38 Week Exam

I had my 38 week appointment today. My next appointment is scheduled for 2 weeks from now..just one day shy of my due date!!! I know I've said this before but WHERE has the time gone!!!! Anyway, in a nutshell, all went well today. The doctor strongly suspects based on the internal exam that I will make it to 40 weeks! I'm actually happy and relieved to hear this news since Toomas Mom isn't scheduled to be here until January 9th AND because a December birth would mean entry into the school system one full year earlier. I've been having a LOT of fairly painful contractions lately, so I'm relieved to know they aren't doing anything!!! I mostly get them on ONE side and not in my back...but it was great to hear that things aren't impending. Just a few days to make it until 2009! :) The baby hasn't yet engaged either, although I do feel him to be a lot lower than in previous weeks. I had a very quick ultrasound today in which the doc was mainly concerned to check fetal size and position. Currently the little man is checking in at 3490 grams or 7 pounds 11 oz. This is with 2 weeks to go. I'm quite sure he will be close to Erik's size which was 4 kg and 55 cm long! We'll see though...the doc's opinion was that he wouldn't quite reach 4 kg.. I had a bout of stomach flu for a few days and it was rough. The nausea wasn't as bad as the extreme fatigue and muscle pain. I survived though and am feeling up to par again as of today. I still have a lot of things to do on my list, but I'm getting there. Next week will be my final blood draw for the anesthesiologist. I had my appointment last week at the public clinic with their anesthesiologist just in case my private clinic is full on d-day. Now I'm all set for either clinic once I do the blood tests. I'm not planning on having an epidural but it is mandatory for emergency situations (emergency c-section). Last night I made up my birthing music cd and printed a neat little label directly on the cd. Today the kids did drawings for my hospital room and I printed out a little photo of the 3 of them to keep me company during my stay. All the small details are almost in order!!! Physically the pregnancy is getting to be a lot more difficult. Just one month ago I was SO comfortable, but now having a basketball size belly is getting difficult. Bending and moving around have become a lot harder in the last week or two. I'm hanging in there for sure, but it isn't a cake walk. I lost 2 kg since my last visit, but baby is still gaining a very well. I'm happy to hang on for another 2 weeks!!! The photo is of my baby belly taken just a few minutes ago--you can see how much the little man has GROWN!!!!

6th Month Exam

Here's our little guy today:
And here I am at 6 months!!!

Today Toomas and I went to my 6th month exam. We had a friend watch Kaitlyn so we were SOLO! It was actually FUN to be out just the 2 of us! It's been awhile! It was an ultrasound exam today so Toomas wanted to come and see how "big" our little man has grown. Toomas hasn't seeen the baby since the 15 week, 6 day exam when we found out it was a boy. Our little guy has grown a LOT since then. I'm 3 days shy of 24 weeks so everything looked a lot different. Today the doctor wanted to get a better look at the heart since the last time she said it was still a bit on the small side for viewing everything. She saw all 4 chambers, the aorta, and everything else she needed to see and praise God everything looks healthy and fine. We also were able to see the face better this time. During the 5th month exam we couldn't see the face that well because he was facing the placenta with his face pushed up against it. This time he was in a TOTALLY different position. Last appointment he was head down and unfortunately this appointment he decided to stand upright!! So his little feet are at the bottom. We got some great shots of him opening and closing his mouth and also of his fingers and toes. It was so cute!!! I am getting SO excited to meet him. We still haven't decided on a name yet. There are a few I like but we are tossing around middle names and also how things are pronounced here in France---that is the BIG name breaker right now. So today I am happy to report we have a handsome, healthy little baby growing quickly. He measured 24-25 weeks so approx a week to week and a half ahead. He's right on target for being a big baby boy like his brother. My weight gain was not good--I'm not going into numbers here but I PROMISE myself no more desert...I think the juice and fruit were the killers this month. I was just craving them so much but my doctor said fruit is to be treated like a desert in pregnancy.....So that is a brief report from the day. I'm uploading a video clip that Toomas took during the exam. It isn't the best angle and is pretty long (12 minutes) but it has some cute moments. I'll have my next appointment in one month but my next ultrasound isn't until 32 weeks (I'm almost 24 now). Enjoy the profile shot of our new little guy! He looks so sweet!!! I just can't get over how excited I am to meet him!!!! Time is flying by now and it won't be long!

19 Week Ultrasound Photos

These are some of the photos from yesterday's ultrasound. I was 19 weeks and 4 days for the exam and the baby measured anywhere from 19 weeks, 2 days to 20 weeks, 4 days for the various measurments. I'm ataching one sheet of photos (plus a few close ups of the profiles). The 20 weeks, 4 days measurement was the femur length shot. Looks like a tall one on our hands. Erik was 55 cm at birth so this may also be the case here also. The profile shots were a little difficult to get because the little baby bean was very active in there...so a clear shot was pretty hard. This is the best the doctor could do. The baby's overall weight is estimated at 325 grams (which is 11 and 1/4 oz.). The average range for this age is 234-329 grams so we're right on target.

It's A.........

I had my ultrasound today and everything looked great. The baby was SUPER active which made it hard to get some measurments...but the doctor managed to get almost all angles necessary and saw a lot today! Lets see...she saw the four chambers of the heart and aorta, the 2 kidneys, the stomach, the profile, 10 fingers, 10 toes, the brain and the hemispheres and pretty much everything. She will do another u/s next month to get any measurments that she couldn't this time. She said usually she likes to do the anatomy scan at 22 weeks and I'm only 19---she said my skin was thin so she did see a lot for my gestational age (funny I always thought I was thick skinned!!), but most likely I'll get a u/s next month too for a better look. I'm so thankful that all looks healthy and fine!!!!

So, the baby is measuring right on target and we were able to confirm the gender this time. It was actually REALLY, REALLY easy! At my 16 week ultrasound the doctor (not this doctor) said he had a "guess" but I personally couldn't see a thing! Today when I asked if she could tell the gender she said "Why don't you tell me!!" Then she showed me the money shot! There was NO denying it was a boy! When I asked her how sure she was she said "Absolutely 100%"....So now it is time to start thinking seriously about boy names...I also stopped into Vertbaudet on the way home (I was parked in the mall parking lot) and bought him a tiny stuffed doggie and a pair of pj's....these are to remember the day I was told he was a he.

We got some good photos today also, but they are small. I will try to get them uploaded later. Tonight we are having a pizza party to celebrate our new little addition. It was SO wonderful seeing him looking so big and healthy! :) Praise God for his goodness!!

Here is my 19 week, 4 day belly shot. In THREE days I'm halfway through the pregnancy!! It is funny but we have hardly even announced the pregnancy yet. This is partly because I ALWAYS wait until the end of the first trimester...and then the summer vacation was upon us and everyone was gone. We better get busy...there is no hiding it now! :) I won't have much announcing to do with this growing belly!

16 Week Belly Shot and Exam

Yesterday I had an exam with a new doctor. Here in France you have to deliver at the hospital where your doctor is affiliated. Unfortunately my doctor is now affiliated with a public hospital and is no longer doing deliveries....and besides I don't want to deliver in a public hospital this time. So, what this means is that I will have to make a switch at some point in my pregnancy to a doctor who is affiliated where I want to deliver. I have decided that since I LOVED my last experience so much-- that I want to go back there (to the private clinic). Naturally I called the same physician who I used for the last time. It turns out she is no longer delivering, so I needed to see her partner. The funny thing about it is that HE was actually the doctor that ended up being present at the end of Kaitlyn's birth because she was out of town. He is just AWESOME!! SUCH a wonderful doctor. I am starting to wonder if I should make the switch earlier to him rather than just in the 9th month as is usually standard to do.

So yesterday he opened my file and gave me the paperwork so that I could register at the private clinic. I will be doing this sometime after our trip to Estonia. He also did an exam and surprised me by offering me an ultrasound! I was thrilled at a chance to see the baby again. The baby was moving arms and legs and I even had the courage to ask the doctor if he thought it was a boy or girl. He gave us a very strong indication of the gender, but I will wait to officially announce it until I have my anatomy scan in a few weeks...I'm going to have to try and find a fun way of announcing the gender this time. My anatomy scan is set for August 26th. I'll be 19 weeks and 4 days then.

So, as far as the exam went..everything looked good with the baby! Toomas took a video clip during the ultrasound which I will share below. There are a few good moments, but the angle wasn't that great and the camera had trouble focusing. I also got a few pictures of the baby, but they weren't very clear. The ultrasound starts out with the leg and foot (just for reference!).My blood pressure was a bit high which is unusual, but it was VERY hot yesterday and I had been walking a lot. I'm hoping it was a fluke. I have been having pretty nasty headaches lately though and those aren't fun. I'm also hoping it is related to the heat.

SO tomorrow we head off on our summer vacation to Estonia. We are really looking forward to seeing the grandparents and relaxing. I hope the kids can brush up on their Estonian too!!! We'll be there for 2 weeks and plan on traveling a bit throughout the country. It should be great!

By the way, this week I have really popped out! I can officially say I am looking pregnant now. FOR SURE! I think I have passed the looking fat stage now, which I'm always so happy to leave behind.

I won't be back until mid August! I'll definately have a few belly shots to catch up on then.

Here is the video of the ultrasound:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Sweet Baby

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I had my First Trimester ultrasound and NT screen today and everything looks right on target! It was GREAT to see the baby again. Toomas and Kaitlyn came with me and Kaitlyn was on her VERY best behavior. I was so proud of her. She sat in her stroller like a big girl and didn't make a peep for the whole 25 minutes of the exam. We had a wonderful appointment, despite my fearing that I wouldn't get to even see the screen since it was at the public hospital (often they don't want patients to see the ultrasound screen!). My ultrasound there with Kaitlyn was nothing compared to this! They had a big screen on the wall and I could watch the whole thing! After the doctor took the measurments she said...Now for the fun, lets meet your baby and walked us through to see the baby.

My NT measurment was 1.4 which was excellent and this gave me a risk of 1/770 for downs and other trisomies with the combined blood screen. My test with Kaitlyn was 1/960 but I was almost 3 years younger then!!!! I didn't do the early screen with Krista and Erik---only the MSFAP at 15-16 weeks. The doctor said the results should be very reassuring considering the risk for downs for my age is 1/206.

Everything looked right on target. Baby was measuring 70 mm and was moving all around! It was wonderful to "connect" again! I just love this photo! :)

First Ultrasound!

I had my FIRST ob appointment and ultrasound last night at 7 weeks, 3 days. I didn't think I would get a ultrasound because my doctor was running REALLY behind schedule (TWO hours!), but thankfully she let me take a peek! In France the first official ultraound is around 12-13 weeks. The great news is that I got to see the heartbeat flashing on the screen --what a sight! I'm a bit frustrated because my doctor always goes by lmp date and not ovulation date, so that puts my due date 4 days later than it should be, but I'm going by MY calculations! I have short cycles and I know my cycle so end of story: my edd is January 16, 2009! Baby measured right on target at (7 weeks 2 days), (7 weeks, 5 days), and (8 weeks, 1 day). I told my doc that I have no major pregnancy symptoms to date this time around, with the exception of some very mild nausea and a distaste for certain foods. She reassured me that this is no indication of a healthy pregnancy. It is such a shocker for me because I was SO sick with all 3 other kids!! So...I guess it is OFFICAL now! :) Seeing the heartbeat is always very reassuring!