Another Sneak Peak!

Gotta love technology...and now I can understand why Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were rumored to have purchased a sonogram machine to check in on their little one during their pregnancy. It's pretty crazy to see what exactly is going on in there and to have some reassurance that it isn't just a little alien in there kicking and punching me all day long. We have fallen in love with the little guy even more after seeing him on the screen.

We had a follow up ultrasound at 30 weeks to check on baby's kidneys. There was a small amount of fluid/swelling around both kidney's at 20 weeks which they like to see cleared up by birth. We were so relieved the hear the swelling and fluid is completely gone and it's one less thing to worry about.

Baby is growing right on track and measured in the 55% for all over growth. I hope he does a little better than average once he's in school but as far as growth, I'll take it! He weighs 3.5 pounds now and I am hoping that his averageness will continue until delivery. The thought of pushing out an average baby vs. a large baby is much more appealing to this nervous mama.

Here's some pics and video of his face from Tuesday's scan. He was a little stubborn and liked to be snuggled up against my side with his little nose smooshed against me but the tech was patient and got him to move a little. His little face just melted my heart. Oh, and he has hair! The tech said they don't always see hair at this stage so maybe he'll come out with a full head of hair. Wonder what color it is!

Double Digits

I am 26 weeks tomorrow which means we have 99 more days to go until our due date....or guess date as our childbirth teacher likes to call it. I've been thinking more about when the baby is going to come and mentally preparing for him to be early. I always figured I would make it through Thanksgiving but nothing is guaranteed!

Here's some belly shots on the eve of 26 weeks.

Is that our gene pool?

Came across this hilarious site that puts together an image of your future baby based on pics of mom and dad. I can't put too much stock in it as I don't really see either of us in the pics and the site even shot out a pic of a kid with a curly black afro. Hmmmm.



What do you think about my little new baby Dehner?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?



What do you think about my little new baby Jelly?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?



What do you think about my little new baby Jelly?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

http://makemebabies.com/viewbaby.php?bid=2918677

State of the Womb

The last two weeks have seen lots of changes in baby world. For starters, the baby has really discovered his strength and is extremely active, especially right when I start to fall asleep at night. As soon as I lay down to sleep, I can count on him to get the party started. He loves to kick and punch all over and Craig is beginning to be able to feel more and more of them. Sometimes I wonder how Craig can't feel all of them since they feel like big thundering booms in my belly. The other morning before Craig got up to go to work at 5 am, we were laying in bed and the baby decided to show off a bit and kicked three times, HARD. So hard, Craig couldn't believe how strong they felt. I guess we are going to have a soccer player or champion pugilist on our hands.

I can count on the baby kicking a lot after I drink juice or sparkling water. He must love the sweetness and the bubbles. Five minutes after the drink goes down, sure enough he is moving and dancing all over the place. He also loves to react to music. We've made a conscious effort to play music since the beginning of the pregnancy, hoping there is some truth to the research that it helps with development. He especially enjoys music with a deep base as well as bluegrass and we just learned tonight that he loves Guitar Hero. When I played a little Aerosmith "Walk this Way" tonight, he was dancing and kicking along with the beat. I just wish we could have a little peek at what he is doing in there. I'm just glad he seems to be having fun and enjoying himself while he is cookin' in my belly.

Speaking of bellies, mine has really started growing. I look at other women's 24 week belly shots online and it seems to be about average. It's definitely rounder every morning. The last few non maternity pants are now out of the question and I am relying on my favorite pair of maternity jeans and my bella band on almost a daily basis. Thank god for bella bands and yoga pants!

I'm still feeling pretty good and staying active. I'm working more with the little kids which requires a lot of my energy so I am spent at the end of the day. After 10-12 hour days last week I realize I need to make a little more time for myself to rest and get off my feet. I love naps since sleeping through the night is just not happening anymore. I seem to be waking up at 2 or 3 am (with a kicking belly) and just can't go back to sleep. Thank goodness for Tivo and Bravo reality shows. This is probably just a preview of what's to come in December!

Speaking of December, all this activity is making me wonder if the baby will make it to December before he makes his debut. I've heard three stories this week alone of first time moms going into labor 4-5 weeks early. Makes you wonder!

It's a BOY!

Craig and I went in for our fetal survey yesterday and found out our little jelly bean is a baby BOY!!!! We were both teary to hear the news that we had been impatiently awaiting since the day we found out I was pregnant. I have a little returning to do, exchanging some pink outfits for blue, and can't wait to get ready to welcome our little baby boy. I just can't wait to hold him and see him with his father. Now I just want to know what he will look like when he is born. Craig was very blonde with brown eyes and I had dark hair with grey/blue eyes. Any predictions out there? Oh and there is that subject of names. We have some work to do!

The main purpose of the ultrasound was to look at all of the baby's essential organs and size up the baby. At 20 weeks, the baby weighs 13 ounces and is about 9 inches long. I didn't think to ask about percentiles but the doctor said that is in normal range. Makes sense since I felt a huge growth spurt in the last few weeks. The baby is definitely making some extra room in there and kicking me harder throughout the day. He really likes to flip around a lot too. Those feel like little flutters as opposed to the thuds. We will go back for another ultrasound at 30-32 weeks to follow up and I really hope we can get some good 4D face shots of the baby. Since we were there to make sure the baby was developing normally, we didn't get too many recognizable scans of the baby. Here's a 4D shot of him after he flipped over on his tummy and curled up with his hand over his face. The tech tried to get a different angle but this little boy is already stubborn and didn't want to move.

Here's him all curled up with his hand next to his nose.

Here's a "no paparazzi" shot with him hiding his face with his hand

And here is a little leg. Looks like a future soccer player!

My dad has more willpower than me and wants to be suprised by finding out the gender when the baby is born, so if you see him or talk to him keep your lips sealed!!! :)

13 week ultrasound of Baby Dehner

Today was our NT scan, assessing the risk for Down's Syndrome, which involves an extensive ultrasound and bloodwork. Our results from the ultrasound were in normal range, so we are thrilled. This ultrasound was much more detailed than our last and we can see so much more of the growing baby.

The baby was very active during the ultrasound, possibly thanks to the veggie burrito I ate prior to the appointment. He/She was kicking her legs like she was riding a bicycle and putting her hands up to her face. Towards the end of the ultrasound, she/he must have tuckered out because she/he flipped over onto her/his tummy, stuck his/her butt in the air and stayed there for quite awhile.

The second doctor came into do the measurement of the fluid behind the folds of the baby's neck and the baby decided to either take a cat nap or just be very stubborn because the doctor couldn't manipulate the baby to get her/him to flip back over. Finally, the doc asked me to walk around a bit to try and get the baby to turn. It seemed to work and the doc got what he needed. we didn't mind the extra time since we got to watch the baby for a longer amount of time.
Here are some pics we got to take home on a disk. I'll do my best to remember and describe what you are looking at. The 3D pics of the baby on his/her tummy are my faves. I can just picture him/her laying like that on my tummy when she/he falls asleep.

Baby's heartrate was strong and healthy at 158bpm

That little white line on the left is the upper leg bone

And we have a leg, a knee, a calf, and a foot!

Hard to see but it's a foot, and not so little according to the doctor. We may have a basketball player on our hands. Toes on the right, heel on the left.

Here's the baby after she/he flipped over onto his/her tummy. The bent legs and feet on the left/head on the right.
Same angle. You can see the spine well in this shot.

And, the best for last, the 3D pics. We weren't expecting to have these done so it was a pleasant surprise when the tech pulled them up for us. The baby is on it's tummy, so you are looking down at it from above. You can see her/his back, the back of the head, and the little butt cheeks.