Showing

It has finally become clear, in my opinion, that I am pregnant. I sang on the praise team at church on Sunday morning and I looked down and realized that my tummy is sticking out quite far. It was a shock! I know it shouldn't be a shock since I've been pregnant for more than 5 months. I know I've seen her on the ultrasound screen. I know that she's becoming more and more active. All of those things combined should be enough to prove to me that I am, in fact, pregnant. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see my little bump. I'm embarrassed and a little excited about it. One gets many privileges when pregnant - perhaps I'll begin to reap those benefits (first to get a seat, first in line at a buffet, waited on hand and foot, etc)!

Time sure does fly! It seems like only yesterday, they were putting Alexander on my chest and I was exclaiming, "He's so little!!" Now, he's three years old, walking, talking, and going potty all by himself. In just three more short years, Alexander will be in first grade and I'll be typing about our little girl's preschool accomplishments. None of these realizations are earth-shattering. Just coming to terms with the fact that kids really do grow up!

Doing the wave

After reading the blog of an acquaintance who also lost a child to trisomy 18, I was reminded of another part of our ultrasound that was breathtaking. The sonographer kept trying to look at our little girl's hands - one of the markers of a chromosome abnormality is clenched hands. Matthew had this when he was born and so I was well aware that this was one of the things that we needed to see. I began to get nervous because our stubborn little girl wouldn't open her hands. Just as my heart began to sink into my stomach, she gave us a wave. Beginning with her pinkie, she opened and closed each little digit in a carefree manner that somehow said to me, "Mommy, stop worrying!"
So, a weight was lifted - one that had been placed on me just after Matthew's diagnosis. I feel lighter, happier, and excited to greet my little girl when she decides to make her entrance in October.

It's a.....

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just about jumped off of the examining table when they told me that they didn't see anything dangling! So, it's off to the store to buy one of everything pink! Peter is already groaning thinking about the amount of money that will be spent on pink frills!

In addition to getting the fun gender info, we also got really good news on the health and development of our little girl. All seems well with our little one - she waved at us while she was playing shy (the doc had a hard time getting her in the right position to see her heart). Her arms and legs are measuring the right length, she seems to have the right number of appendages (arms, legs, fingers, toes), heart was beating strong at 150, and measurements of vital parts seem to be right on track.

We enjoyed chatting to the high-risk obstetrician, Dr. Carpenter, who was young and very friendly. She made us feel very comfortable and we asked lots of questions about our little girl's development!

We thank you all for your continuing thoughts and prayers. I still feel a bit nervous about having another baby but today's visit calmed most of my fears. In 20 more weeks (or possibly a few less) we'll take our little girl home from the hospital!

Now...on to the daunting task of naming our child...thoughts and suggestions will be welcomed and considered (but don't be offended when we wrinkle our noses at thought of naming our little one after your great-grandmother, Bertha)!

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there! We hope that you have some relaxing family time this weekend!