More 3-D pictures...

Sleepy girl...

I stick my tongue out at you!

Hi, Dad!

For one of Chris's birthday presents, I wanted to give him a picture of his daughter!

So, a few days before his birthday, I snuck to a 3-D ultrasound place and got some pictures taken. She was so funny - sleeping for a bit, but opening her eyes every so often and even sticking out her tongue and swallowing!

SOME UPDATES

The nursery is coming along!!

We've got some of the major essentials now - crib, rocker, and changing table.

Next up: the pallet/truckload of diapers we need to get to stock up for the lil' pooper!

Grow, grow, growing!!

Baby girl is about a foot long now and just over a pound in weight. The doctor says everything is looking good!

The end of September (09/26) is still the "guess date" for Baby S's arrival, so we'll see if she takes her time or is in a rush to get here. And we'll see if she's still a GIRL when she pops out! I'm hoping for another ultrasound at next month's appointment, just to have a double confirmation of the little girl growing in there. Yes, I'm paranoid, but I want to make sure!

We hope to sign up for some of the Labor/Delivery/Birthing/New Baby classes available at Northside Hospital, which is where I'm scheduled to deliver. After a very, uhmm ... interesting conversation with my doctor about Northside's delivery options and classes available, we've decided to go the old fashioned route and probably stick with variations of the Bradley method.

My doctor, Dr. Andrew Dott, has been great and very reassuring about my progession so far. He's known in some circles as a "closet midwife," because he is quite conservative in his treatments and prefers to let nature take it's course before stepping in with medical interventions. I do like this about him - since Northside Hospital tends to have a high rate of C-sections, which something I'd like to avoid!

Dr. Dott has been a little concerned about the effects of pregnancy and labor on my spine. I've been trying to take good care of my back lately, so I don't think I've had any more pain or discomfort than the "average" prego chick. However, the anesthesiologist has informed me that due to the nature of my previous surgery and the scar tissue I have in my lower back, an epidural probably won't work well for me, even if I had wanted one. He said I would definitely have "hot spots" and, although it might provide some pain relief, he couldn't guarantee the effectiveness or how well the epidural would work. Oh, well... it looks like Chris is going to owe me a BIG beer after this!! =o)

So... up next: childbirth classes and more growing!!

20 WEEK ULTRASOUND

Check HER Out!

It's a GIRL!

It's a GIRL!

Although the doctor admitted "he has been wrong before," there was a visible LACK of male appendages. This is the "girlie" shot that showed nothing dangling between her legs!

I'm working on uploading the full video to YouTube.

Daddy Chris did a great job of videotaping the entire ultrasound- so the video is about 8 minutes long, but it is taking forever to upload.

The doctor did a lot of inspecting and measuring before he declared the sex - he measured her head, spine, arms/legs, width of tummy and wanted to see the kidneys, tummy, and heart working. Everything looked normal and healthy - so he got to the good stuff. He said he is "pretty certain" it's a girl!

My favorite part was seeing all four chambers of the heart pumping and flowing. Plus, she also rolled over to look straight at us, so we got to see her eyes, nose, and lips!

We are still debating whether or not to go pay for a 3-D ultrasound. Some of the pictures they get are amazing - but both of us have mixed feelings about doing it. Please let us know if you know anyone that had a 3-D ultrasound done - and what they thought!

Mother's Day!

This week the baby is the length of a banana!

So, here's some nice visual imagery for you of the baby...

Of course, as soon as I put food in my hand, Trot wants some!

Chris and I went down to Greenville to celebrate Mother's Day... here's a picture of the two of us in Mountville at the Boddie Range. No skeet shooting this weekend, but lots of good food!