 12/19/00 12/12/00 12/5/00 -------------------- Janet's Introduction

Introduction

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas! DH and I just came home from Christmas dinner with my family. My sister was here from Hawaii and my brother and his girlfriend came down from Northern California to celebrate the holidays at my parents' house; it was really great to see them all. Christmas Eve we spent with my husband's family. Although his parents don't live in California he has an uncle here so we spent Christmas Eve at his house.

This time of year I always think about family and how lucky I have been. I grew up in a very loving family and I have married a wonderful man who treats me with love and respect. Don't get me wrong, we are not perfect and we do have our occasional fights, but never anything serious. I feel so grateful to be able to bring a child into this family knowing that not only DH and I, but all of our extended family already loves him/her so much!

The baby was a big focus at our Christmas celebration. Neither my brother nor my sister have seen me since we found out I am PG so it was a fun time to talk about it and share my excitement, in person, with my family. Every year we choose names out of a hat for a family gift exchange, so we don't go broke buying for everyone. We were all surprised to find out that my parents broke the rules and bought each of us a gift in addition to the names they chose for the gift exchange! I got a box full of the cutest baby clothes I have ever seen! They are all in newborn sizes so they are so small! It is hard to believe my baby will be small enough to fit into such tiny clothes. I can hardly wait to dress my new baby up in these little outfits!

I also got a few maternity outfits as gifts and they couldn't have come at a better time! I am quickly outgrowing all of my regular clothes. My mom is so sweet, we went Christmas shopping together last week. My dad had picked my name for the gift exchange so she wanted me to give her some gift ideas for myself. I told her I needed some maternity clothes so we went to a maternity shop in the mall to see what was available. We tried to keep our spending around $50 and I found the cutest pair of overalls for $53. It was perfect for me and just what I wanted so I told my mom that we really didn't need to look any further. She insisted that I try them on along with several other items she and the saleswoman had picked out. I did try a few different outfits on and they were nice, but all well over $50 so I stuck to my original request for the overalls. When I went into the dressing room to change back into my own clothes, my mom bought the overalls plus two blouses and two pairs of pants! I, of course, scolded her for exceeding our gift dollar limit several times over and then thanked her profusely for her generosity! She's great!

I have enclosed a picture of me taken today, which is the end of my 17-week of pregnancy. I am now beginning week 18. I have gained 6.5 pounds and am holding steady at a 5-inch increase to my waist. My morning sickness is less and less all the time. Although I still get the occasional waive of nausea, it is nothing like it used to be and I usually only feel it in the mornings now. I have noticed that my gums bleed almost every time I brush my teeth and I get congested when I sleep at night. I still have not felt the baby move and am anxiously awaiting that moment! My next OB appointment is tomorrow.

I have to say that although I have had a wonderful Christmas and have enjoyed the time with family and friends very much, I am relieved that it is over. This year, I organized my office holiday dinner, bought almost all the gifts for my family, John's family and our friends, mailed all the packages and have started planning my husband's 30 birthday party, which we will celebrate in January. It can be a little overwhelming on top of all my normal responsibilities.

Well, Happy Holidays to all of you and I wish you a safe New Year's celebration. I am crossing my fingers that Anne will officially become a mom New Year's Day!

Janet