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!

Beginning to show

The first of these photos was taken on April 6, and the second on April 27. As you can see, I'm getting a little bigger. We took a few photos earlier than this, but they're not as good since we took them in the evening (when my stomach was full and I was often feeling bloated.) In April, we realized we needed to take them in the morning for a more accurate picture. I haven't gained much weight yet, just a few pounds.

I've continued to be tired. I've been having a lot of trouble with pain and aches in my neck and shoulders lately, which has been wearing me out, too. I'll start to feel better one day, and the next day it gets worse again. I'm getting really sick of that pattern, but I'm not sure what else to do about it.

The car seat company, after many volleys of emails, sent me a manual for the car seat we got for free, and it looks like we're in business to use it--although she said the federal government says car seats should not be used once they're more than six years old, so we probably won't hang onto it for future children.

Car Seat News and other stuff

We stopped by a nearby fire station yesterday with the free infant car seat in the back seat and had them look at it. There were no recalls involving that product, and the firemen said it fit nice and snug and seemed to be a good model. I sent an email last Saturday to the manufacturers to see if they could send us an instruction manual (they have downloadable manuals on their website for their current models) and asking them if there were any recalls or product problems. I'm still waiting to hear back. So things are looking good!

We can add a high chair to the list of items we've received (or are about to receive) from friends and acquaintences. Also, we just received a box from my Aunt Jackie "returning" some toys which had once been mine, and which we gave to her for her children a good 18 years ago. I recognized a few of them before I read her card--there was a stuffed dinosaur hatching out of an egg which I thought I remembered getting from a school fundraiser or something. Then I pulled a set of stacking rings out of the box and I can remember getting a letter from Jackie years ago which thanked me for the rings, and I just started laughing. Her card confirmed that the toys had once been mine.

I've still been tired most of the time. The first trimester is almost over, and I'm hoping my energy will come back soon. There are a lot of things to do, and it's hard to get them done when I come home from work and collapse in my recliner.