Red splotches

So, yes, I did get snowed in last Friday, but instead of waiting for a flight, I drove home. The typical 9 hour drive ended up being 13 hours with weather and traffic, but I was still home long before the flight would have gotten me here. Nothing like an unplanned roadtrip!

I also had another checkup yesterday and all is well. Tuna Unit's heatbeat is around 140 now, and she is busy all the time. I have these broken capillaries all over my chest and shoulders, which the doctor says is normal due to vascular changes. Looks great. :-)

Healthy check-up

There is not much new to report, but we had another regular check-up yesterday. All is well. My iron is slightly low, and I am little dehydrated, but nothing to worry about. Everything is measuring properly for the 23rd week of development.

The bambina weighs about a 1 lb. these days, and her heart rate was around 150. She is the most active usually between 8-9am, 9-10pm, and 3-4am. She also loves her daddy's voice - who knows why! If she hasn't moved for a while, I ask Ryan to talk to my belly, and that always gets her kicking.

I am also feeling more pregnant - fat, slow, and out of breath! Oh well, I guess being forced to slow down isn't such a bad thing! :-)

It's a Sheila!

The u/s tech asked us if we had any guesses about whether it was a boy or a girl, and we said, "We both feel like it's a boy, so it will probably be a girl." And, her eventual response, "You were right that you'd be wrong!"

So, we have to start picking out little girl names tonight. The u/s was amazing. I can't believe all of the things they can tell from these pictures now. She was playing with her hands the whole time, sucking her thumb, and she was sitting indian style. Her heartbeat was 132, and she is about 9 oz. right now.

We got a whole CD of pictures, but I will load a few of the best here.

There are her special parts:


See the legs all curled up:

Thumb sucker!

She looks like Ryan already!

Count to five:

Heartbeat and fundus

Our appt this morning went really well, and I can finally feel at ease again (for a few days at least..). We got to hear the heartbeat again, and that was wonderful.

Also the doctor showed me how I could feel where my uterus has grown to (the fundus) and measure to ensure my development is on track even if I am not gaining weight. From week 18 on, it should be as many centimeters as weeks pregnant you are. Right now, it is 15cm, which is apparently just right. Now I need to run out and buy a flexible tape measure...

Our next appt is Jan. 29, when we will get another u/s and hopefully be able to tell the sex of the baby... Are you a little boy or little girl, my small Tuna Unit?

Puking across Europe

Morning sickness set in two days before we left on our trip. And here I was thinking I would be one of the lucky few spared the nausea (mom never had any!). Our trip was really awesome anyhow - at least the parts after noon. The mornings mostly consisted of my sitting with my eyes closed on the touring bus trying not to move or breath.

Mom and dad now know the secret, too. I told them on a trip to Pgh for a CMU reunion. My poor friend Kristin had to be witness to the family event, but I was glad to be able to tell them in person. My dad's reaction was shouting, "Oh my God!" and my mom to cry and say, "I never thought you'd really do it!" I thought that was pretty funny, ha.

Today we got to have our second ultra-sound. The first just revealed the gestational sac and yolk sac. (Makes me feel like a chicken.) But today was pretty amazing. Immediately she found the baby, who is exactly on track being the proper size measuring 7 weeks and 4 days. Seeing the heartbeat, and then hearing it was so wonderful. To know that little one is really in there, alive and growing. The heartbeat is 152 beats per minutes, which I am told is perfectly normal. Ryan said he was even more excited to see how excited I was to see it on the screen. It really is so cool. I will try to scan in the picture and attach it here, but basically imagine a little shrimp. That's what it looks like :-)