Sorry if there are areas of "TMI." Remember that this is a form of journal, too.
I've mentioned my all-day nausea in several posts already. Despite being nauseous all day, I actually threw-up much less this pregnancy than the previous two. There were other differences as well, such as more headaches, more pimples in different areas (chest, shoulders, and lower back - yuck, I know), and breast tenderness. The last one is a common symptom of pregnancy, but I never really got it with the other two.
We actually got pictures of the baby at our first four appointments. It was really neat, though the pictures from the second visit were taken because the doctor couldn't find the heart beat. I had to wait quite awhile for the ultrasound machine to be available, so I kept fighting the urge to think of the worst. It was a relief when we finally got to look at the baby and see the strong heart beat.
8 Weeks, 6 Days
Our Little Jelly Bean
12 Weeks, 6 Days
Slightly more human-like and the heartbeat was strong
After the previous visit and having to be by myself as I waited to see the baby's heartbeat, I think I was a little nervous to go to the next appointment by myself. I was still having all my pregnancy symptoms, so I figured all was well with the baby, but I still wanted and felt like Jared should go with me. Everything was great with the baby, and the doctor asked us if we planned on finding out the gender. We said that we did. So then he asked, "Do you want to take a peek?" Of course we did.
Although I was sick with this baby, it seemed different enough that I thought perhaps it could be a boy. However, when taking our sneak peek, the doctor said that he was 90% sure it was another little girl. We went ahead and shared that information with family, but decided to make the reveal public after our "big" ultrasound at 20 weeks - just in case the doctor was wrong.
17 Weeks, 3 Days
Another difference with this pregnancy was how early my belly started popping out. We took my first belly picture at 18 weeks. I went to compare with my 18-week picture from the previous pregnancies and found that I hadn't taken any pictures that early. With Allie, we took the first picture at 23 weeks, and my first picture with Rachel was taken at 20 weeks. It was interesting comparing the three. My belly looks about the same size in all three. It really did just pop out earlier.
We had the "big" ultrasound at 20 weeks, 4 days. Due to labor day, we had to have our appointment on Tuesday instead of Monday. It will probably be the only time I wished we hadn't had the holiday. We were anxious to know for sure if our little baby was a girl. Because we had the opportunity to see the baby via ultrasound in each previous appointment, we still hadn't heard the heartbeat. Since our appointment was only for an ultrasound, I doubted that we'd get to hear it this time. But I was wrong. While the ultrasound tech was looking at the heart, Jared and I kinda giggled and I commented that it was funny that we hadn't heard the heartbeat, yet. The tech then switched something on the machine and we got to hear the heart beat. It was a good, fast rate, a sign that it probably was a girl, as the wives' tale goes - and as the technician said.
We got a cute footprint picture.
I think having had the peek at 17 weeks was good for me. I was beginning to convince myself that it was a boy. I hadn't had a spiritual confirmation, but it just seemed like it could be. So when we were told that it was probably a girl, I had a small moment of, "oh man!" but then quickly started getting excited for a third girl. While watching Allie and Rachel play, walk hand-in-hand, and do many other things together, I started imagining another little girl with them and truly became, not only alright with the possibility of having another girl, but excited.
And it was confirmed that it is a GIRL!
After the ultrasound tech took all the measurements she needed to, she switched over to 3D/4D. We got some great pictures of our little girl. She wanted to play peek-a-boo with us.
After the appointment, Jared and I were unsure of how we should reveal the news. So many people have gender reveal parties these days. They seem like a really fun idea. Perhaps if we had more family in the area or had been here for several years we would have had a party, but we didn't. Honestly, given that I was just barely getting past the nausea part of pregnancy, cleaning up the house to have a bunch of people over just didn't sound like something I wanted to do.
Allie and Rachel weren't at the appointment, so they didn't know whether it was a boy or girl, yet. I had figured Allie would hope for it to be a boy since she talked about getting a little brother before I got pregnant. Once I was pregnant and we had told Allie that a baby was in my belly, we asked her if she wanted it to be a boy or girl. Her reply was, "A girl! Then we'll have three girls." It surprised me. But now knowing that it was a third girl, I knew she would be excited. So we came up with this idea of how to share the news with the girls and subsequently with everyone else (by sharing the video).
Allie continues to be very excited. Rachel mimics Allie's excitement. I don't think she will fully understand what's going on until the baby comes home. But Allie keeps talking about all the different ways she is going to help with baby, including changing diapers, "Because you wouldn't like to do that, Mom." Sweet, huh? She has also drawn some pictures for baby already.
Once the gender is revealed, the next big question is, "Do you have a name picked out?" Well, just as with the other two, we will be waiting until she is born to decide. We'll come up with a list of names that we like, and then once we see our little girl, we'll pick one that we feel fits.
No comments:
Post a Comment