Nursery and Shower

What a busy week it has been!

We had more ultrasound pictures. Monkey is growing well but slowing down just a slight tiny little itsy bit. We may have to have one more ultrasound just to make sure all is well. He is looking cute as ever and very much like his daddy I think! He will be a cutie pie! I can't wait to see him. Still a little over 8 weeks until the due date. I am really not in a hurry for him to come early. He weighs about 3 pounds 7 ounces right now based on ultrasound measurements but he needs to grow a little bit more. I am feeling okay. I can't move as quickly. My pelvis sometimes feels as if it is only held together with some loose rubber band and the heartburn is significant at times. I also have cut back the number of patients I will see in one day as I do not want to over do it. It seems most days I am tired only a couple of hours after waking up. This is a little annoying but I guess all in all I cannot really complain because this pregnancy has been a cake walk compared to what it could be. No morning sickness, no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no bed rest (yet)! I am happy and healthy and so is monkey! I have also only gained about 17 pounds which is awesome. Still going to the gym 3-4 times per week although walking more slowly on the treadmill. We got some more 3 D pics this time from the ultrasound just by mentioning that it was done last time and was so cool. But monkey was not a cooperative and held both his arms over his face most of the time - oh well. Here are a couple of quick shots that she literally had to go frame by frame to get! I like the one where he looks like he is leaning on his one hand!
Also a pic of me today after the baseball game - too bad the Ducks decided to play horrible defense against the Beavers.






Mom and Shauna came up Friday afternoon to help me go to Ikea and get nursery furniture. Then we put it all together and had it looking great in the nursery room by bed time! I'm lucky my mom and sister enjoy putting things together as much as I do ;-) It would have frustrated Tom a little I think to help me as much as they did with holding and assembly of parts! We made quick work of it all! You can see that our cat Sydney is not letting the room be completely claimed by anyone but her yet! So far they haven't tried to jump in the crib. We will see if they figure that one out or not...






Saturday was my friends and family baby shower! What a fun time with lots of people there to wish monkey well. My friend and OB Laura and knitting friend Meg did a great job of putting it together. Mom, Shauna and Rita came up from Grants Pass and my friend Beth came from Eugene! Also many of my Portland buddies were there as well! I was very happy to see them all and visit! Monkey got lots of cool clothes and bedding that I already put away. I love just walking in monkey's room and turning the light on and seeing the transformation from no nursery to nursery.....

Pregnancy Pics

We are in a lull period of activity. Soon the doctor visits will become more frequent but for now, it is just waiting. More frustrating is that we found a house to fall in love with and are trying to figure out if we can afford it and if they will accept an offer that is lower than their asking price. You would think this wouldn't be a big deal in this market but it is. So we wait. And until we know, I cannot get started on putting things together in the nursery. So I will update some pics of me. The first one is from Feb 4th (24 1/7 weeks) and the other two are from Feb 21st and 22nd (26 4/7 weeks).

Who do YOU think he looks most like?

We totally lucked out today. We had a follow-up ultrasound and they wanted to make sure the growth was okay because where the cord inserted on the placenta was a little to one side. Monkey is growing well and he is right on track. The ultrasound tech was so smitten with him that she put the 3-D probe on and got a WHOLE BUNCH of great pics of his face. I have also attached pics of myself and Tom as babies. There is some extrapolation to imagine and hopefully the scan shows up well (you can click on each image to make it larger). I am limited because I have to scan the pics in and I have limited cropping ability, but who do you think he looks like?

Monkey is moving all over the place when I stop long enough to pay attention. We are taking names if anyone has ideas. We have some top contenders but aren't going to say. Guidelines for names are more traditional names, nothing that can be shortened to something weird and nothing that starts with K or C (Tom doesn't like the alliteration although my name doesn't follow that rule - oh well)

No signs of issues yet. Baby looks healthy and prety cute. Verification today on ultrasound also that this is a boy! Baby weight about 1.5 pounds, my weight gain 13 pounds - Christmas food!

We are doing well.....

And the verdict is....

We had our ultrasound today. This is the one where we get a good look at the body parts including the genitalia! Our little BOY looks awesome! He is a very "proud" boy per the ultrasound tech as you can see from the picture. I am trying to fix these pics a little so I can post them individually instead of in groups but you can click on the images to blow them up!

He is growing and moving and his heart, kidneys, brain, stomach, diaphragm, upper lip and legs, hands and feet look awesome!

Funny stories

As I sit and knit and catch up on BSG (Battle Star Galactica) and watch the snow blowing around in the arctic winter outside, I thought I would share a few stories!

Yesterday, Tom decided we needed to go shopping. For the baby.....Yes for the baby. He didn't think we needed clothes or furniture or diapers or anything that we might get from someone else. He thought it should be top priority to make sure that our NEWBORN had books! I know my kiddo is in good hands with a daddy who thinks the top priority is books! So we went to Powells and I told him how new babies like to look at pictures of other babies. We got a few board books with other baby faces on it. We then stopped at Saturday market and looked at baby slings. I have long been a fan of the ergonomic devices to substitute for other baby carriers, car seats, etc. There is a really nice lady who makes them there and I have been to her website many times. She has a drawstring on either side so you can really adjust to the size of the baby and rather than tying or wrapping around yourself, she uses a backpack clamp which can more easily be undone to remove the baby if it falls asleep and leave the baby in the crib/carseat - YAY! She showed us a demo and Tom proclaimed it something he would have to come back and get for me before Christmas time! I told him to pick colors he wouldn't mind wearing ;-)

My belly is getting bigger
I still await definitive movement
I sometimes think that I might be feeling something but then convince myself it is just lunch digesting. Who knows.....

Last week I had to go bra shopping. I was excited as a barely B cup to be shopping for a C cup! I had to text my sis about it and let her know. Now, having an iphone, the texts come up as the contact is listed in the contact section so for my sis it says Sis and Hubby Last Name MObile. I cannot tell without looking at the number which is my sis and which is her hubby. But, I know that she texted me earlier in the week a bout a book for the kids so I used that. Text read, " I am so excited, went bra shopping today and bought a C cup" The response " Tom much be happy about that! By the way, this is Hubby phone, if you were looking for your sis you might want to text her" UGH ! Fortunately I have a good brother in law. So I texted back "Just thought you might all want to know" They both got a good laugh at that one and my sis was soon texting me "So why are you texting my Hubby your bra size? ;-)"

I am sure that will come back to haunt me come Christmas Time. At least now everyone knows what bra size to buy.....

A few weeks ago I had a strange dream. We were going in for a routine visit. But instead of going to the office, went to the hospital. Apparently I was also working in the labor and delivery that day. Tom went to hide somewhere while I attended a few deliveries. Then they asked if I wanted to see my baby. Thinking they meant an ultrasound I said sure bring in the Ultrasound machine. No no no, they have a new method where they can remove the baby and look at it and then put it back in. Of course! Bring it on! (I did mention this was a dream...okay) SO they took out the baby and showed it to me. At this point I was maybe 13-14 weeks pregnant but the baby came out looking full term, bald head, and no genitalia - think Barbie doll. I asked if they could tell if it was a boy or a girl and they said it was too early. So they put it back in and pulled the drawstrings tight and I was good to go. The only thing was TOm didn't get to see. They told us it was too dangerous to pull the baby all the way out again but they could pull out the head and the shoulders. Tom got to hold the baby's hand and look at it for a second before they cinched me back up. Now here is where it really gets weird (as if it wasn't already) When they cinched me up again, I noticed that there were pencils coming out from.....down there. Lots of sharpened yellow No 2 pencils! I pulled out maybe 1-2 dozen. I asked why there were all of these pencils in there and they told me that's how they kept everything suspended and in place. Then thankfully I woke up!

Several people that I have since told this story to have tried to analyze parts of it - the appearance of the baby is my baby's psychic way of telling me even though I can't feel it , it is okay.....I have a telepathic baby!
The pencils are because the baby needs something to do - that would be my baby then, Tom's baby would be quite content to sit in the dark and chill for the next 5 months......I have an either bored or artistic (not to be confused with autistic) baby!
And the genderless genitalia is obvious since I don't know yet, I am not assigning it a gender yet!

So in short I have a bald, genderless, artistic or bored, psychic baby! I am going to call TLC right away and see if I can get my own show. Although I think you have to have litters of children or little people children for them to really get excited! Oh well, back to knitting and BSG.....

Getting bigger

Our last visit was on Wednesday. Just a quick check and normally we wouldn't get to see squiggly at all but my friend brought in the ultrasound for a quick look even though she was running behind on her schedule. We got to see hands and feet and arms and legs and head and lots more bones are calcified. She tried to get a shot of the crotch and actually squiggly tried to comply but it was too grainy to see if there are boy parts or girl parts. Our next visit will be Christmas Eve and our big ultrasound where they look at all of the organs (and maybe an extra organ) will be the day after Christmas.

My closet has been completely decimated. I cleared out most of the clothes because they aren't fitting anyway and then got a couple of bella bands from my friend so I could salvage at least a couple pairs of pants. Most helpful was going shopping with my sis over Thanksgiving. Where do you find Maternity Clothes in Grants Pass? Ross Dress for Less! They had several pairs of jeans and a pair of dress pants and a few shirts. I got three pants and two shirts and a new bra and all for less than I likely would have paid for one outfit at a maternity store! Now I am set. I still haven't gained much weight (maybe 2-3 pounds) but things have moved and my lower abdomen is no longer slender enough for low rise pants.

I am starting to tell some of my patients. WE are getting to the point that the ones who are coming in for 5-6 month follow-ups would find that I am not here. Bizarre. Only that little amount of time until we will be able to see squiggly. I still can't wait to feel movement and that hasn't happened yet. I think my uterus is tilted backwards so as to avoid me being able to feel it well in the belly. But, I am reassured by the growth and the recent brief peek.

I am also NESTING! WE just had carpet in the living room and tile in the extra bedroom placed this week! The storage unit is getting some use from stuff I needed out of the way to make some room for squiggly. I don't think I am going to start with the nursery until I am closer to 24 weeks (minimum viability time), but I have some plans!

We are having a Christmas party for my office at my house so we will see if all of those people can fit in my house!

WE didn't get any pics this time so I no more ultrasound pics to show yet but next time should. I will likely hold off on sending out Christmas cards until then as well so we can send them updated with the most current info!

I found out that one of my patient's who follows this blog and is having her own fertility issues is on hold as her financing was denied for doing in vitro - her only option at all - it would be really impossible to get pregnant otherwise. I can't imagine. She is a little younger than I am so I hope that will give her and her husband some time to get the money together to afford the difference between what the insurance will pay and what they can afford. It doesn't seem fair and my thoughts are with her!

More to come in a few weeks with hopefully news of boy or girl! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year!

Good Genes Bad Jeans

So we finally got the results back on the hormone testing....
It was a "negative screen". We have less than 1:360 chance of having a Down's Syndrome Baby and less than 1:1200 of other chromosomal abnormalities. This is great news and allows me to relax a little bit and enjoy the beginning of the second trimester as we head into it next week.

The fatigue is starting to let up.
Have only gained a pound or two so far

BUT.....none of my jeans fit me. I still have some work pants that fit higher on my waist so they are okay but that didn't help this AM when I needed to get ready to go see Twilight with some friends. I tried the rubber band trick - not really helpful.
So I purchased my first piece of pregnancy clothing while wearing sweats in the store- a pair of corduroy pants with adjustable side elastic to make the back/side panel tighter. It is really a great thing to feel comfortable in pants again.

Bring on the second trimester. I am ready! Now if squiggly could just start moving rather than just growing at a seemingly snail's pace :-) I will be happy - still another 6 weeks or so for that.......so just keep growing little one, I have plenty of room on these pants to expand with you!