16-Week Update
29 Feb 2012 5 Comments
Today, Dan and I went to visit Dr. Beddow hoping that maybe we can find out if Freckle is a boy or a girl. Normally, you are able to find out at 20 weeks, but there have been cases where you can find out at 16 weeks. Unfortunately, we did not do an ultrasound during today’s visit, so I guess we’ll have to wait a few more weeks.
The doctor did a quick check on the baby and listened for Freckle’s heartbeat. She said the heartbeat was coming in strong and that Freckle was throwing in an occasional kick or two inbetween. Go Freckle!
A week before our next doctor appointment with Dr. Beddow, we have an appointment to go to the hospital for the 2nd (and hopefully, last) test screening for Freckle. There, the technician will use an ultrasound that can pick up a lot more detail than the one Dr. Beddow has, and we’ll be able to find out if Freckle is a boy or a girl.
Dan and I have no preference on whether we want a boy or girl. Really, we don’t mind! But we definitely want to find out as it will narrow down the name selection by half. But who knows? Maybe we’ll just keep the name Freckle! …probably not, though. 🙂
Please come back to our blog on March 21st in the evening (our appointment is at 3:30pm) to see if Freckle is a boy or a girl!
-J
Early Cherry Blossoms
13 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in The Pregnancy Tags: photography
Well we don’t have anything interesting to post right now since… you know… Freckle is being really boring. So I thought I’d post a photo I took this weekend. I’ve been taking a LOT of photos (and a photography class) and so far this is the first one that I’ve felt warrants other people looking at it. So here you go: Early Cherry Blossoms.
Early Cherry Blossoms
First Trimester Screening
10 Feb 2012 1 Comment
Just to keep everyone updated, the genetic counselor left me wonderful news yesterday saying that the preliminary screening looked great. The chances of Freckle getting these different disorders or diseases (i.e. Down Syndrome, Tay Sachs, etc.) are *extremely* low (as low as 1:17,000+). The second screening will give us more information and that is scheduled for March 21st. The counselor already said she is not too worried since our family history looks pretty clean, but it’s always nice to have it be confirmed. 🙂
-J
Greetings, Human!
06 Feb 2012 2 Comments
Today we went in for our “integrated screening” procedure. We met with a “genetic counselor” and talked about blah blah blah…
OMG ALIEN! IT’S WAVING HELLO!!!
Greetings, Human!
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, back to the story. As I’ve already discussed, our disparate genetic past significantly reduces Freckle’s likelihood to contract any hereditary genetic diseases. There’s always the possibility of a spontaneous error happening (knock on wood!) so we get this integrated screening test thingy. They do some nifty measurements on different things, including mommy’s blood, and then come up with probabilities for different problems occurring. If anything seems worryingly probable, they move on to more invasive testing.
They did an ultrasound to get some measurements on the baby as part of the testing. Freckle, like mommy and daddy, seems to enjoy sleeping because there wasn’t much movement this time. Unfortunately, the nurse wanted to get measurements from the other side and so decided to wake Freckle up.
We tried a few different methods…jiggling the belly didn’t work, neither did tapping it. I was expecting the nurse to lean down and yell, “WAKE UP!” but instead she had some other less direct ideas (partially emptying the bladder didn’t work either, unsurprisingly) which were all equally fruitless. Finally she told Jenny to lay on her side for a few minutes and she’d be back to see if that helped.
The nurse stepped out for a minute and I took the opportunity to whip out my phone and crank up some tunes. Clearly Freckle just needed the right motivation. Since today is Bob Marley’s birthday, we figured it would be appropriate. Of course, it did the trick and then some. Freckle even gave us the “black power” fist when the nurse got back! I’d call that a great success!
Anyhow, we’ll get the first round of results in ten days and then we go back in for a second round in another 6 weeks or so. We’ll let you know how it goes. Black power!
Three Months
01 Feb 2012 4 Comments
I am officially entering my second trimester, which is great for a couple of reasons. One, the chance of a miscarriage drops drastically. And two, the uncomfortable aspects of being pregnant *should* go away.
The doctor visit was a relatively short one. Apparently, I’ve lost 4 lbs. but she’s not too worried about that. She said the baby looks great and everything seems to be coming along just fine, which is such a huge relief for me!
During the ultrasound, the baby was moving – a lot! It was as if the baby was fist pumping at a rave! That made Dan and I laugh. And at one point, s/he even flipped over which was totally surreal to me.
Below is the ultrasound. You can make out the baby’s head, torso, and leg. 🙂
I am one happy mama right now.
-J