Oh, Boy! (week 18)

Suspicions confirmed! Baby H is now Baby Boy H!

That was one fun ultrasound. A very nice (and 37 week pregnant) ultrasound tech talked us through the anatomy scan, showing us what was what. She looked at everything... brain, heart, kidneys, stomach, arms, legs, fingers, toes... you get the point. Very cool! BBH, as he now can be called, was moving and shaking for us. The ultrasound tech said "This is going to be an active one, he's going crazy in there!" Uh oh! He was jumping, twisting, kicking, and even trying to put toes in his mouth. When we confirmed that we wanted to know the gender, she moved the ultrasound wand to the right spot and said "Now, what do you think it is?". Haha... very obviously a boy!

Doc says that everything from the scan looks normal, and he is weighing in at about 10oz... which is 55th percentile for his gestational age.

Now... time to start considering names!

Nearing the end of trimester 1!

Weeks 10-12

I am getting really, really sick of hiding the pregnancy. I feel pretty good, just some trouble sleeping and tiredness. I am pretty sure I haven't had an uninterrupted night's sleep since Park City. Exercising helps with tiredness and energy levels, so I'm trying to do that as often as possible. It's a little depressing watching my fitness level decline (usually it gets better and better, then I race, take time off, and start over), but it's for a good cause :). Right now my plan is to register for the 2011 Boston Marathon as a motivation to get back in shape post baby.

On another note, I attended a friend's bachlorette party extravaganza (2 days, 3 events) over the first weekend in March, which was really tricky. It's hard to hide the fact that you're not drinking when you're around 20 girls and lots of glasses of champagne! I got through it even though I slipped out early...

Oh, PS- I wore maternity pants for the first time during week 12. Ahhh.... they are comfy!

First appointments

Weeks 7-9

After what seemed like months of waiting, our first OB appointment arrived! I was nervous, excited, and hopeful. I really wanted hard proof that there was a baby in there and that it was in the right place. But when we got there, it seemed pretty clear that an ultrasound wasn't going to happen. The appointment went well, the doctor was nice, and she confirmed a due date of October 9th 2010. I think she could sense my nervousness though... and she suggested we come back the following Monday for an ultrasound. YES!!

One long weekend later...

And Monday arrived! After two visits to NWH I know now that I have to allow more time than I expect for parking. They've got a huge parking lot but it's a nightmare to navigate! Dan was meeting me there, and called to say he was running a few minutes late. I waited for him outside the office until 2:14 (for a 2:15 appointment). Dan was parking his car at that time and I didn't want to be disrespectful and arrive late. So I went to check in, assuming that he would be there by the time they called my name. We had waited for almost a half hour at the first appointment, afterall! WRONG! 30 seconds after I checked in someone called my name. Bummer! Dan wasn't there yet. The tech took me back to the ultrasound room and went to work. Within a few seconds she found the little bean and showed me the heartbeat- 150BPM! She confirmed that I was 7 weeks and a few days along, printed out some photos for me, and sent me on my way. I was back in the waiting room at 2:17 and Dan was there waiting for me :(

We were both bummed that he missed seeing the ultrasound, but relieved that everything looked good so far. We signed up for down syndrome testing at week 12.5 (March 31), for the sole purpose of having another ultrasound :)