Drum Roll Please!!!!

David and I went to our 2nd trimester ultrasound. We had horrible weather yesterday. See to the left my mid-20 week belly pic, with tighter shirts you can start to tell. We decided to find out the sex of the baby. As you can clearly tell from the pics below......its a BOY!!!!!!!! David and I are BEYOND excited! This is the 1st boy grandchild AND (most importantly) the 1st born to be a boy into a family from the James and Heim chain!

Everything looks great with regards to the baby. 2 arms, 2 legs, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 4 heart chambers, bones look good so far. Everything is developing nicely. Our little boy weights 14 ounces and is about 7 1/2 inches long from crown to rump.

20 weeks = Half-way!!!!

So Ive reached 20 weeks, the half-way point. Im so thankfull and thrilled Ive made it this far. Still feeling the bubbles, I know soon they will turn into kicks. Hopefully soon David will be able to feel them. I hope to take a belly pic next week when we get our ultrasound done (3/26/09). Stay posted for the pics!!! Ive attached a summary below on what should be going on this week.



Congratulations! This week marks the half way point of your pregnancy. It has been 18 weeks since the date of conception and your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5.6 to 6.4 inches (the length of a banana). The fetus weighs about 9 ounces and your belly definitely has an obvious bulge. Your waistline has expanded and is no longer visible. Your uterus has now moved up enough that it is pushing your abdomen outwards. The top of your uterus is even with or just below your navel.

For the remainder of your pregnancy, the growing uterus puts pressure on your lungs, stomach and kidneys. This will make you feel short of breath, the need to urinate more frequently and can cause indigestion. The added pressure on your abdomen can also cause your bellybutton to protrude and cause an `outy` instead of an `inny`. Many pregnant women begin to notice stretch marks around this time as well. Your abdominal muscles are being stretched and pushed apart as your baby grows inside of you.

Your baby's skin begins to thicken this week and will develop four layers. Your baby's sebaceous glands secrete a waxy substance called vernix caseosa. Your baby will be born with this wax and it will look like paste. The vernix caseosa is crucial because it protects the fetus' fragile skin from the continuous immersion in amniotic fluid. Lanugo hairs secure the vernix caseosa in place and it is thick around the eyebrows. Scalp hair and toenails are beginning to form at this point. Hair can also be seen on the upper lip and eyebrows.

NT Scan results

I forgot to post these results.

Down Syndrome:
1:1,912

Trisonomy 13 & 18:
1:10,000

This means a low risk baby!

Movement!

Im almost 19 weeks and I finally felt the baby move. Ive been waiting for this for awhile, and knew being a 1st time mom, it might take a bit longer. Well last night I felt him/her move. I had eaten something that upset my stomach yesterday and I was paying for it last night. As most 1st moms do, they dismiss possible movement as an upset stomach. Well I actually had both. My upset stomach pressure and pain subsided, but I still felt that "upset stomach feeling", but there was no pain or pressure accompanied with it. Then it clicked!!!! Thats the baby moving!!! Ive had this feeling for a while now and just brushed it off for nerves with my new job or it must be something I ate. So now that I "know" the feeling, Im feeling the baby about 30 min after I eat, or drink something with caffine in it. Its very exciting, and I cant wait til David gets to feel the baby move.

We also should be able to hear the heartbeat with a stehoscope in the next few weeks! My next appt. is on the 26th for the ultrasound! Stay posted after the 26th for an update with pics!