New Due Date!

Hey all,

First off, I have been given the official new due date of January 15th.  that puts me at 15 weeks 5 days today.  And just for all you people who are annoyed with people who count in weeks (I used to be one of these myself) there is a reason you do it during pregnancy.  So much changes with baby so fast that each week is a new discovery.  If you were to just say "I'm almost 4 months" then that doesn't give others the chance to know exactly what's going on with you and baby at that time.  Plus all the pregnancy books count that way.  Each week there is something new going on.  I still think it's silly to count weeks when your kid is past 6 months though.

In other news, I heard baby's heartbeat for the first time today and it was in the 150 bpm range, which is still in the normal range for the second trimester.  The technician said before she began "this might take a while to find the heartbeat, if at all.  Sometimes babies aren't in the right position" and then two seconds after she put the Doppler on my belly we heard the heartbeat.  I love this kid!  He/she is just so agreeable! :D

All my blood tests came back great and the IPS testing for the first round was in the low range (meaning low-risk of down syndrome) so baby seems to be healthy too.  My weight gain is still on track (only 5lbs gained so far!) so that is also good.  It's so strange to think that by August 7th I'll be 4 months along and my uterus will be almost at my belly button.  And baby will be about 5 inches long from crown to rump (top of head to bum).  It's amazing how quickly these guys grow!

I think I felt baby move for the first time on Wednesday.  I was laying on my back with my hand on my lower tummy and I felt a little *thunk* on the inside and the out.  It wasn't very strong and it was only once, but I KNOW it wasn't gas.  It felt totally different.  Also I've been having some "whooshing" feelings going on down there.  It feels kind of like when your stomach is really full of water and when you move you kind of 'slosh'.  And this happens when I'm sitting down, so it could potentially be baby.  I dunno.

Also today we booked the ultrasound to find out the gender of our lovely baby.  So as of August 20th we should know if it's a boy or girl (assuming baby continues to cooperate with positioning).  So we will post the joyous news to you all when that time comes!  I'm very excited to find out!

Ultrasound!!!

Behold!   Baby Olfert's first photo!  Yay baby!

So a few things to update on.  

1.  Baby is measuring 6 days smaller than expected so the due date is most likely to change (confirmation needed by doctor) to Jan 15, 2014.  Which puts me at 12 weeks today (instead of 12w6d).  Yay!  I am secretly glad that baby's birthday will be further away from Christmas.  Plus that means I can work longer!  :)  

2.  Baby was jumping around so much today that the ultrasound technician was laughing at him/her.  It made me very happy (and slightly scared) to have such an active baby.  

3.  Heart rate was 170bpm, which is apparently normal.  So I am also happy with that.

Overall, a successful day.  I got to see baby's fingers and toes, and see it taking gulps of fluid, which was also really cool.  All signs point to a healthy baby.  I am excited.  MORE than excited.  I also caught myself calling baby "he" when referring to it.  I originally thought it was going to be a girl, but the more I think about baby and when I saw baby for the first time last week I thought it has to be a boy.  Feel free to place bets in the comments section.  If I can figure out how to do a poll I'll post one of those too.  :)  

Overall, a good day.  I look forward to blood test results from my next appointment at the end of the month.