Moving Baby

Friday night, as I lay in the recliner sick, trying to do homework but not feeling up to it, Chris suggested we play some Nintendo. I figured that might take my mind off feeling crappy so I moved to the couch with him and we started playing some old school Mario 3.

The baby started kicking quite a bit, so Chris started putting his hand on my stomach when I was playing - and he finally got to feel him kick. A lot!!! It was Baby Zach's play time (he's always the most active in the evenings for an hour or so) and he was really showing off for his Dad - kicking away!

I'm glad Chris finally got to feel him - I'd been having him try for several weeks to no avail.

I haven't decided if I like the feeling of him kicking better from the inside or the outside yet - both are pretty neat. I still haven't seen my belly move from him kicking/moving, but I don't think it'll be long since other pregnant gal's I know have seen their baby move their stomach around this time!

Swim Trunks

Although Baby Zachary won't be swimming this summer I still wanted to buy him a cute pair of trunks for when we b-b-q and visit my parents when they camp or at the river dock. I've searched and searched online and either don't like them or they're too expensive. My sister found a pair today and bought them. LOVE THEM!!! : )

Coupons

I have some coupons that I'm not going to use. Coupons are AWESOME, but to use them you still have to spend money - and I'm trying to save more of that these days : )

So - here are some coupons I have - if you're interested let me know and we'll work a way to get them to ya!

*Children's Place - 20% off entire purchase (newborn & baby only) - expires 2/28/2011 (Soon!)

*Baby Depot - 15% off any single regular priced item - expires 9/30/2012

*Shutterfly - $20 gift card - expires 3/21/2011 (You can use this for ANY shutterfly purchase! - so even if you just have prints to develop, it'll work!)

Message me here or e-mail me if you want any of these. First come, first serve.

Diaper Bag

I found a diaper bag I like - at a reasonable price - so I ordered it!



I'd been browsing online...and looking in stores. I knew I wanted plaid and I didn't want to spend a fortune. I really LOVE the peace sign bag I posted a couple months ago, but I didn't want to pay $80 for a diaper bag.



Chris' cousin sells Thirty-One bags and gifts and I found one I loved in there - embroidered with Zachary's name....for less than $30!!!


I decided that since I saved so much money on the diaper bag I'd order a cute bag for myself too : ) You can check it out on my other blog!

Doctor Appointment

I had a routine appointment yesterday.

It was a fast one - she listened to the heart beat (155 bpm), answered a few questions I had and off I went.

Next months appointment is the glucose testing - Ick! I've actually done the test before, it's really not that bad - but I'm not looking forward to the LoooooNNNnnnng appointment!

I'm ready for Mr. Zachary to turn around in my belly so he kicks something other than my bladder!!!

Pregnancy "Symptoms"

Here are some things I've been feeling/experiencing:

LOTS, and LOTS and LOTS of bathroom trips. Since the little guy is breech he is stomping my bladder, that on top of an already small bladder leads to a lot of trips to the bathroom!

More kicking! I've tried to get Dawson, Chris and my sister all to feel him - but he stops when they put their hands on my stomach. It's so weird how he can sense it's not my hand. He'll kick and kick and I can feel it with my hand, but as soon as another hand is laid on my stomach he quits!!

Still getting some leg cramps, but not as many as a month or so ago.

After a lot of walking (like the days I've spent on my feet) my back hurts pretty bad.

Skin is still breaking out : ( Hoping that starts to clear up soon!

Other than the obvious (my growing belly) and the above not a lot more symptoms, pretty much the same ones I've had throughout.....

Full Body pictures

Since I didn't share any 21 week full body shots I thought I'd share these. I had Chris take some pictures of me in regular clothes - pretty much the only clothes I've taken my picture in since I've been pregnant are the black pants and white top. I'm going to try and remember to have him take more pictures when I'm actually wearing normal clothes!!!

This is 21 weeks 4 days.

21 weeks

I bought some larger A-line shirts. They fit me better in the belly, but they're way to big at the top, so I'm not sharing any full body pictures : )

Ultrasound Pictures

Profile shot - isn't he cute?! ; ) His foot!! We got several comments from the technician and the nurse at both ultrasounds that he has big feet. No surprise since his mama wears a size 11!

No doubting he's a BOY!

Rollercoasters are NOT SAFE...

during pregnancy. Unfortunately I've been on one the last couple days - and not in the literal sense of the word.

It started yesterday morning - I came back from the restroom and the receptionist told me "I just put Dr. XX (my ob doctor) through to your voicemail." My heart kind of sank a little. I asked if she said what she wanted, of course she hadn't. I had just had my 20-week ultrasound on Friday and my appointment with Dr. XX wasn't until the following week, I couldn't imagine what it could be. I had a co-worker waiting for me to walk up-town to grab lunch, so I asked him if he'd mind if I checked my voicemail real fast. Dr.XX just left a message saying "This is Dr. XX, I was wanting to talk to you about your ultrasound results, give me a call back at XXX-XXXX." I grabbed my cell phone, asked my co-worker if he'd mind if I called during our walk up, he didn't. I called, the doctor's receptionist put me on hold to get the doctor. And I was on hold for what felt like a lifetime.....in reality it wasn't more than 5 minutes.

The Doctor came on the line, first apologizing for having to leave me a voice message and hoping she didn't scare me, she went on to say that the ultrasound came back looking good EXCEPT there was a spot on the heart where light was shining through that shouldn't normally be there. What did I hear?! I heard that the baby had a hole in it's heart. I FREAKED OUT. I started crying, she asked me if I had a pen to write down when my high risk ultrasound was and who it was with. I didn't but said I'd call her back as soon as I got one. I immediately called Chris........in tears, nearly hysterical. I didn't know what to do, say or think.

I went into Subway and got an application and a pen (no, not to apply for a job, to write on!) I went out to a park bench and called the doctor back. I got the info. I needed - I was scheduled to see a doctor in a nearby town and have a Level II ultrasound the following day...at 2 p.m....over 24 hours later.

I then called my mom (during which time a sweet older lady came to me and hugged me, asking me if I was okay.....very nice gesture considering she had no clue what was wrong with me, other than I was pretty much hyperventilating on an uptown park bench), told her what I knew (which was still not a lot, that there was something wrong with the babies heart and it was in the left ventricle...).My mom reminded me that she had lost a sister and a niece at birth due to heart conditions - which I had known, but temporally forgotten, but hearing it made me that much more scared. I went to call my husband back and during the call with him the doctor's office started to call me- I answered and it was the receptionist asking if I could pick up my ultrasound results and paperwork to take with me the following day. By this time my co-worker came out of Subway and we started the walk back to the office. I was trying to control my tears, but it wasn't happening.....

By the time I got back to work it took me nearly an hour to calm down and feel comfortable enough to leave work (there was no way I could work) - when I left I headed to my doctor's office to pick up the paperwork. While I was there I asked if I could talk to my doctor for a minute, I got to see her within a couple minutes. I wanted to remind her about the heart conditions that ran in the family - she quickly informed me that this was NOT the same thing as having a hole in the heart. She again explained what they seen on the ultrasound, the 4 chambers - all filled with black, except the bottom left chamber had a spot in it - she gave me the technical term and told me that most of the time it was really not a big deal and to feel free to research it when I got home.

The ride home was horrible - I was still so confused and had no clue what to think or what was going on. The minute I walked in the door I was googling the term - intracardiac echogenic focus - and here is a short summary of what I learned:

An echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) is a small white spot (as bright as bone) seen in the baby’s heart during an ultrasound examination. These bright spots appear to be caused by small deposits of calcium in the papillary muscle of the heart. EIF are most often a normal finding and have no significant effect on the development of the heart.

Some studies have shown that a baby is is more likely to have Down syndrome when an EIF is seen if the mother is over the age of 35 years old, has abnormal serum screening, or additional ultrasound findings. These babies may be about twice as likely to have Down syndrome when an EIF is seen.

If an echogenic intracardiac focus is found on routine ultrasound then a
targeted level II sonogram should be performed to

1.distinguish an EIF from a fetal cardiac tumor. Fetal cardiac tumors are most commonly found within the cardiac muscle or septum. Cardiac tumors tend to be larger, multiple, and are not as bright as the typical “echogenic focus”.

2. identify additional markers for Down syndrome if present.


So, I knew the Level II ultrasound would provide more insight as to whether it was a lone "marker" or if there were additional markers that the baby could have Down Syndrome. I researched a little about what some of the other markers would be and learned things like, the length of the nose, length of the arms and legs, abnormalities with the lip, hands or feet - and several other things. I was assured by the research that it was not a life or death situation for the baby - so I was relieved a little - but still very shaken up and nervous. It was a long night.....I couldn't relax, I walked to try and keep my mind off of it and sleep DID NOT come easily.

Day 2:

I decided to go into work until 1 p.m. - I was pretty much in a fog all day and the day seemed to take forever. Finally though it was 12:45 and Chris and my mom were there to get me - and we were on our way to the doctor (about 35 minutes away from where I work).

The ultrasound started and the nurse doing it was very nice. She told us the things she was measuring and we got to see Baby Zachary yawning, kicking the crap out of my bladder, touching is boy parts (several times!) and getting a little crazy with his movements! She also showed us that he was NO DOUBT a boy - and printed off a ton of pictures for us. She left to get the doctor so he could explain the ultrasound to us and let us know what was found.....

He came in, went over the ultrasound pictures - showed us the little spot on the heart - but announced all the other indicators (markers) for down syndrome were normal, and explained what this means for us......Here is basically what he said:

A normal 28 year old (my age at delivery) has a 1 in 800 and something chance of delivering a baby with down syndrome. Since we have one of the markers it increases Baby Zachary's chances by only 1% more than a normal 28 year old pregnancy - so his chances are 1 in around 400.....but, since he doesn't have any of the additional markers it's not very likely he will have Down Syndrome. He also pointed out that they were 99.9999% sure of the gender (we also got a lovely ultrasound picture to show he's a boy!). He said I wouldn't need to come back to see him (a high risk doctor) and that I have a healthy little boy and everything looks great.

I'm soooooooooooooooo relieved. After finding out I just felt exhausted from relief, if that makes sense.

We are so lucky and keeping our fingers crossed Mr. Zachary comes out a healthy, happy little boy.

**Sorry for such a long post - I wanted to document this for myself and at the same time share the story with you all**

Ultrasound day!

We headed in for the ultrasound and we were told it'd take up to an hour to complete. We were in and out in 20 minutes, or maybe a little less, Mr. Zachary cooperated very well. So well, in fact, that we got lost in the moment and didn't do any recording or take more than these two pictures. DANG IT!

Chris and I moments before the ultrasound began:

Waiting for the technician to find out what the baby was and make sure he was healthy! I look way washed out in this picture. Yikes!

He was so cute, he was sucking as if he had a finger or bottle in his mouth, but he didn't - I wanted to keep watching him, it was so amazing!

Revealing the news

Chris and I decided not to tell anyone when our real ultrasound was, for two reasons, #1 so we wouldn't have a lot of phone calls/texts the day of our ultrasound and we could enjoy the moment and day together and #2 so it would be surprising for my parents....

So, we set up a Valentine's day dinner with my parents and my sister and her fiance at a local restaurant. I said I'd bring the V-day cake!

In reality this is the cake I brought

and this is what they seen when we cut it open........

I think everyone was surprised that we had found out -and that it was a boy. It seems like everyone expected me to have a girl! We are excited for a boy though, we'll be getting a little niece in a few short weeks so it'll be fun to have both a new little girl and a new little boy in the family!

20 weeks

Now that I'm almost 21 weeks I better post last weeks picture : )

Holiday Baby

I was telling Chris on Friday how the little guy (I still can't believe I know it's a boy!!) has so far "showed us" all his milestones around holidays:

*We had the first ultrasound the day before Thanksgiving.

*We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time just a couple days before Christmas!

*We got our second ultra sound and found out it was a HE a couple days before Valentine's Day. (Best V-day present EVER!)

*He's due a couple days before Independence Day.

Isn't that crazy!??!!

Baby Wansing

is a........

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

In June we'll have a little baby boy - who we'll name Zachary Douglas!

Let's Play a Guessing Game

We'll be finding out the gender of Baby Wansing within a week or so....until then we have a 50/50 shot of guessing what it is!

So, take my poll - you can use the answers to the wives tales I've listed below, comment and ask me any questions you want to know that will help you make your guess, or just take a shot in the dark!!!

What the wives tales say:

I'm not carrying ultra high or ultra low, but a little on the lower side: Tale says BOY

High heartbeat the first ultrasound: Tale says GIRL

Low heartbeat the second ultrasound: Tale says BOY

My face has been anything but clear. Hello pimples: Tale says GIRL

I've gained the majority of my weight in my stomach so far: Tale says BOY

Cravings have been mostly hearty, not sweet: Tale says BOY

Chinese Birth Calendar: Tale says BOY

Mayan conception Chart: Tale says GIRL

My gut feeling: BOY (This has nothing to do with the majority of "tale's" being boy...)

Now it's your turn, what do YOU think??

poll by twiigs.com

19 weeks

Here is week 19. I started an album on facebook, so if you're friends with me there go check it out - it's neat to click on Album View and see the progression all at once!! This week I told Chris I'm not sure I'll fit in the pants the entire time. I'll just have to get larger white A-lines and black yoga pants. Joy.

Pregnancy Stats

I just noticed that the counter on my side bar is wrong - I'm 19 weeks 2 days - so it's only a day off, which means I probably won't fix it ; )

Sooo...Today the baby is 19 weeks 2 days (4 3/4 months) old.

In days - 135 day old, 48.2% through my pregnancy and 48.6% through the second trimester.

145 days until my due date.

I have a lot to do before then:

Masters degree to finish.

A house to build.

A house to sell.

MOVE.

A new house to decorate, which includes a baby room.

Hope that 145 days is enough time, cuz I have a feeling the baby won't wait for me to get it all done if it's not! : )