Sprout's 18 week Ultrasound

Well! This was certainly an eventful ultrasound!

After weeks of waiting, it was finally the day for the big ultrasound! This is the ultrasound where parents can find out the sex of their baby, Rob and I are going to waiting until delivery day. I have to admit, I built up this day a little too much. I had been pretty anxious to start feeling the baby move these past couple of weeks. I just needed confirmation that everything is going good. It's kind of hard not to feel like that when appointments are just once a month. And to top it off, I slept poorly that night and woke up feeling just groggy, which carried out through the day.

We finally got to the doctors office and we didn't have to wait at all (I know right?) The tech girl was very nice and got straight to business. And there it was, our little sprout looking better than ever and so much more like a real baby now. RELIEF! Man, the profile on that kid...it's just amazing, look at its little nose and lips. Everything measured great on the ultrasound. She said it was a good healthy baby and still measuring bigger than the given due date.

Towards the end of the ultrasound, I started not to feel so good. I thought it was because of the yogurt I had, all them nerves and just her pressing down on my belly in an awkward was. She had me lay on my side and we took a little break. Well, I guess I decided to go a bit further than a break and just completely faint right then and there! Yup, I fainted laying down during my ultrasound! Once again, my pesky low blood pressure was the culprit and the fact she was pressing down on a main artery. That's the same artery that later in your pregnancy can become squished when laying on your back and cut off oxygen if you stay like that for too long. It's funny because that was actually a question of mine for the OB and I found out first hand about it. But everything is all good and no one seemed too concerned afterwards. I stayed strong and laughed about it saying how I really needed that little nap, ha ha. Rob was also awesome and remembered exactly what he needed to do if I ever fainted again (I am prone to fainting with my blood pressure, but it rarely happens)

After all the hoopla, we got to see the doctor for my exam. Again he confirmed that the baby looked great and everything was normal. Also, only the tech knows what we're having, she has to check to see if there's normal genitals. She was really fast, meaning she saw what she needed easily. Hmm. He also mentioned that my placenta is in the front of the belly and because of that, it may take a little longer to feel the baby move. I'm totally ok with that, because now know what to expect and not get anxious. I also got weighed and I've gained around 10 lbs all ready. It's funny since it's been 10 years since I last saw those numbers, but I feel so awesome about my body right now.

alien baby is looking at you!!

Overall, I am so happy! I feel good about everything now and my mind is eased from all the worry that it's been dealing with. Again, I am so grateful for how lucky I have been with this pregnancy and that our baby is big and healthy.

Pregnancy Ups and Downs

sprout - 12weeks 3 days

I thought I'd start a weekly pregnancy ups and downs. Fridays sound like a good day!

Pregnancy Ups:
- We got to see sprout again! Our screening ultrasound went really well and sprout moved around quite a bit after some poking from the ultra sound teach. We even got to see it turn. Amazing!!

- I am feeling about 80% normal now. I usually only feel icky after big meals and well, my headaches are a pain, but *shrugs* comes with the territory.

- I started sleeping with my Leechco pregnancy pillow (that I got a garage sale, but it was clean and I cleaned it again myself!). A little early, but I've been getting pain and tingling in my hips so I knew I needed to sleep with a pillow between the knees and this Leechco pillow is awesome! I have better quality sleep when I actually do get to sleep.

Pregnancy Downs:
- While the Leechco pillow is amazing, I still wake up a lot and often have a hard time falling back asleep. And this marks the first week I had to pee more than once at night and getting a charlie horse. Good-bye sleep.

- Smells still really bother me and I've noticed that that's what usually brings on my headaches. Smells that are the worst are garbage, cigarette smoke, heavy air fresheners and the litter box.

- I haven't exercised since Saturday and I've only walked the dogs once this week. I'm trying to tell myself that it's only the first trimester and soon I'll have the energy and will to get moving again.

My wiggly sprout

Yesterday I went for a mommy check up and an ultrasound. It had been about 3 weeks since our first ultrasound and I was anxious to see if sprout was still doing well.

Now I've been reading websites and such and seeing the week-by-week, I know what the baby is supposed to look like, but to see it, see YOUR baby, looking like a real baby...now that's amazing.

*I flipped these upside down to see it better

I saw a head, little arms with elbows, a beating heart, a butt, legs with knees and toes and the umbilical cord. I couldn't get over how long its arms and legs looked. Too soon to think it'll be as tall as it's dad? I heard its little heatbeat, nice and good at 176 bmp. And the bestest!! I got to see it move and wiggling around! I wasn't expecting to see movement like that so soon. Now THAT makes it all more real! It put me on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

I'm on a normal OB schedule now and won't go back for 4 weeks. Such a long wait. By then I'll already be in my 2nd trimester! Rob's going to come to the next one, I didn't have him come to this appointment since I thought it was going to be an extra long one with my check up and all. At least he got to see pictures.