41 weeks: A Baby Update!

Today marks 41 weeks of pregnancy, but more importantly 1 week OVERDUE! Overall I have been feeling fairly well and am still keeping a positive attitude about things. I do have low back pain, swollen feet and hands, bad heartburn, and major trouble sleeping at night but I guess that goes with the territory. I will happily trade it all for a happy healthy baby very soon! As part of the routine testing for "late" people like me, I had an appointment today for a non-stress test and an ultrasound. The non-stress test consists of two monitors hooked up to the belly (see pic below) for about half an hour. One measures the baby's heart rate and the other measures uterine contractions. They also gave me a little Jeopardy-like clicker to push each time the baby moves. Although I had absolutely zero contractions, little Reese's heart rate was awesome and she had plenty of accelerations! The doctor even commented about how "beautiful" the print out was and what a "happy" girl she must be!

The ultrasound came next! I was most excited for this because I've only had 2 "real" ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy, one at 8 weeks, and one at 20 weeks. Around 13 weeks I bribed a cardiologist I work with at the hospital to take a peak too (but that didn't count)! Mostly I just wanted to confirm that she was "she" and not a "he"... Something I've had nightmares about! I still haven't taken off tags to most our clothes or bedding in case our little girl comes out a boy. Back from that tangent... The real purpose of the ultrasound was to check amniotic fluid levels and again everything looked "excellent" according to the doctor. Normally at this point in pregnancy a level of 5 is good for fluid levels, and my average was 11! Yay! So with all good outcomes to the tests our plan is to go back on Friday and do the same tests again just to make sure everyone is still healthy. Assuming it is we'll go back Monday and discuss induction!

Fingers crossed we make it through Saturday (at least) to be in the Lockhart wedding!!

{My view of the non-stress test}

{Non-stress test machine, heart rate on top, contractions on bottom}

Xoxo.

How cute is my little girl going to be???

It's a Girl!

Well, I am 21 weeks now (Yay for halfway!!) and we had our 20-week ultrasound last Saturday. I was super excited and could barely sleep all night knowing we'd be able to find out what we're having. I woke up about 6:15 that morning and starting chugging water. You have to drink a certain amount of water an hour and half before the appointment to make sure your bladder is full and is pushing everything into view! That wasn't the fun part... We got to the ultrasound place and met my mom, who we invited for the big day! The majority of the ultrasound was measurements of the head, legs, arms, heart, etc. It was amazing to see all of the baby's parts! At one point I think she got sick of us poking around because she did a complete flip in the opposite direction! During one part of the ultrasound the tech was measuring femur length and was right down between the legs, she didn't say anything but took a picture and just kept on going. That made me think she had seen something down there and immediately I thought it was a boy. Then we got to the end of the ultrasound where they really investigate the parts. The tech said, "has anyone ever told you the phrase 'three white lines?'" I knew immediately what that meant and shouted, "It's a GIRL????" The tech said, "YUP, It's a GIRL!." We all immediately got a little teary-eyed. She will be the first grand-daughter on both sides of the family, and will be so spoiled! It has become much more real to us now that we have seen her and know that she's a SHE! After the appointment my mom and I even went to the mall and got the first of many adorable little girl outfits. She's going to be the cutest ever!

{20 week picture of me and my baby girl!.... I'm getting fatttter}