December 23, 2002 Today's doctor's appointment went well. Steph had to brave the snow to get there, but other than that it was pretty routine. Dr. Huff is out of the office this week, so Steph met with Janet, the nurse practitioner. Steph gained about 3 1/2 pounds (she is blaming it on the Christmas lunch we had out in Harrah on Saturday with her mom's side of the family...there was so much good food and lots of sweets)! Steph is still measuring a little big, but still within the 'normal' range. Max sounded great. His heartbeat was strong and in the 140s. The next doctor's appointment is on January 6th, two weeks from now. After that appointment Steph will start going every week! Happy Birthday Coach and Merry Christmas everyone! December 12, 2002 Today we had our first shower. It was at Steph's work. Everyone was so generous and they made the shower so personal! Jamie got a 'Daddy's Diaper Caddy' complete with goggles, masks and gloves...he is ready to change some diapers! We played games and the grandmothers even got their own diaper bags full of stuff. It is so neat...Max is not even here yet, but already loved by so many people! Thanks DataModes!! December 9, 2002 Another doctor's appointment. Steph gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks! I guess Max is growing. Dr. Huff also said she looked 'puffy', so she thinks Steph is retaining water. Max's heartrate started at 124 today and got up to about 138. He must have been taking his after lunch nap until we disturbed him. Steph's mom joined us at the appointment today. She wanted to hear Max's heartbeat. Everything is still going well. Steph even ran into a friend from High School at our appointment. Lynn, who graduated a year before Steph, is having a baby in April. Congratulations to her! We'll go back to the doctor in two weeks, December 23rd (Coach's birthday!!). November 30, 2002 Today we went to our infant CPR class. Once again, a very informative class. Hopefully we will never have to use what we learned today, but if we get into any situations, we definitely feel prepared!! Steph's parents went to the class too. Now they are prepared for all the summer days Max will spend at the pool. November 26, 2002 Steph had a doctor's appointment today. Everything is going great. Steph gained two pounds since the last appointment, so she is up a total of 16 pounds. Now, the reason she's sharing this is because this seems to be everyone's favorite question...'How much weight have you gained?' It must just come with being pregnant. Max sounded great today. His heartrate was 150. Dr. Huff thinks his head is down towards Steph's left hip bone and his feet are up around the right side by her rib cage. This could explain all the little jabs she's feeling under her ribs. Our next appointment is in two weeks, December 9th. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! November 21, 2002 Many of you have asked 'When are you going to register?'. Well...we registered for baby stuff today! What an overwhelming experience! We started at Target. At this point, we were having fun. We got an icee and Jamie got a BIG pretzel. We started scanning away. Our next stop was Babies R Us. WOW! We did get to park in one of the 'Expectant Mother' parking spots, so that was exciting. At Babies R Us we registered for some of the bigger items. It sure seems like Max 'needs' a lot of stuff. I have no idea where we are going to put everything. I think our back room that now has Jamie's home theater setup will soon look like a daycare! We had a good time, but were pretty tired by the time we got done. November 16, 2002 Today we attended and completed our class 'Caring and Cuddling'. We learned lots about babies...how they eat, how they sleep, how to bathe them. Once again, a very informative day! Steph's next doctor's appointment is Tuesday, November 26th and our next class is Baby CPR on November 30th. We are having lots of fun watching Max roll around. Steph isn't sure he ever really stops moving. We have also started on the nursery. This will be a slow process since we are waiting on furniture, etc. But, check the Max Museum towards the end of December/beginning of January for some pictures. November 5, 2002 Steph had a doctor's appointment today. We have officially started the third trimester. Everything is going well. She is measuring a little big...that could be due to the way Max is laying, or it could mean, he's big. Dr. Huff is not concerned at this point, everything is still in 'normal' range. Max weighs between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds. His heartrate today was 153. He has been very active lately, which is also a good sign. Steph's next appointment is in 3 weeks, so we'll keep you updated. November 2, 2002 Today we attended and completed our class 'The Big Event' (a.k.a. The Birth of Your Baby). It was a great class and we met lots of other expectant parents. We're trying to do everything we can to get prepared for the big day in January. One of the highlights of our class was the part where we went through simulated labor. Yes, we had to put clothes pins on our ears. This was pretty painful! Steph commented that she was ready for her epidural about 30 seconds into this exercise. October 22, 2002 Steph passed!!! At least the nurse says all the numbers for the glucose test look fine. Dr. Huff has not reviewed them yet, but from what the nurse could tell, all is well. Steph met with her 'Parent Educator' today. She has gotten involved in a program called 'Parents as Teachers'. After Max gets here they will come out to the house once a month. It is a really neat program that encourages learning from the earliest stages possible. They hold meetings and play groups every month. Since Max is not here yet, they still come out to the house once a month to meet with Steph. They give her information on prenatal stuff and go over parenting questions that she may have now. Thanks again for all your prayers! Max is on his way! October 18, 2002 Steph took the 3 hour glucose test this morning and survived it just fine. The results should be in on Monday, so check back for an update. Thank you all for the prayers and encouragement over the last week! October 11, 2002 Steph flunked her one hour glucose test. The limit is 135 and her level was 151. She will go back next Friday, October 18th for the 3 hour glucose test. Please pray that all test results will come back normal. October 8, 2002 Another doctor's appointment. Everything is still going well. Max was very quiet today and his heartbeat was 140 beats per minute. Today marked 23 weeks 6 days. Little movements can now be seen on the outside of Steph's belly. Just incase anyone is wondering, Steph has gained 11 pounds! This seems like a lot to her since it has all happened in the last 2 months, but she is right on track for normal weight gain!! (This may be the only weight update you get). Steph also took her glucose test for gestational diabetes, the results should be in no later then next week. Our next appointment is in 4 weeks and then we'll start going every 3 weeks. We will also start all our prenatal, baby care and baby CPR classes next month. January is quickly approaching! Also, congratulations to Dr. Huff who won 'Woman Of The Year'. What an honor! September 10, 2002 We had a doctor's appointment today. Everything is going well. Max's heartrate was 150 beats per minute. Steph is officially 19 weeks, 6 days today...that means tomorrow, we are half way there! Max seems to be busy lately. He has started moving a lot! August 27, 2002 We found out... "It's a boy!" What an exciting day. We went really expecting to hear "It's a girl!". Family and friends were convinced that it was a little girl too. Steph started throwing up daily when she was 6 weeks pregnant and finally stopped at about 16 weeks. Steph's mom was really sick when she was pregnant with her, but not with her brother Chris. Take that along with the wive's tale that little girls have so many more hormones, so women tend to be sicker with little girls. Surprise! As we sat in that dark room, the first image we saw on the ultrasound screen was that little guy with his legs spread wide. The tech immediately asked if we wanted to know what we were having. Seeing Max on the ultrasound screen was one of the most amazing experiences. We saw all his little organs, bones, and body parts. What a little miracle! God has truly blessed us and continues to bless us daily. Please keep Max in your prayers as he continues to grow! August 13, 2002 We heard the hearbeat loud and clear. It was 153. In just a couple of weeks we'll have our ultrasound and know what we're having. Early guesses are leaning towards a little girl (which probably means it's a boy). July 15, 2002 Today we had an appointment with Dr. Huff. Before the appointment, Steph got really sick and threw up a clump of red something. Of course she was disturbed because she couldn't think of anything that she had eaten that was red! After a lot of thought, she realized it was the plum she had had for her mid-morning snack. She really thought she threw up the baby. We saw Dr. Huff briefly and she was called down to deliver a baby. Steph has lost 2 pounds. We were all set to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time, so Connie (who works for Dr. Huff) came in to do that. She could not find the heartbeat. Connie got Janet (the Nurse Practitioner) and after a several long minutes, we briefly heard that fast little heartbeat. During the time the heartbeat could not be found, Jamie wanted to yell 'You can't find the heartbeat because she threw up the baby!' It is something we laugh about now. I wish we would have heard the heartbeat longer and louder, but we'll hear it next time. Steph leaves for Florida this week. Vacation number 2 for this baby. June 19, 2002 Today Steph met with Janet (the Nurse Practitioner) to go over blood work and 'dos and don'ts'. Everything looks good, so her next appointment will be July 15th. June 12, 2002 Today was Steph's first doctor's appointment. It was confirmed by the doctor that our little one should arrive around January 30th. The first ultrasound was done today (check out the Max Museum for pics). So far so good. We told parents and siblings the big news last night. Everyone is excited. Steph goes to New York City next week and then to Florida in July. This baby is a traveler! June 3, 2002 It's official. What Steph has been thinking, is true...we're going to have a baby! Max will read his mail soon enough, but for now his parents will read it to him. Email him at: Max@MaxRussell.com. In the event that Max is a beautiful baby girl, she will be called Sophie Marie. But for now, the doctor tells us that we are for sure having a "Max". See "The Max Museum" for proof.