Belly Photos are Here

Angela's belly has FINALLY started making an appearance. It's about time too since this pregnancy is already half way complete. Things are progressing normally and both Amod and Angela have been able to feel the baby's activity in there.

We have been ultra busy planning our long drawn-out move to CA. We'll be in transition during the month of July and at the moment you could even say we are homeless. We've thrown our stuff into storage and left town. We are spending a little time in Southern CA to visit Amod's family and attend Mulkul and Pallavi's wedding. In about a week we'll head to Hawaii for a short babymoon.

Meanwhile, Angela is commuting to DC for work while Amod is gearing up to start his new job in Stockton. And we are both looking forward to settling down and unpacking in early August.

20 Week Ultrasound

13 Week Ultrasound

Yesterday we got to see our adorable Baby-T bobbing around inside Angela. We saw 2 arms, 2 legs, 1 nose, 1 cord and all looked to be ok. The baby's heart sounded good, and of course that captured the majority of Amod's attention. Here are the 3 images that we got to take home.

First Photo

Baby-T is really in there! Angela had a 7-week sonogram yesterday and we got our first baby photo. Since Amod wasn't present during the appointment, he had to wait until Angela got home from work to see. When Angela walked through the front door yesterday evening, Gertie was barking up her normal "welcome home" yap-a-thon and Amod kept calling out "First Photo, First Photo" over and over. Angela didn't know who to tend to first with all the racket.


In this image, the whole gestational sack (black area) is about an inch across and our little embryo is just 1cm long at the right edge of the sack. Angela could see the little heartbeat flickering on the screen which was so cute and rapid. So far so good!

The last 2 days has been fairly symptom-free and Angela has had good energy. Unfortunatly, those absent symptoms have been replaced by springtime allergies. Amod on the other hand is battling his own bouts of intermittent illness and nausea. Hmmm, couvade syndrome perhaps? Angela is being supportive and encouraging for Amod, reminding him that "he's" already half way through the first trimester and to hang in there.

Bring on the Emotions!

Last week was pretty tough for both Angela and Amod. Amod caught a 24hr bug that caused him to miss some work. Angela has been battling severe fatigue and a steady sick feeling. Sometimes food sounds good, other times it sounds disgusting. The need to sleep seems to overcome her anytime anywhere, especially at work where there is no privacy available whatsoever. Angela has already passed out (asleep) on her keyboard, on the floor beneath her desk, and once in the Ladies Restroom. She has now bumped her bedtime up about 3 hours earlier but it is too soon to tell if it is helping.

It is hard being sick in front of coworkers without offering an explanation. Angela was feeling a bit isolated by the end of last week with this big secret we are keeping. When she got home from work on Friday, a package had arrived from Jenn Bragg which contained a beautiful framed linocut image of Zeke that she had made. It was so thoughtful and spontaneous and couldn't have arrived on a better day. It gave Angela a good cry (probably hormones) and then she felt much better. You are a great friend, Jenn!

We are looking forward to Baby-T's 7-week sonogram debut later this week!

Oh Baby!

We are going to have a baby!!! It is still very early of course, (just shy of 5 weeks) but we are super excited. Angela is enjoying the symptoms so far since they remind her that there is really an embryo in there. We are sure that her enjoyment will fade slightly once the tougher symptoms hit. Fingers are tightly crossed that everything proceeds smoothly and we receive a healthy little package in November.

As for Amod, his initial reaction was shock, accompanied by "how can that be possible"? It was priceless!! Angela enjoyed pulling out a calendar and explaining to Amod, THE DOCTOR, how babies are made. We had planned to start trying soon, but we had written February off as a warmup month because we thought Angela's travel schedule would make success unlikely.

There is so much up in the air with this early pregnancy and Amod's job search that we are keeping our news private for a while. We don't think we are ready to handle the Q&A that will inevitably follow our pregnancy announcement. For now we will keep blogging in secret so that our interested friends and family won't miss out on anything.

Tendulcook Blog Grand Opening

We are at an exciting crossroads. Amod is nearing graduation from his fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Center and he's begun interviewing for jobs. Angela is nearing the end of her 2-year assignment in the Pentagon. We are such planners that every prospect under consideration takes an enormous effort as we carefully consider the pros, cons and the possibilities. It is mentally exhausting.

On 1 Feb, we adopted a 12 year old dog who used to belong to Angela's grandparents. Her name is Gertie and she is teeny tiny. Her homecoming must have been a rude awakening with snowfall and freezing temperatures, much more harsh than the mild Oregon climate she came from. Now two weeks later, she has adapted to our lifestyle and come out of her timid shell to reveal her true bossy self. The record snowfall caused Angela to stay home for 10 straight days, which helped Gertie adjust. It is nice to have a dog around again.