Week 17

I'm at 17 weeks 2 days now, and still feeling great.  I had another checkup on Friday, and everything was good.  Baby's heart beat was at a strong 150 BPM.  I was so happy Wyatt was there with me for this appointment; this was his first time hearing the heart beat.  It is so reassuring to hear that baby is doing well.  I had another round of blood drawn for more tests; we should get results at our next appointment. 

The next appointment I'll have is the one where we'll find out if it's a boy or girl, so the time is definitely drawing near.  We are ready to know!

Either I'm highly delusional or I've been regularly feeling baby kick since this Wednesday.  It's been the same feeling since it first started, and although it's getting more regular, it's still a bit of a strange feeling.  It's crazy that something that small can exert enough force that you can feel it.  According to a baby website, this week baby is about the size of a turnip (around 5 ounces). 

Here's a picture of me yesterday, at 17 weeks 1 day.

I think it's safe to say I'm showing now...

Houston, we (think we) have baby movement!

I'm pretty positive I first felt the baby move yesterday.  I was at work, and I felt a definite wiggling, almost the feeling of someone tapping me on my belly (but of course, it was in my belly).  It happened probably 8 times within a couple of minutes.  I'm almost positive this was the real deal because it was a definite feeling of movement, not just a faint flutter (like a muscle twitch), and it felt like it was happening in the right place (rather than underneath my rib).  It was so exciting to feel; my heart actually started racing.  I'm hoping to keep feeling these from here on out, mainly because it helps me know that baby is doing well, but also slightly to prove to myself that I'm not totally delusional. 

I am excited for a fun weekend.  Wyatt and I are off to a date night tonight.  We may even be crazy and go see a movie after dinner.  We'll see. 

Happy (almost) weekend everyone! 

Random Encounter

So this past weekend I went to Austin to visit my sister.  We did a lot of shopping, eating, and lounging, so all in all, it was a great time.  One funny/disturbing incident that I have to share.

My sister and I go to Target on Friday evening, looking for various things that are on our list (and no, the movie New Moon was not on the list, why do you ask?).  As we're in the entertainment section (again, not desperately searching for New Moon and wondering why it isn't on the shelves yet), we witness a family's inner workings in the video games aisle. 

There's a mom, a boy (maybe 10 years old?) and two other siblings (I think).  The boy is holding up a video game and is on the cell phone at the same time.  The mom is looking on.  The boy says "Hi dad, can I have this video game?"  (Can't remember what the name of it was.)  "It's rated R for extreme violence, blood, nudity, sexual situations, adult situations..."   And I think he even listed a few other items after that, I just can't remember what they were.  His mom is just standing by her son through all of this, calmly awaiting a decision. 

I didn't stay to see what happened (kind of wish I had now).  As I walked off, my first instinct was to laugh at this.  How many more really bad things did this kid have to list off for the mom to just take the game away and say no?  Then the more I thought about it, my emotion was more sadness than amusement.  I don't at all think I'm going to be a perfect parent, but I pray I'll know enough to know that a 10 year old shouldn't be playing a game that involves extreme violence, blood, nudity, etc. 

To end on a lighter note, the New Moon movie was released on Saturday, not Friday, and was at Sam's on sale for $20.88 at 7 AM that morning, not that we were interested.

Slight Change in Plans and Updates

So I said in my last post that our big ultrasound was scheduled for Thursday, April 15th.  Well, the appointment was moved to Tuesday, April 13th, because my Doctor wasn't going to be in the office on the 15th.  Not a huge change, but I'm happy that the appointment was moved up rather than back, since this waiting thing is hard!

In other news, I know I could start feeling baby move at any point now.  I've been trying to be extra alert to notice when it first happens, but I can't definitively say that it has yet.  It's hard to tell, since I've never felt anything like it before, so it's hard to know what to expect.  I keep getting these strange muscle twitches under my rib, and for a second I wondered if that could be it.  Then I thought a little harder and realized that the likelihood that the baby is all the way up under a rib this early in the pregnancy isn't high.  So, I'm still waiting! 

Wyatt and I are hopefully going to start looking at baby furniture this weekend, which should be fun.  I found a great store that I'm excited to take Wyatt to.  I'm also trying to get a good jump on getting registered.  It's a little overwhelming considering I know next to nothing about baby stuff, but thankfully I'm not at a shortage of friends who have recently had kids, so I'm hoping to bribe one of them with ice cream or something to get them to come with me to do battle at BabysRus.  It will be an adventure, I'm sure. 

Oh, and yes, I know I need to put up a new picture of my belly.  I wish I could get by with my picture at 5 weeks, but I know that's not going to cut it.  Funny how excited you get for belly pictures when someone else is having a baby.  When it's YOU having the baby, let's just say it isn't quite as fun.  Still a little fun, but also a little bit on the shocking side too.  So all that is to say, I hope to get a 17 week picture up this weekend.

Boy or Girl?

We are scheduled for the big ultrasound on April 15th.  This is the ultrasound where they determine if it's a boy or a girl (assuming baby cooperates).  We are very anxious for this appointment; I can't wait to know.  I think knowing if it's a boy or a girl will make the pregnancy even more personal for me.  We will see! 

At this point, neither of us really has a strong feeling about whether it's a boy or a girl.  I lean slightly toward it being a girl; I'm not sure why other than just feeling like that's what it is.  Wyatt leans slightly toward it being a boy, again not for any real specific reason. 

At my 13 week ultrasound (the nuchal translucency study), I thought I might have seen something to indicate that it was a boy, but considering that half the time I can't figure out which end is the head, I don't think this is a really reliable way to make a prediction. 

We really hope to find out on April 15th.  At that point, baby shopping is ON.  I can't wait to start buying stuff for baby, but I just can't get myself to do it now since I feel like I need to know boy or girl first. 

Any predictions out there?  Do you think baby Smith will be a boy or a girl? 

And before people start suggesting names, we are already set no matter which way it goes: Ubifida (nickname: Biffy) for a girl, and Varcarious (nickname: Varcy) for a boy.* 

*Before everyone starts freaking out, yes this is a joke.  One of our favorite hobbies has been coming up with outlandish/terrible baby names and  trying to pass them off on friends, thus far, to no avail.

14 Week Appointment

I had another appointment on March 5th (which is 14 weeks along).  This appointment was really quick, which I was okay with because Wyatt couldn't join me for it.  I heard the heart beat again, and the baby was still positioned really low.  We'll see how long baby stays there! 

My doctor gave me the results from my neuchal translucency study, and thankfully, everything was normal.  I was relieved to hear that.  As much as I didn't think I'd be a worrier through this process, when it's your own baby and so much is so new, I was definitely a little nervous about the results. 

That was about it for this appointment.  My next appointment is scheduled for March 26th, when I'll be 17 weeks along.   

Our Baby: Future Social Butterfly?

At thirteen weeks (on February 26th), I went in for the nuchal translucency study and a bunch of blood work.  At this appointment, they did a very detailed ultrasound where they measured the fluid in the back of the baby's neck (pretty sure that's right) to make sure it's normal and doesn't indicate any sort of problem/potential disease.     

The ultrasound was incredibly detailed, and lasted probably at least 10 minutes, so it was a lot of fun for me.  I was sad that they didn't allow dads to come along, because I know Wyatt would have loved it.  The baby was moving around like crazy during the ultrasound, which was so fun to watch.  He/she had a number of movements where his entire body jumped up and kind of squenched up into a ball, and then fell right back down into a resting position.  I asked the technician if this could be hiccups, but she said she thought it was too early for that, so who knows what this baby was up to.  Dancing, maybe?  Everyone knows I love "So You Think You Can Dance," so I guess baby may know that too. 

We got a couple of great pictures from this ultrasound:

Here's one of the baby, presumably resting.  I love this one because it really does look like a baby at this point.  Especially at our first ultrasound, the baby really wasn't too cute, and I think actually resembled Skeletor a little.  (Sorry, just being honest here.)  So I was happy to see a cute baby forming in this picture. 

And this picture is the reason for the title to this post.  I'm pretty sure baby is waving to the world to say his/her first real hello.  Time will tell if this baby is a real social butterfly, but I thought this was a fun picture.  I must mention that another interpretation, offered by our friend Darby, is that the baby is playing an imaginary saxophone here.  This is another one we'll have to wait and see on. 

 
After the ultrasound, I went to get more blood work, which is never my favorite.  But, I had to count my blessings because they only took 1 vial of blood rather than the 6 they took the time before.  I was not a fan of that process.  I realize I have a lot worse things coming for me soon, but hey, I'm trying to build up my tolerance slowly.

Second Appointment

We had our second appointment on Thursday, February 11th.  Wyatt was able to come with me, which was great.  At this appointment, we were able to hear the heart beat for the first time.  (I say we, but actually, Wyatt hadn't made it into the room yet, so he unfortunately missed this part).  This was exciting, but it was a little nerve racking for a couple moments as the nurse had to search for a while before she was able to find it.  It was also pretty interesting for me, as a first time pregnant lady, how low the baby was sitting at this point in the pregnancy.  I had no idea how low the baby starts out! 

Next we went to have another ultrasound.  I don't think this is the norm for a second appointment, but since there was some confusion as to my actual due date, they decided to do another ultrasound to see if they could narrow down the date.  We saw the baby again, including the beating heart (which amazes me every time), and they were able to give me a new due date of September 3rd.  It was great to get this date set; I know the date doesn't mean a whole lot in relation to when you have the baby, but somehow it was reassuring that the baby was actually due when I thought it was supposed to be.  Why this was relieving, I don't know.  Let's blame it on weird pregnancy emotions.  So, based on the new due date, as of this appointment, I was 10 weeks 6 days along.

One thought I had while looking at the ultrasound...  I was thinking how fragile and dependent the baby was.  I thought about how tiny it was, and yet how immensely valuable, precious, and loved this baby already is.  In so many ways, this brought to life the verse in John where Jesus calls himself the vine and us the branches, and says that for us to bear fruit, we must remain in Him, and that apart from him, we can do nothing (John 15:4-5).  The baby on the ultrasound gave me a picture of what we must look like from God's perspective: precious, valuable, and yet entirely dependent on Him for all that we need in life.  The problem we face is how easily we forget our need for God.  My current prayer is that I'd be reminded that as much as any baby in the womb needs its mother in order to sustain life, we as believers need God immesurably more than that.  And the great thing is that God is ready and able to answer every prayer and fufill every need that we have.     

The baby excitement is definitely growing at this point!  We are so blessed to be on this journey.

We are pregnant!

Yes, it's true! We found out on December 22nd, while we were on our trip to Arkansas, and it's been quite a task keeping the secret since then. We did tell our immediate family on Christmas. It just seemed too perfect of an opportunity not to. We kept the secret from pretty much everyone else up until I was about 12 weeks along.

We went for our first appointment on January 18th, and it went great.  We were able to see the (tiny) baby and a very strong (and fast) heartbeat.  It was so exciting, but also felt a little surreal.  It's clear there's a baby growing, but it's hard to fully get my head around it when I still don't really look pregnant. 

The doctor measured the baby and said based on measurements, I was 6 weeks 6 days along (which would make my due date September 7th, the day after Labor Day).  This was interesting because I was pretty sure I was 7 weeks 3 days (which would make my due date September 3rd).  They'll review the measurements again at my next appointment and finalize a due date then.  Here's a picture from the journey thus far.

Me on January 1, 2010, at 5 weeks (based on my calculations)- I wonder when I'll start showing...  Until then, I'm trying to enjoy my ability to wear my regular clothes. 

We are so thankful to God for this gift and very excited to be on the journey to parenthood.