On Thursday, we saw Dr. Griggs at Tripler. The checkup went really well, and both the baby and I are healthy (even if I don't feel so healthy all the time). The first thing he did was listen for the heart, and (of course) he couldn't find it right away. I think our little one really likes to keep me on my toes! He didn't seem concerned, but brought the ultrasound machine in just to do a quick check. I was amazed! The baby had grown and changed so much from the little blob we had seen during our 7th week. We could see everything- profile, arms, legs, hands, feet, ribs, tummy, all of it (well, all of it, with the exception of the gender, which the baby was hiding from us). I was in awe. After the ultrasound, I talked to the doctor about some of the concerns I've had regarding my lack of weight gain, feeling weak, dizzy, run down, and so on. He was very patient and informative, and explained everything. As it turns out, it's all normal, and should get better around 20 weeks when my body produces enough extra blood to keep up with all the work its doing. He also said that staying very well hydrated will help me to feel better, and so far, he's been right. (So were you, Aubree!) I can't begin to explain how very relieved I am to know that there is nothing wrong with the baby (or me) and that there is an end in sight!
Today we went in for the gender ultrasound, and we're having a little GIRL!! For those of you who've told me you're waiting for the sex to buy things, feel free to buy pink! The 20-30 minutes we spent looking at the baby were the most exciting minutes of the pregnancy so far! I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time! I had given the baby a pep talk before we left the house this morning, encouraging her to move into a good position and not hide like she had during Thursday's ultrasound. She's such a good listener already! The nurse had no trouble finding her right away! She asked if I had an idea of what it was going to be, and I told her I thought it was a girl, but that Daddy was hoping for a little man. We first looked at her profile and saw her face arms and everything, and then we moved down to the fun parts. Without hesitation, the nurse said "Oh that's definitely a girl!" She pointed out her labia, and where a penis would be, but wasn't. According to the nurse, there is no question that we're having a girl, and I couldn't be happier (even though I think I've known that for a while now). Matt is just as excited as I am about our little girl, even though he's already talking about trying for the 'next one' so he can have his boy! During the ultrasound, he was giggling and smiling as much as I was! We had planned on getting just the 2D black and white ultrasound, and finding out the gender, but because I had a lot of amniotic fluid, the nurse switched the machine over to the 3D/4D ultrasound so that we could see what she really looked like. It was amazing! The nurse asked me if I wanted to upgrade to the 3D/4D package, which was a little pricier, but would give us a bunch of extra pictures to take home. At first, I told her we'd pass (I want to have a 3D/4D done when we go to Florida in December so the family can be there and see the baby with us). So she cleaned up all the goo and went to get our printouts. That was when Matt pulled me aside and said he thought the upgrade was a good idea, he was so amazed at what we could see! Boys and technology, haha! So the nurse said no problem, and we went ahead and gooed me back up and took another look with the 3D/4D. She spent about 20 minutes looking at her and playing with her, getting her to move around so we could get a good shot of her face. The whole time she had been snuggling up against the placenta, and she looked so cozy! She moved her arms and legs around quite a bit, and had a lot of fun playing with her hands! At one point, she reached her arm up to the very top of her head, and rubbed it, almost like she was fixing her hair, if she had hair. I am completely in awe of the little girl growing inside me. She is already so big and moving around, with fingers and toes and everything, and 12 weeks ago, we were just finding out she was in there, only the size of a poppy seed!
Overall, we got over 30 pictures of the baby today! I'll put up a few of my favorites, but if you want to see all of them, just let me know, and I can email them to you!
We love you all! Enjoy the pictures!
PS- Clicking on the pictures will blow them up so you can see them better!
Hopefully as she develops, she will look more like her mom than her dad!
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