21 Weeks

Here are my belly pics from 20 weeks. I keep getting bigger every day, it seems. I'm still feeling great. I did start feeling him move as of Sept 1st. It started out as little gas bubble feelings that was hard to distinguish as a baby moving. With each week I'm feeling him stronger and stronger. Now it's no doubt that I'm feeling little kicks in there. He seems to be most active after I've eaten a meal and then sit or lie down. Curtis was even able to feel him move this past weekend. It's pretty amazing!!!!

We're starting to get more into the planning mode now that we know this is a little boy. We've got a few names that we keep coming back to, but still nothing for sure yet. I went to register with my sister's help a couple weekends ago. A lot of those little things, I have no idea what I need so it's nice to have someone who's been there and can offer some practical advice. We registered at Baby's R Us and Target. I also got a book called Baby Bargains which is helpful to tell you what you need, what you don't and what brands are good.

We both are sort of in "nesting" mode. I think more so it's realizing all the home improvements we want to get done before we have less money and less time. So, we're having an electrician come in to do some work this weekend so we can put up a light in our dining room and ceiling fans in the upstairs bedrooms. And, we'll be having someone come in to paint----which we've been putting off for a while. And probably will have him do the baby's room as well. I think we've decided on a "theme"- not of characters, but colors using light blue and chocolate brown.

It's all so exciting!!!!

18 week ultrasound

Today I went in for my next appointment. Curtis went with me, of course, since I would be having an ultrasound. All along we've been thinking that this baby would be a girl. . . . .well. . . . he fooled us. IT'S A BOY. There's no doubt about it. :) We were surprised, but excited. Curtis keeps getting more excited the more he thinks about it- all the "boy" things they can do together.

But, most importantly the baby looks perfectly healthy and everything is measuring just as it should. We are just so blessed to be able to HAVE a child. Period. We feel so honored that God is seeing fit to bless us with a baby.

Now the fun begins. . . names, nursery etc. . . . . We've decided, though, that once we pick a name we won't be sharing it with anyone until he's born. You'll have to wait in anticipation. :)

I'm continuing to feel great! Even some of the tiredness has gone away. I'm starting to feel fat, though and am pretty much in maternity clothes full time now. But, that's all fun too. Too bad the new wardrobe isn't useful for more than 4 or 5 months. Oh well. I'll post the next set of belly pics in a couple weeks.

16 weeks and growing

As you can see my belly is continuing to grow. I don't really realize how much until I see the photos of myself and compare to a month and 2 months ago. I think it's awesome! And to know there's a baby growing in there is just amazing. I think we're still in awe by the whole thing. To realize all this IVF stuff is panning out to be a real baby- what a miracle. God is SO good!

Yesterday I did some shopping for maternity clothes. I was getting to the point of having one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, one pair of khaki's and limited shirts that still fit. So, now it's nice to have some clothes that I can breath in. . . it's nice.

In 2 weeks we find out the sex of this baby. I go in on August 29th for my next appointment and ultrasound. So, we're eagerly awaiting that day. :):) We're kind of thinking it's a girl, but we'll see. :) I'll keep you posted. :)

13 weeks

Yesterday I had my 2nd appt. with my OB/Gyn. Overall, everything looks great. She's amazed with how well I've been feeling. We were able to hear the heartbeat externally which was awesome! I'm right on the cusp as to whether or not the heart would be developed enough to hear it audibly externally, but we could hear it loud and clear. The rhythm was steady, no skips. . . . perfect. :) 165 bpm. I scheduled my next appointment for August 25th when I will be 18 weeks. I will have another ultrasound and should be able to determine the sex of the baby.

I'm beginning to outgrow some of my clothes. Many of my pants/shorts don't fit well anymore. Today I bought a pair of shorts- a size too big to get me through the summer- and a pair of khaki pants that roll up to capri's. Those are actually maternity, but fit well and should get me through fall. It's kind of fun to begin buying some new clothes, but I'm kind of a awkward size right now to find items that fit and will be useful a few months from now. I'll figure it out as I go. :)

I talked to my boss about the fact that I want to take the full 12 weeks for maternity leave and then return part-time 2 days a week. He did not seem surprised and expected that is what I would do. So, that is a relief to be getting that figured out. Also, my sister offered to watch this baby when I return to work part-time. That was a major answer to prayer!!!! So, it seems all is coming together! God is good!!! :)

12 weeks and counting

I've had some requests for new posts. I've gotten kind of lazy lately. Anyway, I'm now officially 12 weeks pregnant. I've taken a couple belly pics- the first one at 8 weeks, the 2nd at 12 weeks. I've been continuing to feel great. I've felt nauseous only a few times and lasting only 10 minutes or so. I've been a little more tired and hungry, but otherwise can't complain. It's nice to finally reach that 12 week mark and relax a little more. We've only just loosely began talking about names, but nothing too serious yet. I go back to the Dr. next week on the 22nd. I won't have another ultrasound until end of Aug/beginning of September to find out the sex of the baby. And, Yes, we're going to find out. We've had enough surprises that we want something predicatable for a change. :) Well, it will be a surprise either way, just whether or not we find out sooner or later. Well keep you posted. :)

9 wk OB appointment

Today I actually saw Dr. Fenoughty (my OB). Basically I just had to have 4 viles of blood taken, pee in a cup and I talked with her for 15 minutes. I'm increasingly confident in her taking over my care as I found out today that she herself underwent IVF for at least one of her children. She took a lot of time to answer my questions and helped alleviate my anxieties about this being an "IVF pregnancy". She thinks I will go earlier than January 28th since she said many of her IVF pregnant patients go early for whatever reason. We'll see. :) I'll see her again July 22nd- I think.
We've decided we'll be announcing this pregnancy within the next week. Yeah. :)

1st appt with OB nurse

Now that I'm released from Dr. Jarrett's care, I had my first OB appointment today. I didn't get to see the Dr. yet- but I'll see her this Friday. Today I just had an ultrasound and an appointment with the nurse. The ultrasound, as you can see is looking much more like a baby, than a blob. You can actually SEE a head and arms and legs. And, it was even wiggling! It's crazy!!! She took the heartbeat and it was 176bpm which she said was perfect. Also, to the right is a 3D ultrasound. At the top is the head, umbilical cord in the middle and you can kinda see legs at the bottom. Isn't that awesome?!!!! According to the ultrasound, they gave me a due date of January 28th- one day sooner than Dr. Jarrett had found. So that puts me at exactly 9 weeks today. It's still a little early, but we're getting more and more excited and may begin telling people this week or next week our happy news. We are SOOOO thrilled. I can't even tell you how much!

I continue to feel great. Slightly more tired/lazy at times. I'm hungry A LOT. But, really nothing else. My tummy is starting to feel a little tight and Curtis and I notice it's a little bigger, although probably no one else would notice yet. So far this pregnancy thing is agreeing with me! Thanks for your continued prayers!!!!