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.





Thursday, July 2, 2009

Painting Baby's Room

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted last. Thanks to everyone who voted for names -we had a lot of votes! So far it looks like the girls names with the most votes are Madison and Madelyn, while the leading boys names are Aidan and Andrew. We will continue to keep the website open for votes until the baby is born, so feel free to vote if you haven't already! Sam and Kim spent part of the week painting the baby's room. They did a great job! We chose a bright yellow - we thought it would be bright and cheery for the baby's small room size! We already have the crib set up, and will be putting in our glider shortly. We still need to order a dresser/changing table, which we plan to do soon. I have also posted a picture of me and my growing stomach at 17 weeks, even though I am 19 weeks today. We thought we'd take another at 20 weeks, then every 4 weeks until the baby is born to see how much I am growing. I have my last appointment at the University of Chicago on Monday, where I will have an ultrasound done. Hopefully I will have some nice ultrasound pictures to post! On Thursday, I have a follow-up appointment with my regular OBGYN at Edward Hospital. I will post more on Monday! Have a great holiday weekend!
17 Weeks Pregnant

Friday, June 12, 2009

The Name Game

Hi Everyone! We've been anxiously awaiting our next ultrasound appointment on July 6th, but we've been keeping busy planning and discussing the baby! One thing that we have decided is that we are not going to find out the sex of the baby at our next ultrasound. We decided that, for this pregnancy at least, the surprise during delivery would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In the meantime, we've been throwing around lots of boy and girl names so that we have a selection to choose from when the time comes! While we plan on keeping the name a secret from everyone until the baby is born, we'd also like your help in picking our top choices, since we have so many names that we like! You can click on the link below to "vote" on some of our name choices. Don't worry - votes are completely anonymous, and we won't be offended if we get some "no" votes on ones that we like (and it won't keep us from choosing that name for the baby either!) we just want everyone's honest opinion! Plus we thought everyone would enjoy a sneak peak at some of the names that we like! :)

http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9688941

Monday, June 1, 2009

Strong, healthy heartbeat!

We had another appointment today at the University of Chicago. Everything looked great - we didn't get an ultrasound, but I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat and it sounded strong and healthy! The doctor still wants to see me one more time before I'm released back to Edward, so I will go again on July 6th for an ultrasound and consultation. I had to go solo on this one, since Sam is at home with the flu! What a terrible way for him to spend his first day of summer break! I'm going to take him to the immediate care center in Plainfield in a little while to get some antibiotics, so hopefully it won't last too long!
I only have 4 more days of school left, and then I'm on summer break! I can't wait to relax and enjoy being pregnant!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Welcoming the 2nd Trimester...

I'm officially in my 2nd trimester, and thank goodness for that! I have noticed in the last week or so that I've had more energy, and I don't get nauseated as easily! I'm still very tired, but not nearly as bad as I was before. Also, I have less than 2 weeks until I'm completely off of my IVF medicine, which I think has been making me feel even worse, so I am very glad to be almost done with that.
I have also started to have those famous pregnancy cravings. I drink at least 3 cups of orange juice per day - I can't get enough of it! It will be interesting to see what I crave next...
I've started showing quite a bit in the last couple of weeks as well. I am wearing maternity pants already. It's been fun shopping for maternity clothes!
I told my students this week, which was very fun! They all had interesting questions, and great name suggestions (they suggested either their own name, the name of their pet, or the name of a character from High School Musical!).
We have our appointment on June 1st at the University of Chicago, so we will keep you posted on how that goes!