OB Appointment #5

Another visit with the doctor today. It was a pretty standard visit...weight, blood pressure, bathroom target practice... I coaxed Dan to go with me today. The day before I had called the doctor to see if there was anything that we could safely do to help us determine what little Peanut was hiding. She said that if the pregnancy keeps progressing as well as it has been, there will be no reason for more ultrasounds for medical purposes. She also let me know of another patient who wanted to know badly for planning purposes too....this other patient had been having problems and had been in for three ultrasounds...each time the baby refused to give up the goods....sometimes, I guess it's just meant to be a surprise. She recommended a place we could go, if we end up deciding to, that does what they call 'recreational ultrasounds.' They offer all the fancy 3d and 4d stuff for albums, videos for keepsakes, etc, etc....they also offer simple, 2d ultrasounds for updated viewing of the Peanut if that's what's preferred. The jury is still out with us on this one. We aren't sure if this is some sort of test where we're supposed to leave well enough alone or what. Honestly, I've felt like Peanut is a girl for awhile...but recently I go back and forth, thinking sometimes it may be a boy....so that doesn't help much at all. :P I also have a couple of friends who have generously offered to have us scanned by either themselves or another friend that's a doctor. Boys' names seem to be harder for us to agree on than girls' names, so we'll see how this all plays out.

Today's heartbeat was again a steady 154 BPM. From now on, the doctor will measure me with a tape measure from pubic bone to rib cage to see how Peanut is growing that way. I asked her why she thought I wasn't popping OUT like so many other pregnant women I see with the cute basketball bellies. She explained that I seem to have a long torso, and that my uterus is tilted back. Long torso's give the baby more room to fill before they pop out, and a tilted uterus provides the Peanut with better shots to my bladder, spine, and intestines for kickboxing practice....wonderful. *chuckle* So even though I'm not as "popped out" as I thought I should be, I measure within the normal range for someone 6 months pregnant.

Here ends the monthly appointments! Now I will get to go see my doctor every 2 weeks. Time seems to be flying by more quickly these days. And now, I am caught up with my posting of major events and appointments past, I can post about more things as they happen, instead of from the notes in my day planner.

Merry Christmas, Mom & Dad!!

Peanut may be a stinker, take regular kickboxing classes in the morning and evenings, and be using my bladder for target practice, but I have to admire his/her sense of grand-scheme timing. Today, the day after Christmas (so he/she's a day late...who's counting?), the baby becomes viable. This means should anything happen to me or the pregnancy, the baby can survive with intensive care and has a good chance of growing up normally. What a great Christmas gift!

20 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Here we see Peanut facing the camera, sucking that left thumb and waving the right at us. Just hanging out in his/her own little club house. If you look closely you can see both halves of the brain, the eye cavities, nasal cavity, and the little bones in the arms. Who knew these ultrasounds were going to be such great lessons in anatomy?

Here's looking down on the top of Peanut's head. You can see the ghost image of the left hand fingers curling around as he/she sucks the thumb (on the left side of the head). The bump you see at the top of the circle is Peanut's little ear.

Here's a shot of Peanut's left fist as he/she is sucking on the thumb. The profile of the face is deeper than the level the ultrasound snapshot was taken at this moment in time. The white blur under the little fist is his/her cheek and temple.

OB Appointment #4 & 20 Week Ultrasound

Today is the day Dan and I have been waiting for almost since we found out we were expecting. Today, not only did we get to go see the doctor to make sure all was still progressing well (it was....heart beat of 154 today), we also got to go and get the 20 week ultrasound! This is the sonogram where, most of the time, parents can find out if everything looks well developed and measures well with where the baby should be at this point in development. An added perk (for those inquiring minds) is that most of the time you can find out whether you're having a little boy or a little girl. Dan and I don't prefer one sex over another, but we did want to find out for planning and peace-of-mind purposes. We arrived at Radiology excited and I had a very full bladder to encourage good viewing.

Well, here is the first proof positive that the Peanut is already like his/her mom and dad....a stinker. The baby was sucking its left thumb with little legs crossed tight.....with its right hand wedged between its legs for extra coverage. The tech did most of her measurements and allowed me to hit the bathroom so I'd be more comfortable for the rest of the scan. During my bathroom visit, Peanut rearranged him/herself a bit. Now both hands were occupied elsewhere, but the tech wouldn't venture towards the lower half of the baby again. From her brisk comments, we came to the conclusion that she didn't believe parents should know the sex of the babt before birth in spite of our asking her. She couldn't even make a guess, where as a couple of times Dan and I were sure that we saw something (although I realize we're nowhere near ultrasound reading experts). That part of the experience left us feeling disappointed and a little angry that someone else would take the liberty to make that decisions when it wasn't theirs to make in the first place. However, overall the experience was a good one, all 4 chambers of the heart were well formed and pumping away, we've got all 10 fingers and 10 toes accounted for, the cord is strong and open, all the little bones are developed...ribs, skull, leg, arm bones....you could see everything. In fact, at one point the tech was looking at Peanut and pointed out what looked like a dark void on the screen....she stated 'Mom's not the only one that has to go to the bathroom!" We are very thankful Peanut is healthy, well developed, and measured just right for his/her age. However, I wish I would have been able to have this experience with the tech that I had seen with the ultrasound at 8 weeks.

Happy Birthday!

Welcome to the 6th anniversary of my 25th b-day. It's a weeknight this year, and Dan had to travel out of town for work. After baking a cake and having some supper, the dog and I settled down into our evening. Having time on my hands, I decided to take a bath. While filling the tub, I noticed some weird feelings in my abdominal area, but didn't really think much of it....I had just had a spicy supper, after all. As I soaked in the bath, I started thinking about how the books I've been reading and the doctor are always telling me where my uterus should be at each stage of development. Cognitively, I knew what this meant, but never really made the connection physically. I decided that I needed to figure it out! I started feeling for the hard "grapefruit" that was supposedly in my abdominal area at this time....and what do you know! There, indeed, was a rock hard lump there. Interesting! I started to apply gentle pressure to it just to see what else I could find out.....and *THUMP*! My hand moved outward seemingly on it's own. This was the beginning of me being able to associate some of the weird thumps, swirls and swishes with some of Peanut's pre-natal activities. Peanut let me know that even though Dan was away for the night, I wasn't alone.

OB Appointment #3

Nothing new to report this trip. Peanut is growing well. His/her heart rate was 159 BPM today. The next appointment will be the big 20 week ultrasound, and hopefully we'll get a glimpse of what Peanut is growing into!

OB Appointment #2

Heart beat day! Today Dan went with me to the doc to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time. What a strange and wonderful sound that was! Peanut was cranking out beats somewhere in the 180's today, which is in the normal range at this age for an active fetus. We were also able to coax the doc to bring in the bedside ultrasound machine so Dan could see Peanut. He hadn't been able to go with me to the first one. I was amazed at how much things had developed in that short month! Peanut is 12 weeks along here.

In this picture, you can make out the profile of Peanut's face, arms, and legs as he/she develops. Quite a bit more baby-like than the first pictures we saw!
In this pic, Peanut has turned to face the camera. Arms, developing skull and facial bones, and little feet can be seen if you look closely. It's so awesome to be able to see what's going on in there!

Race for the Cure, MKE 2007

The Race for the Cure has held special meaning to my family for quite a few years now. This year, starting in April, I was bound and determined to run (ok... jog) my first 5k. What better goal than to complete the Komen Race in Milwaukee! Training was going well, I'd go out at lunch break at work and put the miles in 3 days/week and once on the weekends. Was able to run farther at that point than I'd ever been able to run in my life. Then, seemingly all of a sudden....my air simply disappeared. Where I was able to run 2 miles at a decent clip, I was only able to jog 1/2. I was disappointed in myself and discouraged. I asked my doctor, and leave it to her to put things in perspective. She told me that I was no longer the only one using my blood supply for oxygen. I was breathing for the 2 of us now, and when I was gasping for breath, it meant that Peanut wasn't getting enough O2 either. Who knew someone so small could cause such big changes in such a short time? I shelved my running for the season, right next to my Ninja and my love for the occasional beer or martini.

Two of my sisters made it up to Milwaukee to do the Race with me, along with 2 of my friends, and we walked. Not how I had planned on completing this Race, but we completed it all the same. I thank them for their support in walking with me, and even waiting for me mid-course when I needed to find a port-o-john. :P~

Boondoggle 2007

This weekend was the annual company camping trip. It's a great weekend filled with jokes, games, camaraderie, and....partying. This year I opted to stay only Friday night, as I wasn't sure how it would be being one of the only totally sober people there. In spite of being sober and a little more tired that I otherwise would be, it was a great time, and many found out here that Dan and I were expecting.

It's a yearly tradition for a group of people who ride motorcycle to head up in a band to the camp and enjoy the scenery along the way. This year, I opted into that group since I would have no reason to not ride well and safely (aka a hangover on Saturday). The weather ended up being cold, and the clothing was well-layered, but it was worth it. This was to be my last ride until Peanut makes his/her debut. Doc tells me that in the beginning, Peanut is very very well protected behind the pelvic bone and riding would not do any harm, barring an impact (in which case we both would have issues!) By the end of Boondoggle weekend, Peanut was making him/herself known enough that mom thought putting the bike away until next season might be a wise idea. Oh how I missed riding in the last warm days of Indian Summer this year, but there will be many more of those to come.

First Ultrasound

Today was an amazing day. Because of some things that had occurred with previous cycles, the doctor prescribed an early ultrasound to make sure everything was progressing as it should, and to determine just where we were at. It was totally amazing and awesome to see that there actually was this little person developing inside me. Before I could feel anything, before the body had changed much at all, I could already see arms, legs, little facial features, and even a little 2 chamber heart beating away like a drum. This was the first step in making this whole thing seem real.

Here is one of the first shots where Peanut developed his/her nickname. The ultrasound measurements at this point, measured 8 weeks, 1 day along...making our due date move from the original estimated date of April 27th to our current due date of April 16th. Here you can see Peanut's head, torso, arm buds, leg buds and the 'yolk' which is the halo shaped object next to his/her head. We learned that this yolk provides nutriends for the embryo while the placenta and unbilical cord is forming and becoming mature enough to support further growth.


Here, Peanut was ready for his/her close-up. There was some movement between the pictures, so not as much anatomy is visible, but you can see a little arm bud sort of waving at the camera (the baby is head down in the picture). It's hard to believe at 8 weeks, all these things had formed, and the little nut was moving around of their own accord already.

OB Appointment #1

Today was my first visit with my OB, and ultimately the person that will help me deliver this baby (what a strange idea that still is to me!). She has been my GYN ever since moving to Wisconsin, and is a wonderful doctor. No matter how busy or behind she is, she takes the time to answer any questions or address any concerns that I might have and tells me what I can expect in future visits as well as some of the things I will experience as the pregnancy starts to develop. She is a certified nurse-midwife, and there's no one else I'd rather have help me deliver, despite some of the misgivings from family of not having a "real" doctor. I will be in a hospital setting for delivery, and if I should need a C-section, she will assist a doctor in the procedure so she will be there the whole way. I will be just as well if not better cared for with someone like this there to listen and to help ME listen to my body when this gets stressful. Don't worry, we will have plenty of questions as we go along, and will ask all the wonderful friends and family that have such a wealth of successful knowlede at their disposal. If there's one thing that I've seen from both of my families and friends, it's that there are many roads to having a successful and happy family!

To Tell or Not to Tell....

Today is the company picnic, a place where many that we call friends will gather for the annual summer picnic. Just finding out and not having gone to the doctor yet, do we tell anyone? We are still pretty bowled over by the news ourselves, and are not sure we want to share it with too many just yet. Yes, we knew it could happen, and we weren't preventing...but anticipating the news someday and actually LIVING it are two very separate things. Are we surprised? Sort of. Are we happy? Yep! Are we scared? Absolutely! This will take some getting used to...

It Begins

Today, we found out, proof positive that we were expecting. The lab tests confirmed what 2 home pregnancy tests had already told us....that sometime in April we would become parents. While carrying this baby and prior to knowing, summer went on as usual. I didnt' feel sick or really that much different that normal...maybe a little more tired than usual. One strange thing.....we had recenly been charter fishing on Lake Michigan and had lots of fresh smoked salmon in our fridge. For some reason, for the next 2 weeks or so, I couldn't get enough of this smoked salmon! Was it the salt? The Omega-3's? I doubt peanut will be able to tell me. After those 2 weeks, though...I didn't want to touch the stuff anymore. This little one has been canoeing, waterskiing (a first time for mom too), horseback riding, motorcycle riding, and possibly even charter fishing with me...all before knowing of his or her existance. So, if little Peanut turns out to be a little daredevil, we'll know he or she has been 9 months in the making.