Appointment Update: 36 weeks

Awww... there she is! All 6lbs and 5 ounces!

Today's appointment was very exciting and informative. Not only did we get to see Charm City Baby in action, we also learned:

1. she looks exactly like her daddy (see 4-D image above).

2. her exact orientation: head down with butt and back on my right side and legs curled up around my ribs with feet on my left side.

3. she has hair! The sonographer showed us a nice little fuzzy ring around her head.

4. she is head down and right at the bottom of my cervix (not effaced btw). But this explains my extreme discomfort mentioned in the previous post.

5. because of her low placement, my water will probably break on its own (according to my doctor). Dramatic!

6. she will be born between 7.5 to 8 pounds by the doctor's best guess.

7. she will defintely make her entrance BEFORE her Aug. 24th due date--possibly 10 days prior!!!!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Needless to say, everything I have not completed has been racing through my mind. I still need to:

1. Pack my hospital bag.
2. Prepare a welcome basket for the au pair (also scheduled to arrive August 14!).
3. Make room for bottles and feeding stuff in a kitchen cabinet.
4. Get my Cord Blood Registry kit!! (yikes!)
5. Take a breastfeeding class (scheduled for Monday-August 3)
6. Complete about a million projects (okay just three) at work so I can relax while on maternity leave.

I know I am forgetting something...Ahhhhh!

Help me. What am I forgetting?

Appointment Update: 27 weeks

This was a jam-packed appointment. By the end of it I had 3 needle pricks, one in each arm and one in the (ahem)..derriere!

All of the pricking was for the gestational diabetes testing and a rhogam injection. By the way the sweet orange drink that they give you for the gestational diabetes test ain't bad! It reminded me of those cheapo 25 cent "Hug" fruit drinks in those mini jugs from the grocery store that came in red, orange, green and grape. CCD says he grew up calling them "quarter water." Remember these?

ahh delicious and served up cold!

A WARNING TO THOSE WHO NEED THE RHOGAM SHOT: The injection stings and burns going in. When the nurse told me I had to take it in "arse." I laughed at her.."really?!" But after feeling the sting--I appreciated the posterior location. :)

Through all of the tests and back and forth from lab to Dr.'s office I came home with like 10 ultrasound pics of Olivia. Here are my favorites...

I love foot pics! Long feet w/ long toes like mommy...

We got the foot pic b/c we were looking for her girly parts and she promptly clammed up like a lady. Kicked the camera's clear shot!

And she had half of her face buried in the placenta but you can see her right side...

...her nose is just like Charm City Daddy's nose!

Ain't she cute!

Appointment Update: 19 weeks

So, if we hadn't spoiled Christmas, this is the appoinment where Charm City Daddy and I would have first found out that we're having a girl. Instead our ultrasound only confirmed what we already knew. GIRL!

Charm City Baby (Olivia) is weighing in at 11 ounces. According to my pregnancy books, 6 to 7 ounces is the listed weight for 19 weeks, so I'd like to think that Oliva has a little meat on her bone. Or perhaps she's long. I like that idea too.


Here are some fun sonograms from this trip.

The profile...looks like she is blowing bubbles but that's cord...




A big foot! (my favorite of our batch this time)



And finally--a bonus 4D of CCB's face. It is way too early to get a good 4D image but...


Still feeling great, so please keep us your thoughts and prayers.

Boy or Girl?

About a week ago a colleague told me that when her daughter was pregnant she had an ultrasound at a private baby imaging office outside of her normal OB office. Until then, the thought had never crossed my mind.

Soon after, I mentioned it to Charm City Daddy focusing on the idea that we could get a 3D or 4D DVD of baby between 25-30 weeks. And then he asked the question I should have known he was going to ask..."Can we also find out the baby's gender a little earlier?" (Background: We're not supposed to find out with our doctor until March 30.) That immediately spurred a frenzy of searching for a local office and an appointment, and Friday the 13th at 4 p.m. was our big day.

Both of us confidently went into the appointment with pure and utter confidence of the gender of our baby. This ultrasound was only confirming what we already knew--at least that's what we told ourselves.

As CCD flew through rush hour traffic going 80 mph and weaving in and out of cars, I inhaled some chocolate pudding to get Charm City Baby moving for the camera. Seconds into the appointment it was apparent that either the pudding had worked or Charm City Baby also shared in my terror of the skillful, but scary driving of CCD. CCB was kicking all over the place--and by "place" I mean my bladder over and over again.

But the good news is, it provided a great view of the very telling "money shot."

It's a GIRL!

At first I could've sworn I saw a little penis, but clearly there is no penis there.

CCD's reaction was priceless, too. Keeping in mind this is the first sonogram that he has experienced he was thrilled to be seeing the baby in action. He was laughing, pointing, and at one point talking into my belly in his "daddy voice" telling the baby to move a certain way. :) (we don't tell him baby can't quite hear him yet).

When CCD found out it was a girl, he laughed, then smiled and then put his hands on his head and had what we'll call "a moment."Basically, he realized that's really going to have to parent our little girl and not just rumble and tumble as he had planned with a boy.

I was also shocked about having a girl too, particularly because all of my symptoms or non-symptoms had pointed to boy. Though I hoped we would have my parent's first grandson after 3 granddaughters, I must admit, I'm a bit relieved. As a parent, I definitely know how to do the 'girl thing'--at least I think so.

We are both so thrilled and can't wait to meet little OLIVIA!!

Check out her nose! It's her daddy's nose..."bulby." lol. I love it!

Charm City, We Have a Baby....

Charm City Baby's 12 week sonogram...

Look at that forehead! I love it.

Baby's First Picture!

At 7 weeks, Charm City Baby took its first picture...and here it is!

See our little blob still attached to the wall on the left? The sonographer said the circle on right was a yolk sac.

At the appt. I was able to see and hear the baby's heart beat. I gotta a little choked up..unexpectedly.

This blurry little picture really put our new responsibility in perspective for us.

It also made us want to see MORE! In due time, I guess....