Week 18 Ultrasound

Creepy yet oddly compelling baby pics!

From Week 18

"Mom! Quit looking at me! I'm naked!"

Bouncing Baby, Hold the Pink

We had our ultrasound today and, after much deliberation, decided to find out the gender.  We're having a girl!  A girl who has a really big mouth....  She apparently takes after her father.  :)

J will be posting ultrasounds pics in a little while, but they aren't as clear as the old ones, so I'm not sure how much you'll actually be able to see.  The murloc was sleepy and yawning and not moving around as much as she was last time, but all her fingers and toes and heart and kidneys and everything were there and working.  It really is amazing to be able to see all of that.

With the latest news of a healthy growing baby, it looks like it's time to book a flight to France!  Hold on to your gender-neutral-or-at-least-not-too-pink-finery, Paris.  I'm coming to see you!

Not so quiet on the baby front

I'm sorry that the blog hasn't been updated more regularly.  It turns out that there is just not that much going on (at least visually) between weeks 14 and 18.  The murloc has been growing and doing his/her own thing in there, but I couldn't feel much.  My pants were getting tight though! 

Now, at 18 weeks, the fun stuff is starting.  I can no longer fit in my pants and J loves to talk to my bump.  He's a big fan of all the new curves that come with the pregnancy, though he's not so thrilled with the resulting tenderness.  I hear that this gets better too.  My students have all figured it out and I've been told by several girls that I'm having a boy as I'm carrying kind of low.  I'm thinking I should turn all of this guessing into a fundraising tournament... the schools always need more money!

I first felt a little bit of stirring way back at about 13 weeks, but it wasn't distinct or ongoing.  These days, however, the little jumping bean in my belly is starting to get going.  S/he's now big enough and strong enough that I can feel the kicks and bumps.  It's not very strong yet and you certainly can't see it, but it's there.  Most people describe it as a weird gassy or bubbly feeling and there's definitely an aspect of that, but it's also really tickles.  I'm not a particularly ticklish person, but I almost started giggling in a meeting yesterday because of all the movements.  I can't wait until I can feel it more!  On the other hand, I'm hoping that the murloc is not too much like baby Natalie, who spent quite a bit of time punching her mother in the cervix.  Ouch!

In other exciting news, it looks like I'll be taking a "last hurrah!" trip to France with my mother this summer.  We figure that it will be the last time that we can pick up and spend a couple of weeks in a foreign country without having to be responsible for the welfare of anyone else.  Yes, my dad and J can feed and clothe themselves.  It will be a lot of fun to get back to France one more time and just hang out, eat wonderful food, lust after tasty wine, and buy cute baby clothes.  

We have our next ultrasound next Tuesday and it will be neat to see the baby again.  I do think that doctors do too many ultrasounds and tend to meddle more than is necessary, but it's a bit addictive to be able to see what's going on in there.  My fingers are crossed that the baby isn't hopping around quite so much this time so that the doctor can get a good look and make sure that everything looks good.  We'll keep you posted!

Heartbeat

This is about two weeks overdue at this point, but better late than never! At our last appointment, we got to hear the murloc's heartbeat for the first time:



The murloc, being an aquatic creature with minimal aerobic activities, nevertheless has a strong, rapid heartbeat.

* Can't play the audio? Get QuickTime.