Sunday, September 27, 2009

Preparing for our Baby Girl...

Hello everyone! Last week, we had another anatomy ultrasound, and the baby looked great! Unfortunately, she was being shy and covering her face the whole time, so we didn't get any good ultrasound pictures to share! Our ultrasound tech said that she is around 3 lb. 9 oz. right now, which would make her on track to be 7 lb. 9 oz. at 40 weeks gestation. She looks completely healthy, and was even showing off her "practice breaths" while we looked at her lung function. She kicked the ultrasound tech repeatedly - I don't think she liked the pressure! We had the ultrasound tech check again, and she is still a girl! :)

We had our shower last week, which was wonderful! It was so nice to see everyone. We were given a lot of very generous gifts, and we're very thankful for that. We were able to start putting the baby's room together this weekend, and it looks adorable! We need a few finishing touches (including the broken drawer that my dad is fixing, as you'll see in the picture below!) but overall her room is coming together!

If anyone has any pictures from our baby shower, can you please email them to me? I'd like to keep some for a photo album I will be making in the future! :)

I'll be 32 weeks this coming Thursday, and I've been feeling ok overall. I've been more and more tired lately, and I've had heartburn so bad that I went to the urgent care center on Friday night with chest pain, thinking that something was wrong with my heart or lungs. After a bunch of tests, it was determined that it was most likely severe heartburn and reflux, and that I need to take it easy and snack during the day, rather than eating large meals. I've been having some issues with sciatica as well. While I still love carrying our baby girl, I'm definitely getting to the point where I'd be happy to be done being pregnant! :) The most important thing is that the baby is healthy, I'm healthy, and Sam is healthy (he had a checkup last week - all is good!), so I can't complain too much!!

Below, I've posted some pictures from the shower, of the baby's room, and me and my belly at 31 weeks. I hope everyone ha
d a great weekend!!



Sunday, September 13, 2009

Pregnancy Update!

Hi everyone! It's been a little while since my last blog post. Things have been going well, although working and being pregnant definitely isn't as fun as being pregnant during summer break! Overall, I've been doing well at work and have been feeling pretty good. However, I've noticed my feet are starting to swell by the end of the day, and I've been getting tired much easier lately.
I went to see the doctor about a week and a half ago, and we listened to the baby's heartbeat. Everything sounded great, and my stomach growth has been exactly what it's supposed to be! I also passed my glucose tolerance test, so I don't have to worry about gestational diabetes, which is great! I did find out, however, that I am slightly anemic, so I will need to start taking iron supplements. I guess that's pretty normal at this point during pregnancy. That might explain some of the fatigue I've been having lately! We have another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and then an ultrasound scheduled for the 23rd. Hopefully we will have some great ultrasound pictures to share with you!
The baby's room is coming along nicely! We had a little mishap with the dresser/changing table, but my dad has volunteered to come to the rescue and try and fix it for us! Once that is done, I will post some pictures of what the baby's room looks like so far! Each time we put something new in there, I get more and more excited about our daughter's arrival!
We think we have narrowed our name list down, but we have decided that we are not going to share the baby's name until she is born. We think it will be more fun that way! Plus, we might change our minds at the last minute! You can continue to vote if you'd like though! The website is still up!
She has been moving around quite a bit lately! Her kicks and punches are getting so strong that they can almost always been seen from the outside of my belly, especially when I'm laying down. She's had the hiccups a couple of times already, which I can feel as well. According to my books, she is about 2 1/2-3 pounds and about 15 inches long. Her brain is developing more and more every day, and she can respond to loud noises and bright lights at this point. Sam and I have noticed this lately, as she seems to start squirming quite a bit when my alarm clock goes off in the morning!!
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather! Go Bears! :)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Back to School

Well, Sam and I are officially back to work! Sam started last Monday, August 17th, and I started today. We both are glad to be back to our routine- the beginning of the year is always exciting. We also know that the baby will be here before we know it! :)

We are in the process of putting the baby's room together. Our furniture is positioned the way we want it. We had a little bit of trou
ble putting together the dresser/changing table, but we're working on fixing it. We'll post a picture when everything is all set up!

I have definitely noticed a lot of changes with my pregnancy lately, as I approach the 27th week! Only one week left of my second trimester! I can't believe how quickly it has gone by! I have had a lot of heartburn, and my feet ache after being at school all day. The baby has been kicking and moving more regularly, which is very enjoyable! I've also started outgrowing some of the maternity clothes that I wore throughout the summer! I'm sure this is just the beginning of that!


My next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday, September 2nd. After that, I will begin going to the doctor every 2 weeks. We're going to be attending a prepared childbirth class at Edward Hospital on September 19th. I also have an ultrasound scheduled for September 23rd, which we are both looking forward to! It's been a while since we've had our last one, and it will be fun to see how the baby has grown!

Below, I have posted a picture that we took a
t 26 weeks. It's amazing to compare how much I've grown since our last picture, taken at 21 weeks! I also have a picture of Sam putting the baby's room together.




Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Reason to Celebrate!

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I posted last. Not much is new with the pregnancy, although she has been kicking a LOT lately!! Sam has finally been able to feel her kick from the outside, which he was thrilled about! Now he tries to feel her all of the time! We have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, so I'm excited for that. I love going to my doctor's appointments because I love to hear the heartbeat!

We do have a big reasons to celebrate, though. We had Sam's scans at the University of Chicago yesterday, and everything came back clear! He also had a chest x-ray, some bloodwork, and a routine checkup, and he is totally healthy! This marks 4 1/2 years in remission! His oncologist has moved his care to a long-term survivor doctor, and we only have to go once a year now, instead of every 4 months! We didn't even know that this was a possibility, and we couldn't have been happier with the news!! He also went to the DMV on Saturday and took a driver's test to have the disability restriction removed from his driver's license, so he no longer needs to drive with a left-footed gas petal! We bought a new car on Saturday, a 2010 Chevy Equinox (to fit the car seat and baby stuff!), so we didn't have to pay to get the mechanical aid put into the new car and transferred to the old car. He feels totally comfortable driving without it. He is going to begin physical therapy this week to try and strengthen his weaker leg and foot. I am so proud of him for everything he has accomplished! We couldn't be happier!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Healthy Heart

Hi everyone! We met with our perinatologist on Friday and we had another ultrasound done to make sure that the baby's heart valves were in tact. Everything looked great! We also had the doctor double check the sex of the baby, and she agrees that it is definitely a girl! She had a heart rate of 142, which is excellent, and she is currently in the 47th percentile in size. Our perinatologist doesn't think that we'll have to go back and see her again, although she is recommending another ultrasound of the baby's anatomy in the 3rd trimester, just to be safe. Sam and I are fine with that - we love seeing her kick and throw punches on the ultrasound screen! Hopefully then we'll also get some great 3D pictures as well!

Lately, I have noticed some patterns in her movement. She tends to kick a lot more at night or when I'm sitting and watching TV or typing on the computer, and she also seems to kick more if I've eaten something spicy or really sweet, like a piece of candy. I'm resisting the urge to eat a lot of those foods just to make her move more, although it's very tempting since I love feeling her kicks and punches!

During the past couple of weeks, my belly has been growing a lot faster. I have noticed my feet are starting to ache if I've spent the day walking or standing, which makes me nervous about the upcoming school year! I am right on track with the weight gain, and have even started picking up the exercise a little bit, with my doctor's permission. Hopefully that helps keep me strong and energetic throughout the next 3 1/2 months!

I have posted a 3D ultrasound of the bab
y's face. It's somewhat hard to tell, but her face is on the left. I don't really know what's on the right. I've also posted a picture of my belly at 21 weeks. I didn't realize how much I've grown until I looked at the last picture, taken at 17 weeks.


Monday, July 13, 2009

If They Mated...

Sam and I have a bit too much time on our hands now that we're both off for the summer! We found a website that you can generate a picture of what your future baby will look like based on current photos of the parents. Yes, we're that nerdy! I've attached the picture below... it actually does resemble both of us, surprisingly!

We also had an appointment last week with our regular OBGYN, Dr. Carney. Although we're not considered a high risk pregnancy anymore, she still recommended us to a perinatologist, whom we will be seeing this week. Dr. Carney said that everything looks great, she just wants me to have a perinatologist since we had such a rough beginning, just in case anything else were to come
up. Our new perinatologist is out of Edward Hospital as well, her name is Dr. Moran. We'll be seeing her on Friday, and she will be giving us another ultrasound to get a higher resolution view of the baby's heart. I guess she was laying in an odd position last time and they didn't get a clear view. Dr. Carney assures us that this happens often and is nothing to be concerned about. We will keep you all posted on how that appointment goes this week.

This week has been a lot of fun because I've been able to feel the baby move a lot! Sam hasn't been able to feel her from the outside still, so we're hoping that he will be able to feel her in the next week or so!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

It's a Girl!

Yes, we caved in and found out the sex of the baby! We were so set on not finding out, but once the ultrasound tech said she knew, we started wavering. We ended up having her write it down and put it in a sealed envelope, in case we changed our minds. That stayed in Sam's pocket for all of 15 minutes - we opened it in the waiting room while waiting for our next appointment! We're so glad that we did, too! We are thrilled to be having a little girl, and knowing has made it a lot more real for us!

Aside from finding out the sex of the baby, we had a very detailed ultrasound of each part of the baby's anatomy. It lasted a while - about 45 minutes - and we got to see her little hands, feet, spine, face, and even organs like her kidneys, brain, and bladder. Everything looked completely normal and health
y, and she was throwing little kicks and punches the whole time. The ultrasound tech had a hard time keeping her still for pictures - I hope this isn't a part of her personality that lasts! She is no longer the huge baby that she was at 10 weeks - she's in the 48th percentile of size now, instead of the 98th percentile (quite a relief!). She's measuring around 6 inches long. Right now she is in breech position, but she's got plenty of time to turn around!

I've started to feel her kicks and punches a lot more often in the last couple of days. It happens mostly at night when I'm laying down, or when I'm in the car. I think Sam will be able to feel them from the outside soon, as they're getting stronger and more frequent. He can't wait! We've tried but he hasn't been able to feel anything yet.

Yesterday was the last appointment that I had at the University of Chicago. I have a follow up appointment with Dr. Carney out of Edward H
ospital. She will be my new OBGYN throughout the rest of my pregnancy.

By the way, thank you to whoever has been clicking on the ads on our blog! We have already earned $20! All of the money earned on this website will go into our little girl's savings account.

I have posted an ultrasound picture below of her profile.