27 weeks and Belly pictures

15 weeks!

22 weeks!

27 weeks!

Passed my glucose test this week! YAY! Have our next big ultrasound at Duke Maternal-Fetal Medicine on October 12th! I can't wait to get more pictures of her! She's still really active, moving a TON in the afternoon and evening. Brett has started on the wainscoating in the nursery and I've picked out the fabric for the nursery bedding, which a friend is making for me! It's fabric that my mom's friend Tina Givens designed and the line that I'm using is called fairy tip toes the pink line. It's super cute!

Baltimore

This weekend was our "Babymoon". We caught a wonderful Red Sox win versus the Orioles at Camden Yards, lots of college football at ESPN Zone, the inner harbor, good seafood and sleep! We also got some shopping in at IKEA and the Leesburg Outlets. I got some of the best sleep of my life (and Brett too I think). The hotel had Sleep Number beds! We slept 12 hrs Friday night and I took a 2 hr nap on Saturday, it was great! I haven't slept well for at least 10 weeks so it was a much needed, relaxing weekend!

Today I am 24 weeks! A big milestone as this is the minimal viability for a baby. So excited to be at this point!

Total weight gain: 10lbs or so
Maternity clothes: pants, definantly! Can fit in a few of my regular shirts still!
Stretch marks: No new ones!
Sleep: Sleeping better in the past 2 weeks then the previous 6!
Movement: Alot most days, especially in the afternoon and evening!
Food Cravings: Not really eating sweets--rare for me! Pickles and salty things are yummy!
Labor Signs: A couple contractions, nothing that hurts or worrisome, thank goodness!
Belly Button: Still looking like it should
What I miss eating: Queso dip, a big juicy hot dog!
What am I looking forward to: her arrival, of course at least in 12 weeks!
Milestones: 24 weeks! Also, getting Brett to actually start planning for a baby!

I now have to sit down to put socks and shoes on. Getting up and down is definantly not easy and I am stiff and sore, lots of back pain especially after work. This weekend my pregnant self is in a fashion and hair show for breast cancer awareness...talk about interesting since I'll be in heels, YIKES! Next weekend we are headed to Baltimore and furniture shopping. We are hoping to find things for the nursery and the house, can't wait!

Pediatric Cardiologist

Went yesterday and things look good! Lil one's heart looks normal, so no major defect! Thank you Lord! He said because she's so small (at this point about 12" and 1 lb) and they can't see everything that he can't rule out something small--a hole or minor defect. So unless Duke MFM sees something at our next Level II ultrasound in 5 1/2 weeks we don't have to go back!

I'll be posting belly pictures soon!

First Level II Ultrasound Pictures!

Next Test

Today I am 21 weeks and 6 days pregnant (YAY!). We found out that our little one's cardiac echo will be next Wednesday the 2nd of September. Please join us in praying that she will pass this test with flying colors! What it will do--it tells us if her heart is functioning correctly. Something minor would most likely mean that we can deliver at Rex still (please GOD!), but something major would mean I would have to go to Duke or UNC (somewhere they can do major pediatric cardiac surgery). At this point this test is just precautionary as she has a two vessel (instead of three) umbilical cord and cardiac anomalies are a potential side effect. Our first level II ultrasound revealed no problems with her at all (thank you Lord!), but this echo is more definitive for the cardiac function and is done by a pediatric cardiologist.

On a more positive note, she is an active little thing that seems to rarely sit still--just like her daddy! I feel her moving all the time. We are planning our "babymoon" this week. We are headed to Baltimore in September to watch the Red Sox and do some shopping and sightseeing, I'm so excited! We'll let you know how things go!

It's a girl! No more baby Carlos!

To Mitch, Mark, Brett, Luke and Jeanie: NO MORE BABY CARLOS!!
Today was our level II ultrasound and boy has it been an emotional rollercoaster!! I was so excited to hear that we were having a girl, especially since everyone thought it was a boy! We went to Duke Maternal-Fetal Medicine for the ultrasound and they assured us (after our second visit of the day!) that everthing looks fine...BUT she does have a 2 vessel umbilical cord. A normal baby has 3 vessels, 2 that feed the baby and 1 that returns blood to me. However, she only has one vessel feeding her. There are TONS of anomalies that can be associated with this, many I had no clue about. I have delivered many babies with 2 vessel cords that are just fine so that's what we are praying for! The MFM specialist assured us that everything about her looks normal, their main concern going forward is that she grows well. We follow up in October with another level II ultrasound and will keep going to my OBGYN for weight and measurement follow up. We are hoping and praying that worst case scenario she'll just be a little small!