Time for a new ticker

That whole "au natural" pregnant lady on the old pregnancy ticker at the top was freaking me out - then when the glowing baby appeared it had to go. Hopefully the new one will provide some laughs. :)

Good News!

I spoke with the doctor's office yesterday and all of the tests came back negative! They did not find any signs of the birth defects that they test for with the quad panel test - fetal trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), fetal trisomy 18 (Edward's Syndrome), open neural tube defects and increased risk of Turner Syndrome, tripliody, trisomy 16 mosaicism, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome and steriod sulfatase deficiency. I am so thankful and grateful to God that she is healthy and will not have to struggle with these obstacles in life!

Things are starting to pick up

I think that things are going to start going very quickly pretty soon here. We have a crazy schedule starting soon between work, birthdays, school and the maternity classes that we have scheduled.

Today I set up a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital in October, a prepared childbirth (lamaze) class for Nov/Dec which meets once per week for five weeks and a breastfeeding class in January. We also set up our 3D/4D Ultrasound for November 25, which should be really exciting! My busiest time of the year at work starts around October 20 and goes through December 5. When I say busy, I mean BUSY. Last year it consumed an ENTIRE weekend (morning to night) and kept me at work for several 12 hour days. Hopefully it will be a little easier this year, but I have to prepare for the worst - which should be over by November 14. My grad school classes start up again on November 11. They will end just in time for me to have the baby (2 1/2 weeks before her due date) and the professor has already agreed to work with me if anything happens earlier than Jan 20 - which is the last day of class.
In November we have our annual manager's trip to Las Vegas. Doesn't that sound like a fun trip for a pregnant lady?? :) I'll have to make sure to pack my comfy walking shoes! No heels for the dinner this year. And then we will be going to Colorado for Christmas - and some time to relax!

My doctor's office said that women usually take off of work starting 4 weeks before the baby's due date, but I think I'm going to try to work as long as I can. Only part of the leave will be paid, so I want to make sure we don't have to go without it for too long. That is going to be here before I know it, so I'm already working on tying up loose ends at work and making sure that everything is in order and organized for my absence. It's crazy how much needs to happen between now and then - I'll have to remember to take a little bit of time to rest and relax before I have to adjust to sleepless nights. :)

Butterflies

At the beginning of the pregnancy, I was seriously thinking that I did not want to ever go through this again. I told Andy (and I was serious) that this might be our only child. Of course, he is wonderful and supportive and understanding, so he agreed that if I continued to feel that way we would consider only having one. But I have to say... I think I'm changing my mind.

I am really enjoying this part of pregnancy. Feeling her move throughout the day is so fun. I have heard that it gets annoying after a while, but for now it stops me in my tracks each time so that I can focus on her and enjoy the flutters and butterflies. I love them. I can't wait for them to be apparent enough to be felt from the outside so that Andy can enjoy them, too. That is the one part of this that doesn't seem fair to me - that the dad doesn't get to experience the flutters the mom gets to feel. I'm sure if you asked most of them they would give that up to not have to go through morning sickness and childbirth, though! I can't wait for her to be big enough to for Dad to feel. I guess I shouldn't rush it since that means she will probably be kicking me harder, huh?

I put her ultrasound picture up on my desktop at work and every time I see it, I can't help but stare in amazement. What an amazing God we serve - He is fashioning her and forming every cell in her body so that she is just as He intends for her to be. And it's all happening so quickly! I am amazed that He knows her already and knew her before he even began creating her. It's such a miracle to watch the progression from the little bubble on the first ultrasound to the images of her on this latest one - and to feel the rush of love that comes from seeing her move during the ultrasound. I don't understand how some people can not consider this a life and can look so non-chalantly at abortion - or even believe evolution theories over Creation. It just doesn't make any sense to me - especially not after these experiences. I don't mean to turn this into a political statement - just a note about how infatuated I am with her already and a prayer of thanks for bringing me through the tough part of the first trimester and letting me experience these little daily joys. I'm loving it! I'll try to hang on to this feeling as the discomforts of the third trimester quickly approach...

We're half-way there

Today (Thursday) marks twenty weeks - we're at the half way point! It's hard to believe that - but easier when you consider that the first five and a half weeks we were unaware that we were pregnant. Then it seems like it's been even longer. Things are moving along beautifully and she is growing every day - as you can now tell very easily from my profile! I think I get bigger by the minute. In another twenty weeks or so we'll have a little munchkin to love on. I can't wait!

Our Covergirl

Here are the pictures from the ultrasound. It's so much easier to see the baby when it's on the screen than when it's in the pictures. The movement is what really makes the difference. But pictures are all I have to post so they will have to do!

The heartbeat was at 143 bpm... just right!
The side view of her head and body - she's facing down. You can see her spine running along her back and up into her head (head is on the left).
Her little bootie and legs. The arrow is pointing out the gender parts, while you can see her right leg underneath it. The bone is bright white.
Her Cover shot... She's even blowing a kiss! :) Just kidding, but her mouth is open a little and she has her hands drawn up under her chin. So cute.
We will be probably be having a 4-D ultrasound somewhere around 27-29 weeks (we're at about 20 weeks now). Can't wait to see more of her!

The verdict is in...

It's a GIRL! And she is wonderful already. She was so cute in the ultrasound - she kept flipping over, punching and kicking. Andy noticed that she was even making what looked like a walking motion with her feet. The picture we got of her is so cute. Her little hands are drawn up under her chin - almost like she was posing. At one point she actually turned her head straight toward the "camera" - indicative, according to my Mom, that this IS definitely my child! I think she got the hiccups toward the end of the session because her little body would jump up all at once (we had a profile view with her laying facedown) and then float back down.

This ultrasound was definitely the best so far - we could clearly see her heart beating, her spine, her hip bones - everything we were hoping to see! She is just amazing already and more than ever - I can't wait to meet her and hold her. This was my moment. Everyone talked about hearing the heartbeat for the first time and how lifechanging that would be. I was starting to feel like maybe there was something wrong with me because it wasn't as momentous as I expected it to be. It was neat, but it still didn't feel that real. But now... now it's real. And it's amazing and wonderful and it makes me want to hold and rub my stomach all day long! I can't wait to hold her.

I will post the ultrasound pictures as soon as I can get them scanned in. Last night was full of excitement in getting the news out to our parents and close friends and tonight I won't be home until late. Hopefully we can get them up soon so you can see my little Covergirl.