It's a GIRL!?!?!?!?! Maybe?

Mike and I went for my 20 week ultrasound with my Perinatologist yesterday! He's an amazing doctor who really know his stuff, and he's funny, which is always a plus, especially if you're dealing with us! :) I provided him with my hospital records from my stay when I delivered Lily and we discussed the care that I'll be receiving this time around. I'll start seeing my OB every two weeks at 28 weeks and I'll see the perinatologist again at 32 weeks to check on the growth of the baby. Right now the baby is growing a week behind, 19 weeks instead of 20. I'm going to begin a baby asprin regiment to reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia again, but it's not a guarentee, so I'm trying to stay vigilant. He also advised me to start taking my blood pressure at home, which I already have, and he seemed impressed with the amount of knowledge I have on the topics of HELLP and preeclampsia. It's really been my way of coping with the experience.

On to the best part, the ultrasound! This was my 20 week anatomy scan, so he measured the baby's head, abdomen, and femur to determine it's size, he checked to make sure there were two arms, two hands, two legs and two feet! Check! And finally, we asked if we'd be able to determine the gender! Well, little baby duece had it's legs crossed and was in the breech position, which made it nearly impossible to determine the sex! Grrrrr! Initially, he said, "If I have to lean one way, I'd say girl, but that's only 70%!" Oh no, that didn't slide, I can't have only 70%, I need 100% dang it!!! I told him I'd stand on my head if I had too, but the more he looked the more he was convinced that this baby is also a girl!!! Mike and I are estatic that Lily will have a baby sister!!! The pics above are pretty ghetto, especially because I took them with my cell phone and there's a mean glare coming of the u/s paper (super glossy)! But, come Saturday, I'll have some AMAZING 3D ultrasound pictures to share...as I need a 100% confirmation that this baby is really a girl so we can plan accordingly!

Yay for baby girls!!! :)

19 Weeks & Blowing Bubbles

Just a quick pregnancy progress photo of 19 wks! While I was taking this pic, my lovely Lily was taking a bath and blowing bubbles in the water! She's been doing this for about two weeks now. It's quite amazing because I didn't show her how to do this, she figured it out on her own! Pretty cute to watch, lemme tell ya!

Boo comes to school with Mommy!

Since the Mountain Grandparents have been working extra hard these past couple weeks, I thought it'd be nice to give them a day off and Lily could join Mommy at the high school! Our morning started bright and early, 7:00. Luckily, thanks to the CSAP schedule, I didn't have students until after lunch. Lily explored the school and then colored and watched Melmo while Mommy completed paperwork. We enjoyed lunch with my co-workers and 6th hour brought students into my classroom. My female students were so excited that Lily had come to visit, but even to boys showed some excitement. 7th hour is my free period, we had a couple visiting students who spend their free period in my room on a daily basis. They helped Lily draw on the white board and danced to Lady Gaga with her. The end of 7th brought a school assymbly, as our POMS squad won 1st in nationals! Lily really enjoyed all the clapping and especially the dancing! By this time Lily was super tired, so we went back to my room where she took a nap until it was time to go home! I really enjoyed having my baby girl at work...but man she's a handful!

AFP4 & 24 Urine --- Normal! :)

Very excited to report that the AFP4, which tests for Down's and other defects, as well as my 24 Urine screening came back completely normal! It's that little piece of relief that every mommy needs mid-pregnancy! Now we can focus our energy on finding out the sex of the baby on March 22!

Boo in the Bath ---- 18 months old

Let's face it, Boo Bear loves her bath time! This past weekend she's decided it's funny to lay down in the bath with her ears under the water to listen to the cool sounds. She's so darn cute, I thought I'd share some pics!

17 Week Appointment and Due Date Clairfication

Well, I went in for my 17 wk appointment yesterday, I showed up 30 minutes early to find out I was a day late! This sent me into a frenzy, so I dashed up to OB floor and luckily Dr. Moore was in and had a cancellation! Yay! They did all the normal stuff, weight (gained 7 lbs total so far), blood pressure (in the normal ranges) and temperature. I was really anxious to see Dr. Moore and ask her why I haven't been feeling this baby yet! I was feeling Lily at 14 wks, so I've been really paranoid!

Luckily, Dr. Moore was able to find the heartbeat relatively easily, except the baby kept moving around! The heartbeat was strong and in the 150's! Dr. Moore explained that I probably had an anterior placenta, meaning the placenta is between my belly and the baby, and that's why it's more difficult for me to feel this baby. She said I should begin feeling the baby soon when the kicks become more vigorous! I can't wait!!!

I was sent downstairs to the lab for a preeclampsia work-up and AFP testing to determine the baby's health. I'm praying for healthy, normal results from that test, and will hear the results at my perinatologist visit on 3/22 at 4:00! I'm so stoked for that visit, that's when we'll find out the sex of our lil' baby! Oh, and I was sent home with a 24 hr urine collection kit to collect baseline labs in case preeclampsia rears it's ugly head again! Hopefully it won't, I'm staying positive and thinking I'm going to have a nice, healthy and happy 9 months!!! :)

Oh, last thing, I thought my due date was 8/14/10 based on the 8 wk ultrasound, the doc clarified that it's actually based on my LMP, which makes my official due date 8/9/10! Pretty sweet date!!!