We Find Out the Gender On...

Tuesday September 8th at 9:00AM. I CAN NOT WAIT!!! Mom and Steve are visiting for Labor Day weekend, so we set up an ultrasound at an independent imaging center where they do 3D/4D ultrasounds. This will just be a regular 2D because we will be too early for the others, but we are going to find out the gender and they give you tons of pictures and a DVD. Karen and Fabian are also going to come, so I thought this would be a really fun thing to all get to do together. For everyone else, the package we bought includes a live video stream of the ultrasound, so you can log into your computers and watch at home/work as we are there! More details on that to come. So in a short five weeks we will know if Baby Von Bauer is an Avery or an Aston! YAY!

NT Scan

We had our NT Scan this morning, which consists of meeting with a genetic counselor, a longer ultrasound, and some blood work. The point of the ultrasound (well, this whole appointment really) is to measure for Downs and Trisomy 18 by measuring the fat fold at the back of the baby's neck. Well in order to do that the baby has to lay still in a certain position long enough to let them measure and that did NOT happen! LOL The baby was going crazy in there - I can't believe how much it moves around and I don't even know it's happening! It was rolling around from its back to its stomach and then it would stand straight up and a couple of time it just JUMPED! It was so cool to see! It was waving its arms all around and flexing its fingers - it even rubbed its face. It was an amazing experience. Unfortunately, despite watching 15 minutes of phenomenal ultrasound footage the lady gave us four of the shittiest pictures you have ever seen! They are all of the baby's face, which doesn't look like anything and you can't see the arms and the shape of the head or body. I was PISSED, but oh well, the baby was healthy and having fun so there will be other ultrasounds.

The heartbeat was 171 (still high...maybe a girl?) and I was measuring 12wks2d, which is four days farther ahead than I really am. So either my due date will be pushed up or the baby just had a super growth spurt and it will even back out. We'll see next time. I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday, but I bet I won't have another ultrasound until the BIG ONE where we find out the gender. That's not for another month at least. I can't wait! Everyone says it's a girl, but I am okay with either...although a little girl would be so special since it's been a long time for both families.

New Tickers

I have been so wrapped up in pretending NOT to be pregnant for the past couple months that I have forgotten to keep track of fun things like what fruit that baby is or my fun tickers. So, this week the baby is the size of a lime and is enjoying a 1:1 head to body ratio. I also added new tickers to the bottom of the page. One for what the baby looks like and one for the humor. Enjoy!

Week 10

Tomorrow I will be 11 weeks - double yay! I am almost finished with the first trimester and I can. not. wait. I have been SO exhausted and really sick all week. I read that the baby is supposed to triple in size this past week, so I am guessing maybe that's why. I have been able to make it through work, but for some reason as I soon as I get home I get incredibly tired and nauseous. Which is quite inconvenient since I have a 20 page paper due tomorrow and have not been feeling well enough to work on it all week. I actually had to take a vacation day today just to get started on it...yeah, that's right, I said STARTED.

So, other than that I haven't really had much exciting stuff going on until our NT Scan next Wednesday. I can't wait! We get to do a big long ultrasound and the baby's head will actually be proportionate to it's body. It will look like an actual baby instead of an alien, so that's pretty cool. Other than that, things have just been very, very busy at work and as soon I get home I crash! I am going to start working on eating more fruits and vegetables and going back to the gym after this sickness goes away. I feel bad because fruits and veggies just do NOT sound good and haven't for the past few weeks, so I've been eating very little of them. I have been eating little kid food for the past week or so because it's all I can stomach. Courtney - you would love it! Now would be a fantastic time for you to visit. We are stocked up on chicken tenders, hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, pasta roni, and Stove Top!

Week 9

Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks - yay! I am so excited to have gotten this far already and can't wait to see our next ultrasound on the 29th. After that, I think I'll breathe a lot easier, although things have been going terrific so far. This week was a trade off - a lot less sick, but much more exhausted! That probably had a lot to do with the fact that it's Thursday and I've already worked 40 hours this week. I am having some issues with back pain that is in my left sit-bone area, which is probably going to get worse as I grow.

Speaking of which...I appear to have gained approximately 12 pounds, but have in fact not gained an ounce so far! I am trying to wear lots of flow-y shirts to work and am able to button my pants, but have an unfortunate muffin top as a result. I have been wearing my bella bands every day this week and they are great! They are this stretchy things that pull up over your pants and fold over so that you don't have to button them. They are GREAT and comfy and look like a cute tanktop at the bottom.

I have noticed some puffing out of my stomach around the hip bones a little, but the most noticeable change is that the top of my stomach looks like I've eaten a HUGE dinner ALL.THE.TIME. It is bloated constantly, which just makes me look fat, but I guess that is a small price to pay for a healthy little baby!

Today Was a Big Day!

You know those little hand held machines the doctor uses to listen to the baby's heartbeat in the office? Well they rent them out during pregnancy and we've had ours for about two weeks now (a little early, I was anxious) and haven't been able to find the heartbeat. Tonight I decided to give it another shot and after about 15 minutes of searching I finally picked it up going strong at 169! We were able to record it on the machine and I can't wait to be able to record and post it on here. I will need to be further along though because it has to be plugged into the computer and right now I have to be lying down flat on the floor. It is so reassuring to hear that little sound right now! I still have 13 days until my next ultrasound (but who's counting), so it will be nice to be able to check in on things from day to day in the meantime.

I also told my boss that I am pregnant today...nerve wracking! Especially because of the very recent promotion and the fact that one of the two managers who reports to me now is due the exact same day as me. EEK! She was very understanding and excited, which made me feel a lot better, even though I'm sure she was thinking, "WTF!?! How are they both pregnant at the exact same time?!?" That is going to leave our department in a bit of bind, but it's just three months, so I'm thinking they will survive. We have PLENTY of time to plan at least.

Baby Von Bauer 2.0

We've had three great ultrasounds so far and our doctor feels like things are progressing exactly as they should be, so we just couldn't keep the secret any longer! Our next appointment is July 29th for the 1st Trimester Screen where they use the high-tech ultrasound to get a really good look at the baby and its development. Hopefully we will find out the sex in September! Here's a picture of our ultrasound from today at 8 weeks, 5 days. The baby has little arms and legs and was waving its arms around during the ultrasound. It looked like it was waving at us. The baby is face down and you can make out its chin almost touching its chest. That head is big!

Week 7

Well, this week has been scary/good. I had a little freak out when my morning sickness and sore boobs magically disappeared, but I had another ultrasound and the baby is still growing and way bigger than last week. I'm still not gaining weight, but my stomach is bloated and changing shapes so some days I have to leave the top of my pants unbuttoned. I ordered a home fetal doppler and it got here yesterday, but we probably won't be able to hear the heart beat for another week or two. I thought it would take longer to ship and now it's driving me crazy that we have it and can't use it yet! I tried yesterday just for the heck of it and could hear the placenta, but not the heartbeat yet. The placenta makes this loud whistling windy noise...very weird. LOL!

Here's an ultrasound from 7 weeks, 5 days.