From the "Pregnancy Calendar"

Your baby's testes or ovaries have developed, though the sex probably won't be visible on a sonogram for at least another month. Intestines have developed at the place where the umbilical cord meets your baby's body. The intestines are able to make constricting movements, though there won't be anything to digest until later.

Reprinted with permission from Great Expectations: Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy & Childbirth. Copyright 2004 by Sandy Jones, MA and Marcie Jones, MA. Used with permission from Barnes & Noble Books, an imprint of Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/calendar/frame/0,,,00.html?downDate=2005-10-25

Somber Day

I attended a funeral for a 15 year old from my parish today. Fr. Joe talked about how death is a transition to another part of life, much like birth.

I thought about our baby. I thought about the pain the mother of this boy must be going through at this time. At one point, 15 years ago, she saw her son in a sonogram, felt him kick. She grew with him for nine months before he died to his life in the womb and was born. I can't imagine what that must be like. In looking at the 150 teens that gathered for the funeral, the pain on their faces was something I cannot get out of my head.

From the time that we are conceived, our spiritual self is being trained to live with God. My role as a father is to help my child to understand their value, their dignity, their worth to God. My role is to give my child every opportunity to know God.

I pray that I never have to go through what these parents have gone through with the death of their son. It is sad beyond belief. I pray for my child every day. But now I also pray for Gregory, the young man we buried today.

I wonder how many parents today think of their role as a parent in a spiritual light. So many times we worry about money, clothes, food, shelter. Basic physical needs that our children have that we as parents must fill. Then there are the emotional needs of love, acceptance, security. These, according to all the studies are just as important to a child's development.

What about spiritual development? As a youth minister, I think it is safe to say that we as a society are failing miserably in this area. How many of our children are spiritually developed? How many of us as parents are? How can we teach our children to be spiritually mature when we ourselves are spiritual Kindergarteners?

There is so much that you can be overwhelmed just thinking about it, yet at the same time, I am humbled and honored to have this role. Our child can be anything at this point: boy, girl, priest, married, religious, single. Any career, any vocation, anything. With that comes hope, joy, and a renewed sense of awe in the creator who knows us. Has carved us in the palm of His hand. Our Lord knows everything about this child as I simply discover it with each new day.

Thank you Lord.

From the "Pregnancy Calendar"

Size
Your baby is about 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 inches long and weighs about a third of an ounce, the size of a peanut.

Development
This is a big week for your baby's growth -- she'll double in height. At the end of the week, her head and body will be roughly equal in length. This week also starts an active phase for her-she can turn somersaults, roll over, flex her fingers, hiccup, and stretch. You won't be able to feel her movement for another month and a half. She's floating in lots of amniotic fluid. Her limbs are developing from webbed paddles into arms and legs that have well-defined fingers and toes. Fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles are also beginning to form.

Reprinted with permission from Great Expectations: Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy & Childbirth. Copyright 2004 by Sandy Jones, MA and Marcie Jones, MA. Used with permission from Barnes & Noble Books, an imprint of Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/calendar/frame/0,,,00.html?downDate=2005-10-25

It is going to be a girl

Or at least according to this website:

http://www.webwomb.com/chinesechart.htm

Check it out. If anyone can point out where the chart is wrong, let me know because it is dead on accurate as far as I know.

This Easter was wonderful. The morning sickness is starting to back off a little bit for Dom, and with today starting the 11th week, we are hoping to turn the corner on that part of the pregnancy. At some points, I just lie there and try to hear something. It sounds like popcorn popping sometimes and I wonder if it is the baby moving.

If anyone is selling a house on Long Island for two dollars, let us know.

This is the closest picture that we got. When I say that this little geezer was pumping their legs up and down... WOW. Like I say below... this was an incredible experience. I PRESENT, BABY LEMIEUX!

I love this picture because the baby looks like it is sucking its thumb... even though it doesn't have a thumb to suck and I doubt it is doing that... but you can see the eyes and the legs are pressed right to the front.

This is a picture of the baby! It was moving SO MUCH! The heartbeat was INCREDIBLE! The dark spot on the head is the brain. You can see the legs and arms which are just starting to grow fingers and toes! There are a number of different views. I have to say this was one of the most moving, spiritual, humbling, and astounding experiences I have ever had. One of many I am sure, but HERE IS THE BABY!

Again, not our baby, but a great picture of a 10 week baby

Banana Cravings?

So on Sunday night I am sitting down to watch my favorite TV show ever, "Deadwood." Dom calls me from the next room and this is the conversation that ensues:

"Todd?"

"Yeah."

"I want bananas."

"Like for lunch this week?"

"No. Right now."

"Immediately?"

"Well, after you watch your show."

"I'll go, no problem."

So I jump in the car and head on over the Stop'n Shop, the only place open late on a Sunday night. The thing about a supermarket, is you inevitably come across things you need that you don't have.

So one hour and $75 later, I walk in the apartment and Dom is fast asleep. I simply stand over her with the banana. "DOM!"

"WHAT!"

"I have your banana... and some other stuff that I bought."

"I don't want it any more." (snore)

Tomorrow she will be 10 weeks in and already this kid is costing me Xbox time, TV shows, $75 trips to the grocery store late at night.

Then it occurs to me that slowly, ever so slowly, God is teaching me to sacrifice. There was no way when I was single that I would think of giving up this much for anyone, and now I gladly do it for my wife and child. It is at times like this that I realize how little I know about God and what it really means to love.

First Doctor Check Up

A lot of things happened in the last few days.

On Wednesday, we were supposed to go to the circus which was in town, but Dom came down with a murdurous migrane that had her in bed at 6pm. After making dinner, she started to have morning sickness (at night) that was pretty bad and we ended up visiting the bathroom about seven times. The next day, the Dr. had us come into the office to check that the baby was ok and everything was good to go. It was merely a health checkup and she answered all of our questions and spent time going over diet and possible remedies for the morning sickness. Everything is good to go and we are 9 weeks 3 days in.

Our first real pre-natal appointment is Thursday when we will have a sonogram, hear the heartbeat, and all that other good stuff so we are really looking forward to that!

Dom is waiting for the bloodwork to get back from the hospital so she will be cleared to teach in her classroom again. Right now, she is subbing for a fifth grade class in another school in the district. To say the least, she misses her kids and teaching them and can't wait to get the results back. Once they clear her with the Fifth's disease, then she can go into the class again.

On a side note, on the way back from the Doctors, we stopped at McDonalds to have a cheeseburger and my filling fell out of the back of my tooth. I had to go the dentist to get that filled and was talking like Stallone for most of last night. Between Dom's morning sickness and my drooling, we made quite a pair!

Dom went to work fine today and she seems to have recovered from the incident Wednesday night. She is a trooper and this baby is SO lucky to have her for a mother.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

A Thrill a Minute

Well, a lot has happened in the past two days.

Justin went home after a great time in New York. It was probably the craziest weather I have ever seen on Long Island since I have been here. Our prayers that he gets into the school that he wants to.

On Sunday morning we spoke about NFP to the diocesan pre-cana program. We love doing that and have a lot of fun joking with the couples and sharing about this wonderful tool. After that we went to the Fiftieth Anniversary mass for Maria Regina, the parish I work at and saw Bishop Murphy. He blessed the baby and prayed with us after which was a wonderful gift. After singing at the teen mass at 5pm, we went to another parish to spend about an hour and a half in Eucharistic Adoration. The pope, for the year of the Eucharist blessed 5 different monstrances to tour the five continents to promote vocations. Dom sang and it was a great time of prayer. We saw a lot of old friends there and it was great to share the news with them.

Today, we found out that there was an outbreak of Fifth's Disease in Dominique's school. This is a potential danger for the baby so I just got off the phone with the doctor. They are going to push her appointment up and the school is sending Dominique home. The adventure never stops I guess! Keep us in your prayers!

This is a baby at 8 Weeks (Not actual photo of Todd and Dom's Baby and not actual size)

Compilations of Emails received so far in no particular order

Dominique & Todd
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! WAY To GO Keep us posted
Love
Aunt Sheila

Congratulations! That's my wedding day too, so big things are happening in October!!!
We're so happy for you guys.
Elizabeth & Pete

We did hear your Mother scream all the way from Arizona and though something was up. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I guess the Polish gene is getting very diluted these days. Hugs to you all and hope to see you both soon.
Deborah Podgurski

Congratulations!!! Thats great news. October? So you mean Dom will bepregnant for the entire baseball season? Just kidding. Liz and I are happy for both of you.
Dave Lemieux

Dominique and Todd FANTASTIC<<<<<<<>>>>I can recall when you were born Todd. Your Mom was so so so into it,,,,as in every little detail. She seemed to embrace every moment of her pregnancy. She read every book on natural child birth. You know she was always quite the hippie. And thennnnnnnnn you were born.... beautiful boy. Until... I had to baby-sit a few times and you cried. It was a great moment in my life when you were coming into the world and I wish you the same for the first baby Lemieux.Big LOVE & kisses,
Mary & Roman

AWESOME!!!! You do get all the bonus points! Great time of year to have a birthday! (mine is Nov.2) I have all ready seen maternity clothes that would look cute on Dom. You have to measure her belly and send email updates. Congratulations,
Brynn

congrats to Mom and Dad!
EMS+

we are so happy for the 3 of you!!!!!!! what great news , b assured of our prayer for all of yu. CONGRADULATIONS!!!!!! we love you xoxoxxoxoxoxoxo
The Buffalinos

AHHHHH CONGRATSSS!!!!!!!!!!
Alana Cheico

hey guys, Congradualation on the baby. God wanted you two to be parents. miss you guys so much.
Brian Smith

This is Wonderful News !!! Welcome to the next phase of God’s plan. We have a nice cradle we can let you use. It has helped in getting quite a few new lives get started in this world. God Bless you and number three has been added to our prayer list (you two were all ready on it). Love,
Lou, Peg, Chris and Tess Licamelli
P.S. This is the type of email you could Spam us with a thousand times and NO apology would ever be necessary !

This is great news! Congratulations and prayers.
Msgr. Brennan

dear Todd and Dominique, this is Diane juliano (hi dom) my aunt ang forwarded your message to me. just wanted to say congratulations!

+prayers+My parents have 14 children and when asked by others about what their secret was, my mom always said it was the Rosary my dad would pray EVERY day until the baby cameThat is the only parenting advice I have - but it comes from experts+prayers+
Fr Tom Coogan

Dear Todd & Dominique , What wonderful news! Congratulations to both of you and to your parents. This will be very easy to keep in my prayers. You will make wonderful, loving parents. In peace and joy,
Larry Curran

Congrats Todd and Dom! Just one small request... please oh please oh please don't let that kid be a yankees fan Oh and you're formally excused from my wedding on Oct 1st, you're still getting an invite though!Oct. 22nd, wow, you'll be watching the '05 World Series from the hospital! "shh honey, be there in a second, manny's up with the bases loaded" :) Excited for ya,
Marc Lemieux

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to both of you! Hope all goes well with your pregnancy. Best Wishes and Love.
Anne-Marie and Norm LaRose

Todd,That is awesome news. God Bless you both. I we definitely keep this new comer in my prayers and Rosaries. Once again God Bless. I hope to see you guys soon.Love,
Liz Atanasio

Congats!!!! I am so happy for u both and wish you all the best. Keep me informed on any news please. Thank you! so much love,
Jess O'Neill

Todd and Dominique CONGRADULATIONS:-) :-) :-) They say everything comes in threes and you and dom are the third expecting in 2005. The very best and enjoy the nine months, eat, drink and be merry. God bless and hope to see you. Love
the renna's

Congratulations. I am so happy for you. You will be my prayers as always. Having a baby is truly a blessing. Love
Rose Consiglio

Hi Todd and Dominique. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I'm very happy for both of you and of course I will pray for the both of you and for the baby. I'm convinced that if there is anything so perfect and truly from God, it's a baby. And by the way, i just bought a house in Holbrook, so if you can remember me in yur prayers, that would be great. God Bless.
Marylou Senatore

CONGRATULATONS! You three are in our prayers GOD BLESS YOU! LOVE,
Jeff & Dina

Todd and Dom- Wow guys! Congratulations! I'm so happy. I'll keep you guys in my prayers. Hope everyone is well and I hope to see you guys soon.Peace--
Chris Colletti

congrats.. that is my birthday..... omg.. i am sooo excited.... hehehehe... funf un fun.... lol... that is soo awesome... todd that's ur word.. lol... yay!!!!!!
Kim Coyne

Congrats to you!!...Cant begin to tell you how excited we are for you and your family.....Enjoy every minute of this time in your life and know how truly blessed that you are!!...Hope your felling well and we wish you much happiness!!......ps..you guys won't be in the inheritance.....the baby gets it all!!!..hee,hee..Again Congrats to you!!...........Lori,Ed Zack,Sophia and Alex.................

Congratulations! Best, David Barber

Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you both! I know you'll be excellent parents! I'll pray for your health and happiness, although, I'm sure you have plenty already!Love,
Katie Daniels

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE COUGHLINS!!! WE KNOW HOW YOU FEEL SIX TIMES!!
GENETHERESAAMANDALYNDSEYGENEAARONJOSHUASEAN

Dear Todd and Dom, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very happy for you. I hope all goes well for the entire pregnancy and beyond. I will keep all 3 of you in my prayers.
amy clifford

OMG! I'm soo happy for you guys! Congrats again!
<3 Gina Alestra

Nice! Congratulations man!!!!!!!!!!!
Joel Bryant

Dude, how exciting! Yer gonna be a daddy! Well by golly we have to hang sometime before October 22nd because then you'll be really busy for about 18 years. Later pardner...
The Troy Factor

Congratulations!'We are so excited for you! We will keep you all in our daily prayers! Stay well and happy! We love you and miss you and hope to see you soon!Love and prayers always,
Franny, Christina and Alexandra and John too! XXXX0000

hey todd! just wanted to congratulate you and your wife on the baby. your family will be in my prayers. my cousin just gave birth to a healthy baby boy last month so i know how exciting it is. well best of luck to you both. love alwaz,
NutMeg

All right Todd Good work
Thomas Podgurski

nifty.
Matt Smith

That is awesome TODD! I am so happy for the both of you! Love,
Caroline Gambale

Hello Todd! It's Shoshuna Akerman! (Frency from "Grease"). I know it's been a long time since we kept in touch; but, I wanted to say congratulations on your wonderful news! Troy forwarded me a message that you and your wife are expecting your first child! This is fantastic!!! All the best,
Shoshuna (Shoshi)

Congratulations Todd and Dominique! Enjoy every minute of your journey to parenthood. We are so happy for you both.Love
Uncle Jas and Aunt Moira

Todd and Dom, That news made my day, I am so happy for you guys. Here, Kentucky is defintely a different world. It took a long adjustment phase and i turned to jesus to get me through at times. It worked as i have settled into place but school is really starting to pick up the pace. As of now, after this course i will attend scout school, then after that, to georgia for ranger school, then kansas by thanksgiving. Iraq has now changed as maybe not going, i don't know, things change so often, i think of you guys and the band often. Happy Easter to everyone. Regards,
Kevin

Our endorsement of Preggie Pops

They seem to have an effect on the nausea which is awesome.

We had a great dinner with my brother Justin who is in town auditioning for graduate school. He has been a great guest this week and we wish him all the best!

Also -- thanks to everyone that we have received phone calls and emails from. We haven't counted, but by all means will go through and publish most of them here on the site. You guys are all a big part of our lives!

Preggie Pops in Effect

Dom started using the Preggie Pops today. We are hoping that they will ease some of the nausea that she is continuously feeling.

I admire her so much. I know that there is much more she is feeling that she won't complain about and that is something that humbles me. It encourages me to do everything I can to make the pregnancy as easy as possible for her. We just continue to pray for the health of the baby and ourselves.

We had to reschedule the Doc appointments because of work for both of us that was conflicting. We were really surprised how hard it was to get an appointment changed. They are really booked!

The Law of the Gift Returns

In week eight I receive a tremendous gift. I become sick. Some kind of cold and flu symptoms that have me in bed coughing and unable to speak except in hoarse whispers. As I struggle to the kitchen to get the morning crackers, my wife asks me to lie down and let her take care of me. Initially, my mind and heart rebels at the idea. This woman is sustaining every physical burden of our child, how can I allow her the physical burden of me as well? She assures me that she needs me well as soon as possible so I have to let her nurse me back to health.

My brother visits from Dallas this week as he is trying to get into graduate school in New York for acting. He has two tickets to a show a friend developed and invites me to go with him. Again, something in me rebels. When I was sick, my wife prepared our small apartment for my brother, cleaning, putting out candy dishes, and making our humble home comfortable. How can I leave her for an evening? Again, my wife simply tells me to go. Another gift that I can never repay. All the food and vitamin shopping, all the serving simply leads to more giving.

This must be the active conclusion the Pope has lived. By living a law of the gift, we perpetuate it to others. It is simple, yet unrealized our conscience so many times. It may not be what the person wants, thus preventing the giver from becoming a virtual doormat, but by simply making ourselves a gift to their needs, we find that gift given to others and returned ten-fold. As my wife enters the ninth week, I realize that I have learned an amazing amount from my child already.

Dreams and Spiritual wonder...

By week seven, with the baby the size of a lentil bean, the heart already beating, I try to take stock of my life and the place my wife and I are spiritually. Can we pray more? Absolutely. Can we do more to help build the church? Of course.

All the while, I am contemplating the idea of this gift I must live for my wife and child. I have trouble sleeping. I am constantly dreaming freakish dreams of fatherhood gone right or horribly wrong. I sit with my wife and try to ease her nausea. I prepare lunches for work with a good deal of dry munchies to keep the hunger at bay. She is sleeping constantly, exhausted by the baby growing inside and the full day of Kindergarten she teaches.

I am mentally exausted. I read about babies. What they eat, drink, sleep in around, and about.

I read about pregnancy. No soft cheeses. No caffeine. No smoking. No drinking. No sit ups. No dieting, but don't eat too much. No cold cuts. No stress.

The benefits of Lamaze. I learn what a "doula" is. What are the top 50 questions to ask your OB on your first visit? When is your first visit?

And the only thing that I can mumble to people is "we're eccstatic."

We are exausted. At the end of it all are full of excited anticipation that gets us up way before dawn to talk about it and keeps us up late at night praying about it.

I'd like to believe all of this is natural. That it is a very real process that two young first-time parents go through. No wonder you love your children. No wonder God loves us. You can't give this much for someone and not love them, want the best for them, need them to grow and thrive.

Week Six...

As we entered the sixth week, we settled into a routine, such as it was. I would wake with Dominique and make sure she had crackers to ease the nausea, make her lunch and be sure that she had enough to snack on throughout the day so that she wouldn’t feel worse. As the morning sickness increased, I started looking more and more into possible remedies that wouldn’t hurt the baby. Anything with the slightest recommendation from another pregnant woman or either of our mothers was at my wife’s disposal.

This was also the week we decided to start telling our friends about the baby. Their reactions varied, and I have to say the majority of them were happy beyond belief on either side. There were a few however, who tiptoed around the question, “was it planned?”

This led me to ask the question, “Does it matter?” In retrospect, God had a plan that he was carefully preparing us for. Just because we couldn’t see with vision, does that automatically necessitate tragedy?

I became surprised at the number of tests at a woman’s disposal during her pregnancy that offer some insight into the chance the child might have a birth defect. It is always a chance, no test is conclusive, and there is nothing that anyone can do for the baby in the womb in most cases. It is almost as if doctors are running scared from the possibility that parents may sue them if their child has Down’s syndrome.

In reading about all of these tests, I wondered what the positive was. Do you worry more? Do bring risk to the baby?

It struck me that we have come closer to Nazi Germany then we would have ever wanted to. Imagine the Nazis eliminating the weak, those that were defective, and those that did not fit their idea of a “perfect society.” What is the difference between screening a human being when they get off a train and screening a human being in the womb? Has our society actually come to the point where we cannot tolerate what we consider to be “imperfection?” I shudder at the thought, a wave of defensive anger for my unborn child.

Announcement Email

Hey Everyone!

Apologies for the massive email, but by the time we tracked everyone down, you would have probably found out from someone, and that is why the email is great any way...

Dominique and Todd Lemieux are expecting a baby in October 2005!

We are SO excited about this! We just wanted to contact everyone so that you wouldn't find out from some site on the internet that reports on these types of things!

We know the following:

1. We are having a baby
2. It is due sometime around October 22
3. We are ecstatic about this
4. Both our parents will be grandparents for the first time which guarantees us the "bonus round" in the inheritance...

Hope this finds everyone well!

Peace!

Todd and Dominique