New Estimated Due Date - July 2

We went for our monthly Dr. appt. today. It was definitely a longer appt. as we had a lot to the talk to Dr. Waite about. We discussed how our specialist appt. went last Wednesday and how our two sonogram datings have been off. She offically changed our estimated due date to July 2nd. Of course baby boy Howe will let us know when his true due date is when the time comes. I always thought it would be fun to have a baby on July 4th. I wonder how long it would take the kid to understand all the fireworks and celebration wasn't just for his birthday? I know two people's birthdays really close, Cheri and Nana (Anita), so we'll do my best to hit one of those! :~)

We heard the little guy's heartbeat, 156 beats per minute, and it sounded wonderful. Dr. Waite found it first try, so we listened for quite a while. Dr. Waite agreed to let us do our follow up sonogram at her office rather than having to go back to Overland Park, which we are very pleased with. So, we go back in 4 weeks for an ultrasound to take a good look at our baby's heart and get more pictures of the little guy!

Another exciting thing about yesterday is that I felt my little guy move from the outside. I knew he was squirming around in there, so I put my hand on my belly and sure enough, he kicked me in the exact spot. So exciting!! Now, if I can just time his kicks for Matthew to be around and feel his son's kicks.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, OH boy!

Was the subject subtle enough? We found out today that there’s a little boy in there! I’d say we are elated, but that’s not good enough to describe how we are feeling. I love the fact that we will have a girl and boy. I was happy to find out he’s a boy as I was already convinced that’s what was in there. Tears of joy definitely followed the news!!

Here’s the rest of the story as to why we found out earlier than our originally scheduled Jan. 28th ultrasound. Last Thurs. I got a call from the nurse at Dr. Waite’s office to tell me they got the results back from our genetic testing and asked us to come in and talk to the doctor. Here’s the scoop to the best that I can explain it with my non-medical background. Our tests came back with a positive indicator for Down Syndrome. Let me just say this is only an indicator and does not give any definitive answers. For my age, my normal statistic to have a baby with Downs is 1 in 649 and per JUST the blood test, which is only blood, our chances are 1 in 207. A 36 year old has a normal chance of 1 in 270. SO, since it was just under that, they called us in to discuss further follow-up tests. I was still liking my chances of 206 out of 207 of having a perfectly healthy baby—but, it was still a blow to hear something might be wrong. Now, our next step was to go see a perinatologist (Specialist Dr. of Ultrasounds) for a genetic level II ultrasound and talk to a genetic counselor - this is all general procedure for positive indicators from the genetic blood test. That brings us to yesterday, when we made the trip to Overland Park to the Perinatal office.

The sonogram went really well and pretty fast. The Dr. looked at several things and told us everything looked good. He weighs 8oz. However, we aren’t measuring as far along as we thought (thought close to 19 weeks and measuring 17.5 weeks). She gave us our new risk level for our baby boy to be born with Downs and it is now 1:345, which is an improvement over the 1:207. Being that we were only 17.5weeks, our little man’s heart isn’t developed enough to get the type of views the sonogram Dr. wanted, so she wants us to go back in 4 weeks for another look.

Did I mention, we are having a BOY?!!!

Here's our sonogram pictures:
a) cute profile shot
b) scary face shot :)
c) another profile shot. Be sure to click on the picture as you can see he is sticking out his tongue. I think he learned that from Big Sister Ryane!

Ahhh Dreams and Blemishes!!

I finally had a pregnancy dream earlier this week. It was pretty odd, which is definitely a "normal" dream for me. At first I had the baby and they told us the birth stats were 2x12 24! Interesting - just how they all come,right???!! I could see her in my dream and she was very pretty and BIG - dark hair, dark skin and slanty eyes. Then in the dream, I actually hadn't had the baby yet and was told it was a girl for now, but they still needed "it" to flip over so they could induce. That was my dream, then I was awake for awhile trying to analyze it. No more baby dreams since.

Also, with the wonderful pregnancy hormones, I seem to have reverted back to puberty. I keep getting little blemishes on my face. Lovely to have at age 30! It's all worth it though!

Who was behind me?

Went in the the Dr. office again yesterday for our quad-screen genentic testing. I had to see the nurses first to get weighed and do paperwork before going to the lab to get blood drawn. I paid extra attention to the nurse weighing me (as I didn't last baby appt), and there MUST have been someone sneak up behind me and touch the scales! :) I mean I know I have to put on weight, but I really wasn't expecting to have put on that much. I'm up 13 pounds at 15 weeks, which is up 8lbs from 5 weeks ago. Maybe the nurse put her foot on there as well? I'll have to keep a closer look at her next time. Speaking from past experience, the baby weight came off with no problem after giving birth, but no one really wants to be HUGE at the end of pregnancy. What's done is done and I can only try to eat healthier I suppose. Maybe I'll start that next week....after I get all the corndogs ate that I just bought!! :)

Now, back to the whole purpose of the appt. I had the quad-screen genetic test (checks for downs syndrome, open neural tube defects, and other chromosome abnormalities). We chose to have it, not because we anticipate anything wrong (then again, who really does?), but just to know. It won't change anything if something genetically is wrong--we will still love this baby and it'll be perfect to us and how God meant for him/her to be. We'll just know ahead of time incase extra medical care is needed at time of birth. It'll help me prepare mentally for what life holds for us. I think it'll take over a week to get the results back. Maybe we won't get them until our next Dr. appt--WHICH is the ultrasound in a little under 2.5 weeks.

Did I shrink?

Wow - looks like from the comparison pictures I shrank? Maybe I look smaller because we took this picture in the morning and the others are taken in the evening--belly didn't have enough time to stretch and plump back out. I don't know, but shrinking?? According to how my clothes are fitting, they'd beg to differ. I've moved to wearing more maternity pants, but I can still manage to make some of my regular jeans work...for now.

14wk Monthly Dr. Appt.

14weeks 1dy
We had our second doctor appt. today. Once again, we had a stubborn kid. Dr. Waite looked and looked and looked for the heartbeat and all we kept hearing was my own. Matthew couldn't help but say that he/she was "hiding again!" After searching for a heartbeat much longer than she did last time, IT WAS LOCATED. Dr. Waite kinda seemed surprised to finally find it at first and mentioned that she was about ready to give up. I told her it was fine if we had to have another sonogram again as I'd love to see the baby--secretly though I was thinking maybe we'd be able to tell gender this time! :) So, our little one's strong heartbeat was located and measured 156bpm. Personally, I didn't feel as worried this time as she was searching as she said that I was measuring right on schedule which usually means everything is progressing fine. I had some lab and blood work done this time, which is just for the normal beginning pregnancy work.

So, two appts. down and we've had issues locating the baby both times. Is this going to be a sign of things to come from this little one? Stubborn, liking to play hide-n-seek, I hope not.

I go back next week just to see the nurses and get more blood drawn to do the genetic testing. We chose to have the Triple Screen done with Ryane and this time Dr. Waite said she wants the Quad-Screen done. I asked if it was because I was over 30 and she assured me it was just more detailed and she is recommending it to everyone now. Also, we scheduled our BIG sonogram for next appt., Jan. 28th. I can't wait!


I am now 16 weeks along and according the internet, 4.3 to 4.6 inches long and weighs about 2.8oz. They compare the baby's size to the that of an apple. His/her muscles are developing and now she/he can hold their head up better and can make facial expressions. I'm guessing the little one was smirking at us at the doctor appt!

Movement....maybe

14weeks
I've been waiting and waiting and maybe talking myself out of it sometimes, but I think I felt the little bambino jumping around in there today. There were a few times she/he got my attention and it was that 'poke and stop' feeling I had at first with Ryane. I'm pretty sure it was the baby, but I also think it seemed higher in the stomach than I think the baby is located. Then again, who knows where everything has been moved around and squished out of place in there. I will continue to pay attention and see if I'm 100% I can feel the baby moving.