Video: 20-Week Ultrasound (5) - Busy Girl

Just some more movements. Probably only fascinating to us, but I'll post anyway.

Baby Girl shopping began fast and furious this weekend! So much fun...

Video: 20-Week Ultrasound (4) - Measurements

Here is more hands up near her face and then the sonographer measures the length of her foot (which converts to about 1 inch for the metric system challenged like me) and her crown-to-rump length, which converts to about 6 inches. The sonographer said the computer estimates her at just under a pound in weight.

Video: 20-Week Ultrasound (3) - Trying Out Thumb-Sucking

Here you will see her trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to suck her thumb. The sonographer will point to the back of her mouth where, if she were sucking, you would see her tongue move. You can see it move slightly at one point. Also, if you look down to her ribcage, you can see her little heart beating. So precious!

Video: 20-Week Ultrasound (2) - Mover & A Shaker

This video is just watching the baby being active.

At a few points in the ultrasound including in this clip, the sonographer will convert the viewing to 3 and 4-D. At 19-weeks, she's still rather alien-like (but the absolute cutest alien I've ever seen!), which the sonographer said is normal.

Tracy watched this weekend and said she looked like a cat, which I choose to ignore given my aversion to felines.

Video: 20-Week Ultrasound (1) - Girl Parts in Action

The doctor's office said we could bring a DVD with us to the 20-week ultrasound and they would record it for us as a keepsake. Truly, I have never seen anything so cool and have probably watched it a million times since Friday.

It is in multiple parts and I'll post the others next. Each video is about a minute or less. This one is of the sonographer showing us the sex; she'll circle it for you if you have any questions.

It's A Girl! Routine 20-Week Ultrasound (Dec. 4)

Fortunately, our next ultrasound was not until the routine "20-week" one on December 4, 2009. (This ultrasound was actually at 19 weeks for us.) Regular doctor's appointments between September and December were all great, with everything progressing well.

I began to feel her early on, at 16 weeks. I was in Miami for a work conference in early November and after eating lunch and resting quietly in my hotel room, I could feel tiny "pops" in my belly that were different from anything I had felt before. The tiny "pops" have gradually gotten more prominent, to the point that she can really freak me out sometimes.

So, when the sonographer initially commented on how active she was (and as we watched, in amazement, her move around for the first time), it was no surprise to me! This girl is a mover.

We had been anxiously awaiting this ultrasound so we could determine the sex; Jen was excited as well because she was invited to attend with us. We got her out of school a little early so she could go. She was really hoping for a girl!

I told Bob on the way to the doctor that if the baby cooperated and we found out the sex, we would go to a special restaurant on "The Hill" in St. Louis (the Italian area) to celebrate. If it didn't cooperate (or if we had to see something really bad or concerning), then we were just going out for fish at the Swansea Fish Stand near our house. It was a back-handed ultimatum to the baby, who is an eater like her mom. Happily, she got the message and unabashedly spread her legs for us without coaxing.

Above are (on bottom) a cute profile picture of her face, and (on top) also a clear picture that she is a she: this view is looking up at the baby's bottom - her legs are spread in a "V" shape with the arrow pointing to the goods in the middle. It was so fun to watch!

And, baby and I ate well that night.

Another Scare, Another Reassuring Ultrasound (Sept. 22)

We were back for another ultrasound on September 22 after another scary weekend. Once again, we left the doctor's office somewhat relieved. We still don't know for sure what caused the early problems, though the common denominator seemed to be vigorous exercise, which had to be cut out.

This ultrasound was taken at about nine weeks. This view is looking down onto the baby. Her head is on the left and going horizontally, you can see two dots for arms and two dots for legs on the right. She's starting to look like a tiny human here, or actually more like a gummy bear. Pretty neat either way.

September 11 Ultrasound

We got off to a rocky start which necessitated three early ultrasounds. Now that all seems to be well, it's nice to be able to look back and see her growth. These are the first pictures from September 11, 2009, and the first time we heard her heart beat - the sonographer kicked up the volume for us and after being so scared, was like music to my ears!

This was actually the second ultrasound and she was about 7 weeks here. We don't have a picture from the very first one on August 31.

New Beginnings

Yes, we actually have a picture from the day of conception. I'll say no more, but note the bubbly catalyst in the wine chiller.

Hello!

I know starting a baby blog is cliche, but now that we're getting some cool pictures (and an ultrasound video I'm dying to get to my mom but is too big to send through email), I thought maybe this would be the best way to share them (and hopefully the video will upload here).

Also, Facebook doesn't really seem like a good place to post these kinds of things, as I'm not interested in random people I went to high school with readily seeing intimate pictures of the pregnancy.

Also, I'm procrastinating writing a motion for work this morning, so now seemed like a good time to start this.

That's a list of my excuses for the blog. And really, we are just super excited about welcoming her into the world! Despite my regular complaining about various inconveniences, ailments and gross realities of pregnancy, I am in awe of this experience. Hope you enjoy the posts and pictures!