Our Little Wax/Clay Baby!!

We had our 3D/4D Ultrasound appointment on December 29, 2010 when I was about 29 1/2 weeks. Darin and I invited our parents to come since 1) we had already seen the little guy so many times and had shared those moments together, and 2) neither one of our parents had ultrasounds with any of their children and we thought it would be neat to share that with them. I was honestly a little hesitant to do this type of ultrasound because I really do think they are a bit creepy. The babies look like clay or wax and it is a bit odd! But, I definitely had a totally different opinion upon seeing my own child!

It was so incredible to be able to see him in 3D. Granted, he was not the most cooperative and decided to cuddle up against something, which made it very hard to get any good pictures of him. We saw quite a bit in the 2D form, but every time she switched it over to the 4D, I swear he would nestle up against the wall and hide his face. Or the cord would get in the way or something! Therefore, a lot of the pictures we have of his face kind of look like Jabba the Hut because you cannot really distinguish his full head...it's kind of molded together with whatever he was using for a pillow! However, it was pretty cute to see him snuggling...I hope he is a snuggler on the outside too!

We did manage to see quite a bit though. We were able to see his little eyes and mouth open and shut a few times. He also was not shy about showing us that he is in fact a boy! Guess he just wanted his grandparents to see!! We also got a sneak peek of his little feet and toes, but not a very good one since he has decided to keep them up in my rib cage! We also got to see some hair, which makes me SO excited!! He is definitely a chunky little boy and appears to already be running out of room. His chipmunk cheeks were almost too much for me to handle...I just cannot wait to smother them in kisses! He definitely has his Daddy's nose and the cutest, plumpest lips. OK, I will stop gushing about my unborn child now, but I highly recommend having a 3D/4D ultrasound done...it really makes you want to meet and hold your baby even more!!

Hello 3rd Trimester - 28 weeks!!

After the last scare, we had a pretty uneventful few weeks! I was very excited for the week of December 20, partially because of my love for Christmas, but mainly because I was getting another ultrasound at my 28 week appt. to check on that pesky placenta. I was amazed by how much the baby had grown in 8 weeks! He was so cute and I could have stayed and watched him all day. Apparently, he is going to have really long fingers...the ultrasound tech was just amazed by how long they already were! But, let's be honest, we didn't really think this baby was going to be small!! It was pretty neat though because he was opening and shutting his fist a ton during the u/s. At one point, I saw his mouth moving and thought maybe he was sucking his thumb. The tech said, nope, I am pretty sure he is licking his fist!! I about fell off the table laughing because I thought about how well he and Hoyt will get along!

I then met with Dr. Santiago, who told me more great news...my placenta was right where it should be! However, now the baby was breech. But, nothing at all to worry about, as he is still small enough to flip...which I am pretty sure he will based on how much the little turkey moves around during the day (and night!). This just means that I will get one more ultrasound...putting our total to 8, including the 3D one we are getting on December 29. It has been a rough road thus far, but I honestly feel pretty lucky because we have been able to see him so much and love watching him grow in there!! I also had the Rhogam shot since I am Rh+...wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Pretty quick and mostly painless!

As you can see from my pic, I have quite the basketball belly! It just keeps growing, but I really feel like I am mostly belly (I am still squeezing into my pre-preggo jeans!). I am not sure how much bigger I can get over the next 12 weeks, but it will be interesting to see!! Time is flying and I can't believe in less than 3 months, Darin and I will be holding our baby boy!

Here we go again...another trip to the ER @ 26 weeks

We had another minor bump around 22 weeks, but nothing that warranted going to the ER. I was hoping this would be how the rest of the pregnancy would go. Not so much! I was honestly feeling great - getting a little uncomfortable with my big old belly, but overall was loving every minute of being pregnant. On December 4, my family went to Chicago to see Wicked. We had a fabulous time and Bean loved the music! I was also looking forward to going to Kristy and Dave's housewarming party that night (mainly because I thought she was going to be announcing something very important that night...and I was right! Bean is going to have a friend to play with!).

We got home around 8ish and I decided to go to the bathroom before we left, only to find I was spotting. Of course this happens on a Saturday night when my doctor's office is closed. I had also experienced what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions the night before at my work Christmas party, so I decided to call the on-call doc. She told me to be safe and head to Labor and Delivery because it could be a sign of pre-term labor. The tears were flowing yet again and Darin did such a wonderful job of keeping me calm (as did my parents and sister!). We headed to the ER and I got wheeled up to L&D. They hooked me up to the contraction machine and also put a heartbeat monitor to keep track of little bean's heartbeat. It was hilarious because he literally moved or kicked the ENTIRE half hour I was hooked up. At this point, I figured all was OK. Sure enough, they found nothing wrong and I was sent home. The next day was a bit rough, but I figured the cramping and pains were mostly in my head. I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next week, which was reassuring. Granted, it was for my Gestational Diabetes testing (which I passed!!!), but I was able to follow-up with the doctor as well. They pretty much told me that a lot of people will experience 2nd trimester bleeding because of all the growing and shifting inside. I was just one of the lucky ones to experience it! Another sigh of relief that everything seemed to be just fine.