IT'S A BOY!
In case you can't tell what you're looking at in the above photo, picture that the baby has sat on a copying machine. His little bum cheeks are in the right corner of the photo, and his leg bone shows up bright white stretching out to the left of the photo. In the middle of the black area is his little manhood - no guessing, this is for sure a baby boy!
We woke up to four inches of snow on the ground on Wednesday morning. Even still, Joshua's preschool didn't close but simply had a one-hour delay. So, I took him to school and then raced Caleb over to Ma-maw's house and flew to my first doctor's appointment. I wasn't late, but they took me right back. Dr. Jones had no problems finding the baby's heartbeat and said it sounded good. The nurse had also noted that my blood pressure was low. Low is normal for me and normal for pregnancy whereas high can be a sign that something's wrong. So far, everything looks good. Dr. Jones answered my questions and told me that we'd schedule the c-section at my next appointment. Yeah!
You're looking at the baby's head in the middle of the photo above, with the dark circles being the eye sockets. His little back is on the left of the picture.
After my appointment, I drove over the Olive Garden, where I was supposed to meet Shawn for lunch. Unfortunately, my cell phone wasn't charged and died that morning. DOH! And unfortunately for me, Shawn's meeting went LONG and his message on my cell never reached me. Double DOH! So, I waited and waited and waited for him to come, hoping that he was okay on the snowy roads. As luck would have it, friends from our life group had decided to dine there that afternoon as well and upon hearing that I had been there 45 minutes waiting for my dear husband, they offered to let me use their cell phone to call and make sure he was okay. He was indeed fine but running extremely late and now stuck in traffic. Knowing he was on his way, I went and got us a table and ordered our lunch awhile, which came out right away. He arrived shortly thereafter, and he was extremely apologetic. While I was annoyed at first, I remembered before he got there about how much grace he always has for me, so I told him that it wasn't a big deal. It was just bad luck all around! And, we had a nice lunch together even though it was a quick one. Our service was excellent and we made it to our ultrasound in plenty of time. Shawn joked that my low blood pressure worked out to his benefit. Haaa!!! I was just glad he was safe and there.
This was my favorite picture from the ones given to us that day. While it's hard to see here from the scan, the baby is laying ever so peacefully almost on his stomach (how the rest of my boys - including Daddy - like to sleep). His little face is so dear in this picture!
We went right back to our ultrasound, but we had a different tech than normal. I liked the other one better, I'll admit. But, it's the doctor that's most important to me, and we got to see Dr. Bayliss. He told us that everything looks "in tact" with this baby. He's growing very normally, weighing over half a pound already. His brain looks good, his spine looks good, his lungs look good (he actually asked me to diagnose them, joking that I would know as well as anyone if they were healthy or not - this was for the benefit of a student who was shadowing him that day, I think), and his heart looks good. Dr. Bayliss also explained that the placenta is on the back wall. I asked him what that meant, and he said with c-section patients, sometimes the placenta can attach itself to the scar tissue near the incision, which can make it extremely difficult to get the baby out and causes a lot more complications for the mama. Instead, my baby is in a great position, right where he should be.
I thought the baby looked a little alien-esque in this photo, but you can really see his skull, nose, lips and jawline.
Dr. Bayliss said the face is forming nicely, and he also joked that there's "no need for arrows on this boy's picture - you can definitely tell he's a boy." He also asked if we'd ever seen the show "My Three Sons." While I hadn't, I had heard of it. He joked around with us quite a bit (we talked about how sometimes ugly parents have beautiful children and vice versa) and then he explained to the med student that "The Good's and I go way back." I'm sure that comment was for our benefit, but we always enjoy seeing him. He explains things well and he also makes us laugh. While everything looks great, he said he wanted to see us back toward the beginning of our next trimester just to confirm that the baby's completely healthy (adding that Caleb is a good indication that this baby should also do just fine). We scheduled our appointment on a day where we should be guaranteed to see Dr. Bayliss again.
After hearing his comment on "My Three Sons" I was trying to think of other three's. Of course I thought of the Three Musketeers and the Three Amigos and smiled. Then I thought of the Three Stooges and shook my head. God is a holy trinity, but I don't believe my kids to be deity (even though I think a lot of their Daddy!). There's the three little pigs, and the boys love the story about the three bears (but that was a Daddy, Mommy and Baby so that one doesn't count). Anyway, I don't know if I'll think of more or not, but this was the start of my list.
The baby loves to have his hands by his face. In this photo, you can really see his arm and hand. Every time the tech wanted to see something, our little guy would put his hands right where she wanted to scan. He would also 'run away' as she put it. But, they got what they needed.
Joshua was extremely disappointed to hear that he wasn't going to have a sister after all. As Daddy said, we could always adopt some day. Either way, I know that he'll be thrilled when the baby comes. Caleb has wanted a boy all along, and he insists that we name the baby 'Mater.' Every time I ask him, that's his suggestion. Joshua says 'no, silly, that's a truck!' We laugh. The baby will not be named Mater, but we haven't officially decided on his name yet.
Here's the baby's development over the past couple weeks:
Week 18
Fetal Development
Our little one is nearly half a pound now and very human looking. Pads are forming on the fingertips and toes, and the eyes are looking forward rather than out the sides of the head. Meconium, the baby's first bowel movement, is accumulating within the bowel. If your baby is a boy, his prostate gland is beginning to develop. If you notice your belly making jerky movements in sync, don't panic; your baby may have the hiccups!
Maternal Changes
| Feeling dizzy, lightheaded or faint are normal during pregnancy. These symptoms aren't harmful unless they occur frequently or severely. "Postural hypotension" is low blood pressure due to a change in position and happens frequently in pregnancy because your cardiovascular system doesn't react as fast. |
Inspirational Thoughts
If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much. ~Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Week 19
Fetal Development
Along with the lanugo, vernix caseosa forms on your baby's skin. Vernix is a white cheesy substance that protects your baby's skin from its aquatic environment ~ imagine how your skin would look if you sat in water for nine months! The placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby.
For us, knowing we'll have a c-section, this is the half way mark in the pregnancy! :)
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