Happy Baby!

Just a quick post...I've tried on all the computers to which I have access to convert the DVD we got at the ultrasound to a form I could post, but haven't had any luck (YET!) In the meantime, I did find a way to capture images from the DVD and just had to post our little man shooting us a smile!! It's only for a split second, but it was so funny I wanted to share:

Before:
After:

Oh, Happy Days!

It's a Boy!!!

And all boy he is, apparently. It took the ultrasound tech all of 2 seconds to determine the sex of the baby ~ he was ready to show it off! Thank goodness, everything looked great on our 20 Week ultrasound as far as scanning for birth defects, etc...Praise God! She checked him out from head to toe, and everything measured on target. He weighs 11 oz at this point ~ not even a pound yet! I, on the other hand, have gained 10 pounds in the past 20 weeks. Not too bad, but at the expected rate of 1 lb per week, that means I'll gain another 15 or 20 before the baby's born. That's quite a bit on short little me, especially since the baby only accounts for a small part of that!!

So here are the goods...hahahaha. There's an arrow pointing to the "turtle", and apparently, turtle = BOY!!! The thing that the arrow is on top of is the umbilical cord, according to the U/S tech.

In case you can't find the turtle, here's another view. (I hope he can forgive me one day for posting his parts for all to see!!!) Mommy's just so excited!!
Here's his little face in 2D:
And in 3D:

Kinda spooky!! :) The tech said it's a little early for the 3D/4D because they're not quite all filled out yet. In another 8-10 weeks, we'll go back and have one and you can really see how baby's features look! But, this was kinda neat for now.

Given how much he was moving around during the ultrasound, he was probably awake. His eyelids will stay closed for another 2 months or so, though.

They also gave us a video of the whole thing, and you can see the 3D part a bit more clearly, but whether or not I can get it in a format that will post on this blog...we'll see. Stay tuned!!

Finally! It IS a "Real Baby"!!

January 6 ~ Today I'm 13 weeks and we got a test done called an NT Scan. It checks for Downs Syndrome and a few other conditions that result from chromosomal abnormalities. All these tests sure are nervewracking!! Thank goodness, things seem to be fine according to this one, though.

I hope today's not an indication of Little One's temperament...if it is, he/she is going to be one stubborn baby! We were there 2 HOURS for what should have been a 20 minute ultrasound!! the baby just wouldn't turn its head the right way, was flinging its arm up so they couldn't get a good view of the neck skin (that's what they have to measure). Three different people came in to try to get the measurements, in between which I walked, did side bends, used the bathroom, laid on my side, did squats....everything but cartwheels - ha!! Finally they got a good picture of it, but in the meantime while we waited for baby to change positions, they got loads of other great shots. These actually look like a little human's in there!

and our favorite...the "thumb's up"!

Time for the "real" stuff!!

December 19 - Our first visit to the OB for actual pregnancy stuff instead of just ultrasounds to see if the baby's OK. How exciting!! For me, at least....just the regular things like weight, blood pressure, all those questions they ask you about your history, etc. They did a second "dating" ultrasound to check the due date and it came back the same ~ July 14 (I CAN'T WAIT!!!)

At 10 weeks, the baby's supposed to be about the size of a kumquat (a what??)

The ultrasound machine was MUCH better this time, but I still think the baby looked more like a chicken or alien than human - ha! (But still VERY cute, of course :)

December 3: Graduation Day

Nine weeks today!! Congratulations, Baby! You are now officially a fetus instead of an embyro.


We had another appointment today and this was the first ultrasound that actually resembled a baby! Or, maybe more like a teddy bear, as the doctor called it. Here's the picture...you can see a great big body, and two blobs for arms and two blobs for legs. Of course, I was relieved again to see that little heartbeat.

At nine weeks, the baby is the size of a grape, or about 1 inch long and weighs as much as a paper clip.

So, we made it past scary week #8, but don't want to spill the beans yet. I mean, of course, we do! But, we've decided to tell everyone around 16 weeks...whew, that seems so far away!!

November 28, 2008

Nervous Ninny Mommy again! Our next appointment was supposed to be December 3, but they had us back a little early because of a little scare that, fortunately, ended up being nothing. I think Daddy was a little nervous, too, because when that little heartbeat showed up again on the screen, he JUMPED up to get a closer look, saying "There it is!!"

7 weeks, 2 days

My Little "Blueberry"-sized Baby!

I knew I was apprehensive about this visit, but I guess more so than I thought because when the doctor left the ultrasound room I just started Boo Hooing sobs of relief!! Whew! This pregnancy/baby business is hard work already...but so worth it :)

PS...Ok, I know these pictures aren't the greatest - they probably all look the same to you! I promise, the good stuff's coming!

48 hours later...

...back to the doctor for a hormone level recheck and our first ultrasound! How exciting and totally nervewracking at the same time...until I realized there would be precious little to see (so, maybe not so much pressure ~ whew!) The HCG I had tested last time is supposed to double every 48-72 hours, and based on my first result, the doctor said anything over 5,000 would be good.

So, mooooooore nerves on my part. This is "the" test to see if the pregnancy is actually progressing. If the numbers aren't doubling, it's not a good sign. This has been the longest 48 hours ever! Thank goodness HCG came back at 5,504....yes, we might really be having a baby!! Now for the good stuff:

Here's the baby at 5 weeks, 4 days old!! All you can see here is the gestational sac (black part) and yolk sac (little white thingy underneath the gestational sac). Right now, the baby's the size of a sesame seed!