Meet Zaxxon!

Here, at long last, are the ultrasound photos!

We'd tried to hook the video camera up directly to their machine, but that didn't work so we just taped the screen. The only video clip we've included is the heartbeat. This is basically a cross section of the baby's chest, and you can see the four chambers of the heart as they beat. Pretty cool. The rest of the video changed views a lot and kept freezing b/c the technician kept measuring things, so it didn't really make for a good continuous video.

This first photo is of the baby in profile, and the second it has its arm up, and looks like it's sucking its thumb.





























These three are the 3-D images of the baby's face. Pretty darn cool!

In this last photo, you can see a foot.


We declined to find out the gender, and she was very cautious so we wouldn't see anything, and told us when to pause it and look away while she checked out the legs and nether regions. We even think, after watching it played back, that she alternated between saying "he" and "she" a few times, so she was trying not to give any clues.

Isn't Zaxxon neat?!!

The Quickening and other news

Here's a new vocabulary word for those who don't know it: the quickening. It refers to when a woman first feels her baby move. For me, it was actually the day of the ultrasound, while I was lying in bed that night. I wasn't sure at first, since it was just a gurgle or flutter and could've been gas, but when it kept happening over the next few days, I became sure. I'd probably been feeling it move for a week or two prior to that, but just didn't recognize it. Since that time, the baby has started moving quite a bit. I don't just feel it at night anymore, but also many other times when I stop moving: at my desk at work, on the couch while watching TV, etc. Occassionally even when I'm moving around. It's sometimes strong enough that Dean has been able to feel it, too. Zaxxon is on the move!

We began our first registry this past weekend. We'll post links once they're complete. So far we only made it through a fraction of Babies R Us before we had to take off and go to a friend's baby shower. We've got multiples of certain items until we decide which we actually want, so we've really only just begun.

We realize we still need to get ultrasound pics up. That should happen very soon.

Going to our friend's baby shower made me realize that we should probably get plans in motion for ours. I have some ideas, but I guess it's time to start putting things together.

In other news, Dean and I will be going to Rome in August. We discovered that we needed to use some hotel points this year and decided to take advantage of that to go somewhere exotic and different as a "babymoon." Should be fun!

Oh, and I was hoping that people would comment more on this blog, so if you have something to say, please share! Just remember to identify yourself in your comment.

Ultrasound!

Photos will be forthcoming, look for them on another post within the next few weeks.

We saw our baby yesterday!!!!!!!!! It was really cool. Everything looks good and is growing at the right rate. We got to watch the heart beat--and they even did some cross section views so we watched the chambers of the heart as the blood pumped through. And the baby turned and wiggled and moved its arms for us. It was really amazing to see our baby like that.

One thing neither one of us was expecting was the 3-D view of the face. I hadn’t thought they’d be doing anything that detailed for a routine ultrasound, so we were surprised when the woman pulled out a different sensor and pressed a button and the screen said “loading 3-D image,” and after that we could see our baby’s face. That was really neat. They printed off quite a few pictures for us to keep.

They did think one kidney looked a little big, although they said that’s a pretty common thing and most of the time it slows down and matches the rest of the body before the baby is born. They’re going to do another ultrasound in 8 weeks to check on that.

For those who are wondering, we’re now at 20 weeks and they estimated the baby at 0.83 pounds. We’re halfway there!

Amassing tiny things

Dean and I went out to garage sales last Saturday and got some good deals. We got a changing table for $5, a baby bjorn baby carrier, and a heavier-duty backpack carrier. We also got some bottle stuff: a drying rack and dishwasher caddy. The rest of it was mostly clothing. Why pay $6-$10 for baby clothes when you can get them for $1-$2 apiece? Mom got annoyed at us and told us to stop buying clothing b/c people will want to give us things--but I don’t think we’ve gone overboard yet. To anyone who is thinking of getting us baby clothing: please buy/make things for the 3-6 month size at the smallest. I don’t anticipate having a tiny baby since we’re not small and we come from taller families, and a baby can always wear something oversized but not undersized.

The only things I’d been hoping for that I didn’t find was maternity clothes. Only one sale had some, and it was either too big for me or in a style that I would never wear.

Dean washed everything on Sunday, and it was weird to see all these tiny pieces of clothing spread out to be folded. One more moment that is driving home the reality of the impending baby. What with the stuff we bought and things we’ve already been given, we’ve got a lot of baby stuff around the house now.

Some people may have noticed Mom’s comment on the last post and seen the name Zaxxon. That’s what we’re calling the baby while it’s inside since we don’t know what it is. It came from a friend of Dean’s, and we thought it was funny and adopted it for now.

Mother’s Day and Vacation

We went to the Denver Zoo for a Mother’s Day brunch this year. We had breakfast and then walked around the zoo for a while. We were early enough to actually see the lions being active--usually they’re asleep by the time we get there. It was neat--and we picked up some great parenting tips from the hyenas.

I was surprised at how many Mother’s Day gifts I got. I got some maternity clothes, a gift card to buy more maternity clothes, and Dean got me a Willow Tree statue of a couple holding a baby. I also got free ice cream from Cold Stone, who was giving out free ice cream to all mothers. It was a good day.

Last week, Dean and I went to our timeshare in Avon, CO for a week. This has been a snowy year, so it was a bit colder up there than it has been in years past. We lost our hiking trail in the snow before very long when we went out on Tuesday. This photo is of where we lost the trail. You can’t see the snow very well here, but you can see a really cool bird who was nice enough to pose for us. He is a dusty grouse. (Well, okay, I guess the bird is hard to see unless you know what you're looking for. But if you click on the photo it will zoom in, and you can see him standing on a fallen tree trunk behind me.) It was nice to get away and just relax for a while. And I got a massage, which really helped with tension.

Almost all of my pants and shorts that close with buttons have ceased fitting me--comfortably, anyway. Elastic and drawstrings are my friends. I got one pair of maternity capris for Mother’s Day, and I’ll probably have to go out soon and use my gift card so I’ll have more shorts and capris to wear, now that we’re getting into the warm months. I’ll also hit garage sales and thrift stores. And maybe see if Dean’s shorts will fit me. J

My next doctor’s visit is on June 2, and then we’ll have the ultrasound on June 23. I guess that’s all the news for now. Stay tuned!