Tuesday, June 23, 2009

20 Weeks - We're halfway there!

This Sunday marked the beginning of my 20th week of pregnancy. We're so excited, as this means we're halfway to meeting our sweet little one! We got to celebrate this milestone with our 20-week ultrasound. We're still waiting on word from the midwife, but the ultrasound tech said everything is looking great. While the tech was scanning, Baby Diego was showing off his/her acrobatic skills by constantly somersaulting! It actually allowed the tech to get all of the needed pictures quickly and provided some entertainment for Branden and I. Many of you have asked and I'm happy to say that we resisted the temptation and did NOT find out the sex of Baby Diego! I know this disappoints some of you but we will find out soon enough. Besides, won't it be so fun to receive news from us in November with a subject line of "It's a _____!"?

The most incredible aspect of the ultrasound was being able to see every little bone in Baby Diego's body. We could see the entire skull, his/her little arm and leg bones and every single vertebrae in the spine. We could also see all four chambers of the heart and all of the teeny tiny little fingers and toes. It's amazing, considering he/she doesn't even weigh a full pound yet! We managed to get a few photos, but they didn't scan very well, so I apologize for the poor quality. Our favorite is the one of Baby Diego's little feet - this was taken in a rare moment of relaxation for him/her, when he/she was just laying there, legs crossed at the ankles. It was too cute!


Baby Diego's little arm and hand ^ - the white images are the bones, just like you see in the picture below





Baby Diego's spine ^ - it's hard to make out in this scanned version of the picture, but there is black space in between each of the vertebrae (again, shown in white). When you see it on the screen, you can actually make out each of the 33 vertebrae!



Our favorite picture! Diego's tiny feet ^, crossed at the ankles, just relaxing in my belly :)

Monday, June 8, 2009

Mini Marty Update

Time continues to fly! The last month has been as hectic as ever. As many of you know, I love to be organized and prepared (not quite sure why I'm so messy, but I just chalk that up to my "creative" side). Given that, I've spent the last month researching, planning and preparing for Mini Marty. Branden and I were finally in town at the same time last weekend, so I made him drive all over San Diego to take care of "baby errands". With a little more than half of this pregnancy left, we've got our stroller and nursery furniture purchased, we start childbirth classes next week and we are interviewing doulas this weekend. I know, I'm crazy! Surprisingly, Branden says this pregnancy has actually made me more mellow...what was I like before?! Honestly, I was overwhelmed when I realized everything that needs to be done in preparation for a baby and spreading out the tasks makes me feel less anxious about getting it all done. Now we just need to pick names, paint and set-up the nursery, write a birth plan, stock up on baby necessities, fill out my maternity leave paperwork, find childcare for after my maternity leave (do you know how long some of these waiting lists are?!), order birth announcements, etc etc etc...we have a lot to do, but we are so happy to do it!

I know you really came here looking for updates on Mini, so here is the latest. Mini Marty (aka "Baby Diego") is 18 weeks old now! He/she has a new nickname, Baby Diego, and I felt him/her start to move last week! That was incredible. I don't feel the movements every day, but my midwife says I will soon. Saturday morning, while I was at pilates class, Baby Diego was moving a ton! It felt like he/she was doing pilates right along with me. The other movements have felt more like little punches, which I don't appreciate quite as much. :) I can only imagine how those jabs will feel as he/she grows in strength and size.

I had a check-up with my new midwife this morning (my doctor got transferred to the East Coast) and Baby Diego's heartbeat is still strong, in the 150s. The midwife had our test results ready for us (for Down's, Trisomy, etc) and everything looks great. We are very thankful for that.

We have our "big" ultrasound (and likely, our last) next Friday and, of course, we are very excited for that. At this ultrasound, they will check Baby Diego in detail and make sure that he/she is progressing as expected. We love seeing our little one on the big screen and I'm sure the progress Baby Diego has made since our last ultrasound will be remarkable. Hopefully, we will get some great pictures and, if so, I will be sure to post them here.

I do want to take a quick moment to thank you all for your well-wishes. I've tried to keep up with the emails, but I know I haven't gotten back to everyone. Please know that we greatly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family sharing this experience with us.