We have spent the last several weeks learning about what is happening with the baby and its development and beginning to plan and prepare for this new chapter in our lives. We have had so much fun tracking the baby's growth as it went from the size of an orange seed (when we first found out) to a peach (about its size as I write this today). It is awe-inspiring to think of all the important things happening each day ... brain cells developing, fingers and toes forming, eyes, ears, nose appearing, bones beginning to grow ... I never really thought about all the little miracles that happen to form each individual person. It makes me realize that each person isn't a miracle, we are all a set of millions of miracles that came together to give life. What a profound and beautiful process.
On May 15, 2009, we had our first doctor's appointment. They call this a "confirmation of pregnancy" appointment, and to be honest, that's kind of how we viewed it too. Other than the positive pregnancy test (well, tests - we took 2 at home), we didn't have any outward, tangible signs that there really was a little baby inside me. This made the experience of seeing that little baby on the ultrasound screen and hearing a precious, strong heartbeat all the more powerful and meaningful. Here is what we saw on the screen!
In the picture above, the head is to the left and thefeet are to the upper right. You can see a little arm bud in the middle/upper part of the body, and the leg buds at the upper right end of the body. The baby was 7 weeks, 4 days old at this time, which makes its due date December 28, 2009! It was about 12mm long when this picture was taken, and its heart was beating at 150bpm. The doctor said everything looked and sounded perfect for that stage of development. We were amazed and excited, and so grateful that everything looked good!
Well, after the experience of seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat, things started to feel a little more real. I continued to feel very well throughout the first trimester ... just needed to eat small meals regularly in order to keep nausea away. We began to rethink the way rooms are laid out in our house, and began clearing out the guestroom that's across the hall from our room, as that will be the nursery. We moved Jeff's office upstairs and made our lower level an "apartment" for guests (and it has now become my favorite room in the house because all the air conditioning sinks to the first floor!) We haven't really purchased any baby stuff yet, but maybe we'll start to get a little more proactive with that as we enter the second trimester.
The next big milestone happened last Friday, June 19, when we went in for a screening ultrasound. The pretense for the ultrasound was screening for chromosomal abnormalities, but our doctor encouraged us to go also to be able to see the baby again at this stage. I'm so glad we did - the screening checked out fine, and we got to see the baby move around quite a bit! It had grown so much in 5 weeks. It had a CUTE little nose, arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes - I never thought I'd be so excited about those body parts ;) ha! Jeff's family was up for the weekend, so we invited them to come and see the baby with us. At first it wasn't really moving, but then the doctor bounced the wand on my tummy above the baby, and it got pretty active. So cool!!!
They allowed us to take a couple short videos of the screen as we watched the baby.
We want to find out if we're having a boy or girl, and they couldn't tell during this ultrasound. So the doctor invited us to come back for a quick peek in a couple weeks, as she is confident she'll be able to tell then. Can't wait to start going blue or pink crazy! :)
We are now at 13 weeks, and I feel wonderful. I am starting to have a little baby bump, and got a few maternity shorts and capris to accommodate my growing waistline. The store I went to offers FREE prenatal yoga classes, so I have started going to those as well. I'm really enjoying them.
Now that our big news is out there, I will be sure to stay current with postings as we prepare to welcome Baby! We have a few trips planned for the summer - during the "easy" 2nd trimester - and we're looking forward to seeing family and friends over the next few months!
Thanks to all for your love and support!
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