Another Finished Project...

It only took about a week to knit up these socks for Gabriel. They are pretty stretchy, so hopefully they will fit him before it's too warm for him to want socks on his feet this summer. The yarn is Kona Superwash in the kelp colorway. The colorway matches nicely the teal of the recent cardigan I finished. I found this yarn in a sale bin at the Elegant Ewe back in June. So the skein didn't marinate in the stash all that long. I still have plenty of this yarn to try to make a matching hat also.

Monthly Appointment

I am in my 6th month of pregnancy now, the far side of the second trimester. I've completed 23 full weeks of pregnancy. The photo below is a representation of the typical size of a baby in the 23rd week of gestation, though our boy is much cuter than this example baby. I am feeling movement throughout the day now, and starting to notice some patterns to the sleep and movement cycles. I can feel the baby move, but the movements aren't strong enough yet for Michael to feel them. And I have read that the baby is now much more aware of what is going on outside of the womb. He can feel my movements and his hearing will pick up loud noises in the environment. It might be time to start playing him music. So another month done of pregnancy means another monthly appointment with my doctor's office. I visited today with my regular doctor's partner, in case she ends up attending the actual birth in my regular doctor's absence.

I learned today that the baby is fine according to the last ultrasound we had on August 29th. The baby is in the 44th percentile so he is running small, or at least 56% of all babies born would most likely weigh more than him. I am starting to think that maybe I better have more little newborn sizes of clothes on hand and not just assume I'll have a big baby that will fit right into 3 month clothing quickly.

The baby's heart rate was 150 and strong. I could actually feel him hitting or kicking the Doppler when the doctor pushed it into my stomach/his space to listen to his heart rate. I could hear a different thunking noise on the Doppler in conjunction with the movement I felt.

And my blood pressure remains fine at 120/70. I've started a prenatal pool exercise program on Monday and Wednesday nights after work so I can guarantee at least twice a week I get some exercise in. I've had some pelvic pain due to the hormones relaxing the pelvic ligaments, so it is nice to have an hour in a heated pool to get the weight off my lower back, pelvis and knees. And it is fun to talk to other expectant mothers my age and compare notes.

Michael and I are also all signed up for the prerequisite baby classes, so starting next month we will learn infant CPR, basic baby care, attend the child birth class, do a tour of The Family Place where we will have the baby, and even take a quick course on breast feeding.

We've also done a handful of child care center tours and have the baby on multiple waiting lists for child care for next April, when I assume my maternity leave will be over if everything goes as planned.

I am going to stop referring to our son as "the baby" in my blog entries because Michael and I have decided to call him Gabriel. We are using his name already and have had a chance to tell both sets of Grandparents. So baring any strange events that change our mind, like he turning out to be a she, we are going with Gabriel.

What We've Bought So Far

This post is mostly so my Mom can see some of the things I have gotten so far for the baby, but maybe you will enjoy it too.

This is baby's first outfit. Well, the first one purchased by his parents at least. I wanted to wait until we knew for sure what sex baby we were having so I could appropriately buy pink or blue. But when I got to Baby Bungalow in Concord, what really got my attention was this green Kushies play suit because of the cute sheep on it. And it is such as soft cotton. So baby boy's first outfit is gender neutral. It's a 6 month size but looks like it will be wearable for a while since the cuffs all are long and fold over. And the little feet even can be made into feetie pajamas when the baby is on the smaller side.

I also fell in love with this bag while shopping at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi in West Lebanon. So after thinking about it a while when I got home and wishing I had purchased the bag, and checking that Michael was okay carrying a light teal/aqua bag, I found the same Timbuk2 bag on eBay and plan to use it as a diaper bag.

The very first purchase made for the baby was this stuffed dog. Way too big to play with initially but we will let it sit on the floor in the baby's room. We thought everyone of the humans in the family should have their very own Boston Terrier. Another find from Baby Bungalow. Can you tell which ones are the real Bostons in the photo below? Hint, the impostor dog is the one with the least disgusted expression.
And then at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi again, I did find this little Boston Terrier that the baby will be able to snuggle and play with. This little dog is actually very interesting to Luke and Elleigh, so it lives in hiding for the time being. We have a lot of family adjustment ahead of us.
And I found this interesting handmade product that I found at Etsy.com. It's a very pretty wet bag. They sell it as a bag to put wet diapers and clothes in when you are out and about. I am currently using it as yarn storage for a little project bag and have once used it as a wet swimsuit bag.

And I certainly have bought yarn with baby in mind.

Zen Baby

This is the crib set that we have decided on for the baby. Well, Nana and I finalized the decision this morning, and Mike is indifferent. It is Zen Baby by Kimberly Grant, available through both Target and Babies R Us, as well as other on-line sources. The Kimberly Grant line gets a good review in the Baby Bargains book. And I saw some good reviews on-line by people who had already purchased the set. I like that this has boy colors, but it is not so predominently blue that I can't pull in the sage green and browns. At this point, we are still thinking about painting the walls in the baby's room sage green and getting a lot of green accessories. There are also a number of blues in there, so I can do slate blue, light blue, medium blue, teal, maybe even an aqua color. I don't think there will be any trouble finding baby things to coordinate. And I like the shapes on it. Nana is on a mission now and hopes to maybe find the set in Burlington or New York this weekend.

Another Glimpse At Our Baby

Michael joined me this morning for a second attempt at our 2nd trimester screening ultrasound. We don't have the results from the ultrasound yet, but the technician congratulated us a few times and just seemed too peppy to have seen any horrific problems on the ultrasound. I counted 2 feet and 2 hands myself, and saw a lot of fingers and toes. We also clearly saw little boy parts, so we are quite confident now that we are having a boy. IT'S A BOY! We have posted one of our ultrasound photos so you can try your own hand at gender determination. It is amazing how much change we could see just since the last ultrasound 2 weeks ago. The technician said our boy weighs 1 pound and 3 ounces now. Elleigh gets to maintain her reign as the princess, but Lucas is now our big boy.

Quickening

According to Wikipedia, quickening refers to the initial motion of the fetus in the uterus as it is perceived or felt by the pregnant woman. The first natural sensation of quickening may feel like a light tapping, or the fluttering of a butterfly. These sensations eventually become stronger and more regular as the pregnancy progresses. Sometimes, the first movements are misattributed to gas or hunger pangs. A woman pregnant for the first time typically feels fetal movements at about 20-21 weeks.

I recognized what I thought might be baby movement for the first time on Sunday afternoon at 19 weeks and 6 days. It wasn't a flutter or light tapping, or bubbles, tickling or anything else gentle like I had read about. It was a full out kick on a full bladder. I definitely noticed it. But there was only one solid hit, so I couldn't convince myself it was movement from the baby since I expected there to be a series of movements.

I went to work early on Thursday morning and so treated myself to some ice coffee at Dunkin' Donuts on the ride in for my 7 am start. I asked for decaf iced coffee, but by the time I got most of the way through my coffee, it became clear I got regular coffee. I had given up caffeinated drinks for pregnancy, so it's been a while since I had a drink with caffeine in it. And even when I was drinking caffeinated beverages, one a day was about my limit.

So not only was I jittery, but apparently the baby was jittery too! I was trying to do a presentation and a hands on learning demonstration all the while I could feel the baby thumping away low in my abdomen. And after taking a nap just before lunch, I had an hour or more of movement after lunch time too. I felt a little more motion about the time I was winding down to go to bed last night also.

Other than a stray bump or thump here and there, I haven't felt much today.

I won't be getting anything from Dunkin' Donuts for the rest of the pregnancy.

IT'S A...

...normally gestating baby. Michael and I went to an ultrasound today that took 45 minutes (on a full bladder, I might add) to look at all of the baby parts and measure them. Our little crumb is 11 ounces now. Michael got a good view of most of the scan from his vantage point in the dark room. The baby's arms are longer now, so Mike could see that it moved the hands over the face quite a bit. It wasn't until the end that the sonographer tilted the screen to show me some of views. We are very pleased that our baby is right on track with the original due date and the growth in all of the body parts is equal, which is a good sign that nothing chromosomal is wrong. It is so reassuring to know that everything seems healthy and well developed so far.

The sonographer thought she saw a little boy, and showed us the snapshot she took with evidence of a boy. But she wasn't able to get a second glimpse as confirmation, so she said she wouldn't paint the room blue yet. We were hoping to know for sure if it would be a boy or a girl, but I guess healthy really is the important thing. We will just have to wait longer to find out if our household is going to be 3 girls and 2 boys, or 3 boys and Miss Elleigh May and Mommy. I had hoped to go and buy something gender specific for the baby today after the ultrasound, but I didn't end up getting anything. It just wasn't as fun thinking I might end up having to return what I was buying.

I have completed 19 full weeks of pregnancy today and as of this coming Sunday, I will be half way through the pregnancy, assuming I deliver on my due date of January 5th.

We're Expecting!

Michael and I are very eager to share "officially" on the blog that we are expecting. The estimated due date of our bundle is January 5th, 2009. I am hoping (now) for a later baby so there can be some distance between the holidays and the baby's birthday.

We have tried to get to most of our friends, co-workers and family with the news personally over the last two weeks. We told our parents first during the last week of the first trimester. We both agreed that we didn't want to start telling people too early.

Even though we were trying, it still took us by surprise. We both seem to be adjusting to the thought of being parents though. It's interesting to think that this time next year we could have a 6 month old baby.

We do not know if we are having a boy or girl yet. We do plan to find out if possible. Some people (Nana Doaner) are firmly in the camp of one gender or the other, but Mike and I are not spending too much emotional energy on it until we get an ultrasound confirmation.

The first trimester for me wasn't too bad. The standard symptoms, especially being tired and having heart burn. (You may have noticed the marked decline in blog posts through the first trimester.) But uneventful enough that I didn't feel truly pregnant until my June 17th ultrasound when the little fetus could be clearly seen bouncing and waving erratically. And oh yes, I must post the obligatory ultrasound photo.

We had a second ultrasound on June 24th, when Michael got to see the baby bounce around on screen for the first time. We had the second ultrasound as part of our first trimester screening and the results of that were favorable. This ultrasound photo is from June 17th, but it is better than the 2nd ultrasound photos. The baby would have been 11 weeks and 1 day into development at the time of the photo.

I thought the second trimester was suppose to be the "good one," so I had been expecting my energy to return and all symptoms to go away. Unfortunately, my energy has not bounced back yet and a few of the symptoms have worsened. It still could be much worse, but our doctor says that many woman experience this and that there's nothing to worry about. My doctor also made mention that sometimes with girls that the symptoms can get a little worse in the 4th trimester, but that is just his observation and he said there is absolutely no research to back that up.

Child care has really been the biggest issue so far. A few woman from work had mentioned to me that once you get a positive pregnancy test that you have to start putting yourself on child care center waiting lists. We are on a few so far and I am still searching for more. None yet that even remotely seem like they will have an opening come the end of April 2009 when we estimate I would return to work. The hospital has a child care center, which would be the ideal location, but we are only #83 on the waiting list in the infant room.

You better believe there will be many more prenatal posts.