Week 20

Busy, busy here.  This week we found out the gender of our little one!  We are so thrilled to be welcoming another little girly-q.

Week 19.  What will it be?  Boy or girl?

Week 20.  It's a girl!

Love me some baby feet.

Face and if you look on the sides of the face are her little hands which were in and out of her mouth during the entire ultrasound.

Profile (kind of).  Neat how you can see her brain, heart, and little fingers by her face.

Tip of the Week - Between 18 and 22weeks your ob/midwife will send you for a routine fetal scan.  At this ultrasound you can find out the gender of your baby if you choose.  Only a little over half of all parents choose to find out the gender of their baby (waiting until the birth is making a come back!). 

Want to know what the ultrasound technician is looking for during the ultrasound?  The tech will take several measurements of your baby.  Arm and legs, head and torso circumference, spine and brain, are there 2 kidneys, 4 chambers in the heart, 2 lungs, a stomach, 2 hands, 2 feet, does the cord and placenta look healthy - just to name a few!

Want to know what the tech is looking for in terms of gender?  Well, for little boys there are...we'll say boy parts ;) while for girls the distinct absence of boy parts and 3 little parallel lines.

This is a good example of a boy...

...and this is a girl.

Week 10 Photo Journal

Not a lot of change over the past few weeks.  Feeling yucky and tired.  But, the good news is at week 10 in your pregnancy the hormones start to level off so I should be feeling better very soon!  I was able to hear our little one's heartbeat with my doppler this week as well. What a blessing.

10 weeks.  The baby is starting to actually pop, not just bloating anymore.

Our precious blessing

Measuring spot on

Beautiful heartbeat.  172bpm!  That's pretty high.  The old wives tale would predict a girl.

Tip of the Week:  Feeling exhausted?  Growing people takes a LOT of energy.  Don't be afraid to take a nap or go to bed really early.  If you have older children, ask your spouse or a close friend to watch them for an hour or 2.  Sleep is important for a pregnant mommy and most mom's report that their morning sickness is far less intense when they are well rested.

Week 7 Pregnancy Photo Journal

This week was eventful to say the least!  Morning sickness kicked in to stay (at least for a while!) and I ended up in the Emergency Room with a threatened miscarriage.  Thankfully, while there they did an ultrasound and our little one was doing just fine.  I also got to experience one of the most precious things of pregnancy, hearing the heartbeat!  I was lucky enough to hear it for the first time at the hospital and then 2 days later at my follow up appointment where we discovered that our little one will most likely be perfectly fine!  Praise God!

Day dreaming!

My tummy is usually pretty pointy for the first few weeks.

Our precious little blessing!

Week 7 tip:  Experiencing bleeding?  Call your provider asap!  Actually, many women experience spotting at one time or another during pregnancy but it could be an early indicator of miscarriage.  Your provider will order a blood test to check hormone levels and will do an ultrasound to both check on the baby and try and find the reason/source behind any bleeding.