Well, we had another ultrasound today and Eric was right. We will be having a little Eli.
Or so we think.
While we saw parts today that definitely look more boy, you can never be 100% sure until the baby is actually born. But Eric and I feel like we can confidently say, based on what we saw and what we made of it, that we are having a boy.
We are both very excited about this, and while it wasn't as clear as some other ultrasounds we have seen (ahem), we can't wait to meet our little boy. And based on the kicking he's been doing lately, he's going to be a soccer player (I know all women say that and I'm mostly joking).
The Niesling was breathing quite heavily and moving a lot which is great. This will probably be the last ultrasound we do as we are in Week 31 and from now on there's not as much room for the baby to move around in.
As it is Week 31, we should probably get on putting the baby's room together (and clean all my stuff out of it) and I should maybe pack a hospital bag, huh? While anyone who knows me can attest, I am quite the procrastinator I think this is the best reason I'll ever have not to put it off and be ready for when Elijah Julian Nies arrives.
Showing posts with label ultrasound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ultrasound. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Blue vs Pink or Eric vs Michelle
One of the privileges of being Eric's wife is occasionally being right and getting to tell him "I told you so". (I know, not a great marriage practice, but that's a separate blog.) Frankly I don't get the opportunity to do it much. But we may have come upon the greatest "I told you so" of our lives.
The gender of our unborn child.
That's right, we're back to square one as far as knowing whether we'll have a little Eli or Maggie. As you may recall, at our December appointment the ultrasound tech said she thought she saw scrotum. Eric confirms that he saw what she was talking about. I, however, saw no such thing and was not fully convinced. (I will not be fully convinced until I see a penis.)
Today, thanks to Eric being on the board and the wonderful people who work there, we were able to have another ultrasound at the Bella Pregnancy Resource Center. Jodie, the nurse manager, was kind enough to do the ultrasound for us. It was amazing to see our baby on that screen again. We were lucky enough to see the Niesling sucking on toes, hands, and the umbilical cord. Eric's parents, who had never seen an ultrasound, were also there experiencing it with us. Roxie, Bella's executive director, was there as well. It was amazing for all of us.
We explained our gender conundrum to Jodie (Eric believing wholeheartedly that it is a boy while I remain somewhat skeptical) and she attempted to discover the sex herself. Unfortunately, our baby has a sense of modesty and kept his/her legs together, preventing any peeks into our boy vs girl problem. Eric flat out asked Jodie, if he put a gun to her head what would she say, and her reply was that she had no idea. It is completely 50/50 in her mind.
So while Eric still says it's a boy, I am back to telling people that we're not sure. We're hoping to have another ultrasound in a couple weeks to help determine who is right and who is wrong. The winner of this argument will be talking about it for the rest of our lives. Let's just hope it's me. :)
The gender of our unborn child.
That's right, we're back to square one as far as knowing whether we'll have a little Eli or Maggie. As you may recall, at our December appointment the ultrasound tech said she thought she saw scrotum. Eric confirms that he saw what she was talking about. I, however, saw no such thing and was not fully convinced. (I will not be fully convinced until I see a penis.)
Today, thanks to Eric being on the board and the wonderful people who work there, we were able to have another ultrasound at the Bella Pregnancy Resource Center. Jodie, the nurse manager, was kind enough to do the ultrasound for us. It was amazing to see our baby on that screen again. We were lucky enough to see the Niesling sucking on toes, hands, and the umbilical cord. Eric's parents, who had never seen an ultrasound, were also there experiencing it with us. Roxie, Bella's executive director, was there as well. It was amazing for all of us.
We explained our gender conundrum to Jodie (Eric believing wholeheartedly that it is a boy while I remain somewhat skeptical) and she attempted to discover the sex herself. Unfortunately, our baby has a sense of modesty and kept his/her legs together, preventing any peeks into our boy vs girl problem. Eric flat out asked Jodie, if he put a gun to her head what would she say, and her reply was that she had no idea. It is completely 50/50 in her mind.
So while Eric still says it's a boy, I am back to telling people that we're not sure. We're hoping to have another ultrasound in a couple weeks to help determine who is right and who is wrong. The winner of this argument will be talking about it for the rest of our lives. Let's just hope it's me. :)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Don't Worry, I'm Still Here!
It has been forever since I last updated the blog and I have gotten a couple gentle nudges this week from friends to update. So here I am. There won't be any pictures of me for this post as Eric is not here and I'm not sure how to upload them from the camera. I will learn though, so I can post pictures whenever!
Since I won't show you photographic evidence, I will tell you that I finally have the obvious pregnant belly. Last week Eric and I trekked to Rapid City and bought some more maternity clothes for me. I was pleasantly surprised how well everything fit and the selection of cute shirts to choose from! It has now reached the point that I cannot wear any of my old pants except sweats and lounge pants. Most of my shirts could stretch to accommodate the baby bump, but they're not long enough. So it was a good thing we expanded my closet.
I have had two doctor appointments since the last post. At the December check up, we spent 3/4ths of the time doing an ultrasound. It was amazing to see our baby on the screen! Here are a few of the ultrasound pictures.
We asked about the gender before the ultrasound tech was done and she said she thought she had seen scrotal skin. She showed us what she was talking about and Eric apparently saw it. I, on the other hand, could not tell head from tail so I'm not positive. However, we are telling everyone it's a boy! (Eric says I'm still denying it because I want a girl so bad.) I am hoping we can get another ultrasound and the baby will be in a better position to verify gender. Either way both Eric and I are super excited!
The rest of the December appointment and our January appointment were talking with the doctor. We didn't have any questions and she had no worries so they were relatively quick visits. I've gained 14 pounds since I first saw Dr. B at the beginning of October. Seven of those pounds were put on between the December and January visits. Needless to say, I'm no longer worried about putting on enough weight! Especially since I seem to be eating every 2 hours. (The ladies at work like to give me grief about my snack drawer. I can't help that I'm growing another human and need to nourish him!) (And the pancake craving seems to have faded away as well, to be replaced by eating any and everything.)
The next doctor appointment is January 27th. I will be doing my glucose and anemia tests that day. I have to say I'm not looking forward to the orange sugar drink, but I am anxious to make sure my sugar and iron levels are okay. My pregnancy has seemed so smooth that I'm worried something will happen to make up for all the easy parts.
Oh yes, and baby is constantly moving now. He seems most active when I'm sitting or laying down, but I can feel him moving at anytime. He enjoys jumping on my bladder at 2 in the morning, which can be a pain, but it is a wonderful feeling nonetheless. Eric can feel him moving everyday now, but whenever I'm around others I can never catch him moving long enough for anyone else to feel. Which is disappointing for family and friends, but hopefully we can remedy that soon!
In other exciting news, Eric and I are buying 5 acres of land between Spearfish and Belle Fourche and plan to build a house this spring! We had originally hoped to be in before the baby was born, but it is looking like it may be a month or two after. Either way is fine with me. I'm just glad we'll have more room now that our family is expanding.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
First Doctor's Appointment
For all my promises I haven't been very good about updating the blog. I'll try to be better as time goes on.
Last week I had my first doctor appointment. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who insisted on going with me. I hadn't met the doctor before (we'll call her Dr. B), but she was great. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and having her with us through this process.
The appointment started, as most first appointments with a new doc do, with the medical history questions. Dr. B's nurse Anna is quite the character, but at least she'll keep me laughing. After she finished asking us about our backgrounds and such, Dr. B came in. She went through some of the same questions and we got to know each other a little bit. Because we thought I was at 13 weeks, she said we should be able to hear the heartbeat with a hand-held doppler. So I laid on those fun beds they always have in doctor's offices and got the fun cold goo on my belly. Dr. B went over my belly for 5 to 10 minutes. While it was cool to hear my own heartbeat, she couldn't find the baby's.
This was one of my big worries, that something had happened to the baby in the first three months (since I didn't see a doctor that entire time) and we wouldn't know it. Eric, being Eric, wasn't worried, but since I am the worrier of the two of us, I will say it gave me some restless nights. I think being my first pregnancy, and having heard sad stories from more than one couple who are friends, I was justified in my worry.
Dr. B decided to order an ultrasound since she couldn't find the heartbeat. She didn't seem worried at all. She thought I might have a tilted uterus or be a week behind what we thought, either of which would have made it harder to find the baby's heartbeat. We headed over for the ultrasound (where I once again got my belly exposed to the chilly goo) and the tech had no problem whatsoever finding the baby.
In that moment, it became completely real for both Eric and I. I knew I had this baby growing in me, but it wasn't the same as seeing him/her right there in front of me. (And for those of you taking bets, there is officially only ONE baby. Sorry.)
So without further ado, behold the newest Nies:
We each have a copy at work, plus the original on our fridge. I also believe Eric's mom has a copy on her desk at work. The kid isn't even born yet and already has more pictures out there than me!
Needless to say, the ultrasound was a great relief. While the tech said she had hoped we would see some movement, just knowing our baby is safe and sound was enough for both of us. When I called before the appointment, they did tell me that they usually do ultrasounds at Week 20, and then with Eric's connections at the Care Center, hopefully we will have more pre-birth pictures to share.
The ultrasound tech also said, according to the measurements, she thought I was at Week 12, which would put us a week behind what we thought, also moving my due date to April 20, 2010. (Sorry to those of you looking to have the baby born on your birthday, earlier in the month, though anything is possible.)
The ultrasound was the most exciting part of the appointment. Aside from it and the previously mentioned question portion, there was the always fun "female" (Pap, exam, etc) part, and then the blood draw. Eric and I also got flu shots, and I will be getting the swine flu shot, most likely at my next appointment (which is November 10th).
It was a wonderful first appointment and I am so glad I waited the extra couple months to see Dr. B. She is a great doctor and I think will take good care of all of us. I did ask her about my not gaining any weight, in fact losing a couple pounds in the first trimester, but she said it was nothing to worry about at this point. If I don't start putting on some weight though, we will have to do something about it. I am still not really craving anything, but find myself getting hungrier more often during the day. Luckily I have very understanding bosses who don't mind me snacking on fruit or such at my desk.
According to a few people, I am getting the baby bump, which I think is more obvious at certain times than others. But I'll let you judge for yourselves with some pictures of me. The first two are from two weeks ago (Week 11), then last week (Week 12), and this week (Week 13). (Also, when looking at the older pictures, please note they will be a week behind what I said because of the adjustment.)
Last week I had my first doctor appointment. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who insisted on going with me. I hadn't met the doctor before (we'll call her Dr. B), but she was great. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and having her with us through this process.
The appointment started, as most first appointments with a new doc do, with the medical history questions. Dr. B's nurse Anna is quite the character, but at least she'll keep me laughing. After she finished asking us about our backgrounds and such, Dr. B came in. She went through some of the same questions and we got to know each other a little bit. Because we thought I was at 13 weeks, she said we should be able to hear the heartbeat with a hand-held doppler. So I laid on those fun beds they always have in doctor's offices and got the fun cold goo on my belly. Dr. B went over my belly for 5 to 10 minutes. While it was cool to hear my own heartbeat, she couldn't find the baby's.
This was one of my big worries, that something had happened to the baby in the first three months (since I didn't see a doctor that entire time) and we wouldn't know it. Eric, being Eric, wasn't worried, but since I am the worrier of the two of us, I will say it gave me some restless nights. I think being my first pregnancy, and having heard sad stories from more than one couple who are friends, I was justified in my worry.
Dr. B decided to order an ultrasound since she couldn't find the heartbeat. She didn't seem worried at all. She thought I might have a tilted uterus or be a week behind what we thought, either of which would have made it harder to find the baby's heartbeat. We headed over for the ultrasound (where I once again got my belly exposed to the chilly goo) and the tech had no problem whatsoever finding the baby.
In that moment, it became completely real for both Eric and I. I knew I had this baby growing in me, but it wasn't the same as seeing him/her right there in front of me. (And for those of you taking bets, there is officially only ONE baby. Sorry.)
So without further ado, behold the newest Nies:
We each have a copy at work, plus the original on our fridge. I also believe Eric's mom has a copy on her desk at work. The kid isn't even born yet and already has more pictures out there than me!Needless to say, the ultrasound was a great relief. While the tech said she had hoped we would see some movement, just knowing our baby is safe and sound was enough for both of us. When I called before the appointment, they did tell me that they usually do ultrasounds at Week 20, and then with Eric's connections at the Care Center, hopefully we will have more pre-birth pictures to share.
The ultrasound tech also said, according to the measurements, she thought I was at Week 12, which would put us a week behind what we thought, also moving my due date to April 20, 2010. (Sorry to those of you looking to have the baby born on your birthday, earlier in the month, though anything is possible.)
The ultrasound was the most exciting part of the appointment. Aside from it and the previously mentioned question portion, there was the always fun "female" (Pap, exam, etc) part, and then the blood draw. Eric and I also got flu shots, and I will be getting the swine flu shot, most likely at my next appointment (which is November 10th).
It was a wonderful first appointment and I am so glad I waited the extra couple months to see Dr. B. She is a great doctor and I think will take good care of all of us. I did ask her about my not gaining any weight, in fact losing a couple pounds in the first trimester, but she said it was nothing to worry about at this point. If I don't start putting on some weight though, we will have to do something about it. I am still not really craving anything, but find myself getting hungrier more often during the day. Luckily I have very understanding bosses who don't mind me snacking on fruit or such at my desk.
According to a few people, I am getting the baby bump, which I think is more obvious at certain times than others. But I'll let you judge for yourselves with some pictures of me. The first two are from two weeks ago (Week 11), then last week (Week 12), and this week (Week 13). (Also, when looking at the older pictures, please note they will be a week behind what I said because of the adjustment.)
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 12:
Week 13:
*Please ignore my not-so-happy expressions in the pictures. They in no way reflect how I feel about this pregnancy and baby. It is a reflection for the time of night (right before bed) that Eric usually takes these pictures.
A short update on everything else about the pregnancy: I'm still queasy, tired, visiting the bathroom frequently, and breaking out. But I'm hoping the first two on this list will be gone in the next couple weeks as I start the second trimester.
A short update on everything else about the pregnancy: I'm still queasy, tired, visiting the bathroom frequently, and breaking out. But I'm hoping the first two on this list will be gone in the next couple weeks as I start the second trimester.
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