First Photos

Ok, I finally learned how to get the ultrasound pictures on my blog. These are "facial" shots of the baby. For those of you not familiar with looking at ultrasound pictures.....the top right picture shows the baby's head on the left, and the big round circle to the right is it's belly. The bottom left picture is just swaped because the doctor rotated the ultrasound thingy. Then the bottom right hand picture is a glimpse of the "devil inside". I don't like this picture at all, but oh well. The eyes, nose and possibly "teeth" are quite distinguishable.

ENJOY!

19 weeks, 6 days

WELL......as most of you know, today was supposed to be the day that we find out what the sex of this baby was, however, s/he was not cooperating. Just to give you an idea of how the baby was positioned, it was facing outwards with it's head on my left side and it's feet on the right (obviously). So in order to get a good look of the "area" the butt usually has to be up against my belly, and it wasn't. (This is a good site with detailed pictures.) Needless to say, we didn't find out what we are having. The doctor even said that sometimes he can usually get a hunch, but he said that he was stumped and could not say definitely it was a boy or a girl. Of course my next response was, "I hope that since it is not cooperating that this is an indication of how well it will cooperate after birth." haha, no correlations are known :)

But....BUT more importantly we did have confirmation that the baby is healthy and developing "normally". We saw some great pictures of the hands and legs. At one point, it looked as though it was rubbing it's face or something. And as the doctor was finishing up it brought it's hand up again as if to say "goodbye".....little stinker.

Seeing the baby was definitely exciting, I could watch it all day! S/he is moving and kicking around a lot (more noticeably) now. A constant reminder of the joy and fears of raising a child. I will try to put up the ultrasound pictures tomorrow.

I am also considering the 4-D ultrasound, but my doctor doesn't have it in his office and it will be an out-of-pocket expense. Might be just worth it to try so that we can at least have an idea for a name for this baby! Send me suggestions if you have any!!!

18 weeks

About a couple of weeks ago I went for my 3rd prenatal visit. Another simple and quick visit. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again with the help of a doppler. It was kinda a scary at first because it took so long to actually find the heartbeat. Anyhow, the baby's heartbeat had dropped to 140 from about 160 from the last visit. I think I have already mentioned that the average range for fetal heartbeat is between 120-160. The doctor also felt my stomach for the position of my uterus. At the time, the top of my uterus was just about an inch or two below my navel. He said that's where he expected it to be. I was also told that it was time to schedule an ultrasound! YAY! So that's where we are now. This Wednesday (the 18th) Kevin and I are going to the office for the ultrasound at 4pm. We are excited to finally "see" the baby for the first time.

I have been told by a couple of people what they think I am having. It's always interesting to hear what they say and their reasons. I think the tally so far is 4 that I am having a boy, and 3 that I am having a girl. haha.....we'll see.

Last Minute....

So I am sitting here (resting, of course) thinking about this upcoming week and all the things I have to do for work and other things, and I remembered my next doctor's visit is this Wednesday. Then I remembered, I haven't posted about the last visit! Crap! This is going to be harder than I thought......

Ok, so down to the specifics. I guess the highlight of my last visit was hearing the baby's heartbeat (via doppler) for the first time. It sounds different than a heartbeat through a stethoscope. It makes more of swooshing sound. Hearing the heartbeat makes the pregnancy feel more real. The baby's heartbeat was around 160 beats/min. Now for those of you who believe in old-wives tales, you would think that I am having a girl. But that is just a myth....you never know! (There are some crazy beliefs out there, trust me.) Some say it's just maternal instinct as to what one believes they will be having. As for me, I don't think I have any gut feelings on the situation. Maybe that's just to prevent false hope. I did have a dream the other night that I was having a girl and that we named her Natalie.....who knows. I don't really remember if I had dreams like that while pregnant with Jordan.

At the visit I had my normal "weigh-in" and learned that I had actually lost 5 pounds. After the first trimester I experienced, it was no wonder I didn't gain any weight. I didn't know what to think about the loss, I mean let's face it 5 pounds (to a woman anyhow) is a notable difference! The doctor says it's not really a big deal as long as I don't loose any more. I have a slight feeling that that's not going to be an issue this time around! haha

Everything else was normal and overall it was a rather quick visit. One other thing I would like to write about is how I perceived other moms or moms-to-be while waiting for my appointment. It's funny how women can be so conversational in situations that sort of "force" you to acknowledge other people. Especially when they are pregnant or kids are present. This one lady arrived with her (I presume) children and automatically another woman thought it was just second nature to just chat with the woman already waiting. Then, an expecting mom observes the children playing and they all start sharing information with one another. (How old is he? When are you due? Do you know what you are having? blah, blah, blah.) I listened in to their conversation for a minute or two, then after like the 4th question I got bored. It's like I had no interest at all about the small-talk of the children. I don't see anything wrong with my reaction I just find it weird more than anything. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am on baby #2 and it's not as "thrilling" as the first experience. I guess I just don't feel motherly-like this time around. I felt the same way when one of my co-workers brought in his newborn son. Don't get me wrong, the kid was cute, but it was like I ran out of things to say/ask and I was just staring at the baby and didn't know how to leave the conversation. (Maybe I am turning into the non-conversationalist like my husband.......which is not a bad thing!!)

Anyhow, my next visit is this Wednesday, I am pretty excited about it. We get to schedule an ultrasound in about 2 weeks and hopefully we will be able to test out the old-wives tale. ;)

PS - emotionally speaking....this past month was like a gazillion times better than the last. Oh, and the energy level has come back to almost normal. Whew, thank goodness!