20 Weeks (we're halfway there!)



Hi everyone,

So this week makes the halfway point for us which is exciting (though I think it was probably the easier half, we'll see!). According to a baby website I follow, he should be about 10 inches long and weigh about 10.5 ounces. I wonder if he weighs more than that though because at his ultrasound three weeks ago, the website said he should have weighed about 5 ounces but the doctor estimated he weighed 9 ounces. He might be a fat little guy! Also according to this website is that he is now covered in that greasy white stuff called vernix to protect his skin, and that's his digestive system is getting practice by swallowing amniotic fluid.

Chris and I registered for our prenatal classes last week. We get a tour of Women and Infants during one of them which is good, I've never been there (as a patient) so I wouldn't know where to go, as all my visits with the d0ctor are down near my house. We signed up for three, the usual birthing class that's for a month, a breastfeeding class, and a caring for mother & infant class for post-delivery. Chris can attend all of them which is great.

Have a great week and will write more soon.

love, Andrea

18 1/2 Weeks along...





Hi everyone,

As you can see, we are getting the nursery ready for the baby, well, Chris is more the one getting it ready since I'm not allowed to do any painting right now. What we did was pick out a theme for the room, which is under the sea, and brought one of the pieces from it home so we could match the wall color to it. You can see the theme on their website if you want:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2407318&cp=2255986.2290652.2290950&parentPage=family

Its a nice color, I think the room will look great. What setting up this room will entail is switching around out other rooms, so while Chris is up to it, he's going to paint our new bedroom also.

I had a doctor's visit the day before yesterday which wasn't anything special, just a check in and everything seems normal and healthy she said. My average weight gain for the 2nd trimester has been 1.5 pounds per week, which is right on target as they say I should gain 1-2 pounds per week from now on.

One last update, I felt Christopher fluttering around for the first time a few nights ago! It was very cute. It took a couple of times for me to realize what it was, now I can recognize it easily. I have almost always noticed it only at night, its just a gentle flutter very low in my adbomen which is always neat to feel.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Andrea

It's a boy!!!

Hi everyone,

Today was our third ultrasound and as you can see, it's a boy! We're so excited. It was a great visit, we saw so much of his anatomy. The skeletal system was visible, down to jaws and fingers. They also were able to show his blood circulating from the umbilical cord to the heart (in color), that was really neat. All his organs seemed to look fine, meaning there were two when there was supposed to be and they were on the right side of his body. She said I should be able to feel him kick soon, that sometimes if the placenta is on top the mother doesn't feel it because its acts as a cushion, however his is on the bottom so it should be any time now. I also read it takes longer for first time moms to recognize a kick, because they don't know what to expect. He moves a lot, I should feel that soon.

Below are some pictures from today. The quality is pretty poor, and I don't know about you but whenever I saw someone else's ultrasound pictures, I could never figure out what I was looking at. I can make everything out on these pictures because on the monitor at the appointment, it is ten times larger and clearer. But here it goes... remember, you can click on a photo to enlarge it if its too small to see.

This first one is of his arm, his head is on the right. The technician said it was important to see his hand was open, for some reason that rules out several problems.


Another view of his arm.


Here is a typical profile view. his head is on the right, facing up. The white lines are his bones, you can see his jaws, spinal cord, and face bones well.


Lastly, she said there's no doubt about it - he's definitely a boy.


Will post an updated belly shot next week, when I will be 18 weeks along. By the way, according to his measurements today they came up with a due date 9 days earlier than mine, though again there is error in those measurements so my doctor wants to stick with the date of June 18th. Its funny that every ultrasound has given me a week earlier of a date though!

Talk to you soon,
Andrea