12-Week Ultrasound

This trip for an ultrasound was a bit more unplanned, but due to some cramping, my midwives wanted to check the baby out. I was not that concerned, but cannot express the joy we felt to see this healthy baby girl and how much she changed in FOUR weeks!! Isn't she pretty!? :) She was kicking up a storm, looking toward the camera, and had her right arm up by her face a lot. (I told her later that she is not allowed to enter this world with a hand presentation, cause that won't be so comfy for Mommy!)
We are also happy to report that aside from the cramping prior to this ultrasound, this pregnancy has gone by with very few symptoms other than exhaustion. All I could manage to do for weeks was to sit on the couch and formulate baby organs - no dishes, no laundry - nothing but sitting, napping, and making a human. But I'll take that all day long over hugging the toilet!
No belly pics yet... as there is yet no belly to pic. They will come soon enough! The verdict is also still out on a name. We will share once we decide though, for there will be items to monogram!!

8-Week Ultrasound

With a little tapping into my connections at the hospital, we managed to get an ultrasound early on at 8 weeks. We took this picture and shrunk it down, putting it into lockets to tell the moms at Christmas about the baby. It was nothing short of incredible to see this living being inside of me, beating heart and all. Truly a miracle from heaven!

Tell Me Pink or Blue

So you might be wondering why the theme of this blog is already gender specific, when I am only 13 weeks along! (Due date is somewhere at the end of July or early August, by the way...) While perusing the web weeks before I even became pregnant, I found out about a somewhat-new, take-home gender test. As a nurse, I was initially skeptical, and read everything I could about this test that supposedly could tell you the gender of your baby SEVEN weeks after conception! After reading studies and the premise behind the DNA-based test, I was sold. With 95% accuracy rates, this company (tellmepinkorblue.com) screens a sample of your blood for the baby's DNA that has been released into mom's bloodstream. If they find male DNA, you're having a boy. Gathering from the pink, our results came back with no male DNA, meaning that we're having a precious little girl! It will be interesting to have our 20-week ultrasound in March to confirm these results - no painting the nursery quite yet! And if they're wrong, we get a 100% refund. Unfortunately, they won't return all of the dresses and bows that my mother has already purchased, however. :)

The Two Will Become Three!

On November 17, 2009, our lives changed forever! We found out that God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams... we are going to have a baby!! Sort of planned, sort of a surprise, we could not be happier. Grant and I have been walking around for the past 13 weeks beaming, with sore cheeks to prove it! So we are joining the ranks of the blog writers in the world, as most of our family lives far away. :( We hope that this blog can give a bit of a closer look at all that happens throughout the rest of my pregnancy and thereafter... Enjoy!