I don't know where to begin, there is so much to update. First off, some belly shots. These were taken Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am definitely starting to pop, which has been really fun. Christmas Day marked 5 months exactly of pregnancy, which also means I am half way there!!!! The biggest news we found out on December 23rd is that this baby is a GIRL!! John and I were already decided on a first name, which will be Peyton. We are still deciding on middle names for her, and the options are Rylee, Paige, or DeMaris. It has been great knowing that we have a little baby girl growing in there, and now finally being able to call her by name instead of saying "it", "the baby", or even at times calling her Sammy.
We had a 45 minute ultrasound on December 23rd to find out the sex, and also to measure and check on Peyton's anatomy. John and I were so excited leading up to this day that both of us had trouble sleeping at times. The day finally came, and we could hardly believe it was there. When the ultrasound first started, we told the tech how excited we were to find out the sex. About 5 minutes into the ultrasound, the tech casually mentioned that this is what a girls parts look like, and that we indeed had a girl. To be sure, I asked her how sure she was and she said there was absolutely no doubt about it, it was a girl. The rest of Petyon's anatomy was all present and measured right on target. During the measurements, she would move all around, and at times I could feel the movement. Her head was on my left side, and feet on my right, which is the opposite from our first ultrasound. Here eyes remained closed. They said that she weighs almost a pound and from head to toe is about 12 inches tall. She was positioned in such a way that the tech had trouble measuring something on her heart, and something on her spine, so she did a vaginal ultrasound and was able to then get the measurements. Once the tech was done getting all of her shots, it is routine for the OB to come in and do a quick ultrasound herself. The OB said that Petyon looked beautiful and healthy. As the OB did the shot, she mentioned that the Placenta was "low lying" and a bit close to my cervix, although it was not covering the cervix (which would be Placenta Previa and would mean that I would need to have a C-section). The OB said that the majority of time as my belly grows, the Placenta will be pulled up and away from the cervix, and that it was nothing to worry about. We asked her if we would need to have another ultrasound later on to confirm that it did indeed move away from the cervix, and she said no we didn't need to.
A couple of weeks ago, John and I made the decision to not work with Cascade Birth Center anymore. There were some things about the center that started making me feel uncomfortable, and not completely confident in their care. I had heard fantastic things about the midwife group at Providence, and had our first appointment with them on December 21st. We met with Gretchen for our first visit, and I immediately clicked with her. She was caring, paid attention to detail, personable, confident, and knowledgeable. We mentioned some of the the reasons to her why we decided against the birth center and she was very attentive to those concerns. As she was going through my chart history, she noticed that the blood labs drawn on me at 8 weeks had a concerning thyroid level. A normal thyroid level was approximately 1.5-2.5 and mine was listed at 20! The birth center had mentioned at 8 weeks that all my lab work came back great, with not problems (obviously an oversight on their part). Gretchen was concerned enough that she re-drew my blood that day, put me on medication immediately, and had me make an appointment with an internal medicine doc for 2 days later. Good news is that the next day she called us regarding my re-drew blood and told us that my Thyroid levels all came back completely normal. Whew! We were extremely relieved to hear that and I didn't need to take the medication anymore, nor did I need to see the internal medicine doc. After all of this, we were extremely impressed with Gretchen and felt very good about making the switch to Providence.
On Christmas Eve (1 day after our ultrasound to find out the sex and measure for anatomy), and midwife from Providence called to discuss the results of the ultrasound. He said that they too noticed the Placenta was close to the cervix, that they were not concerned, but that they did indeed want me to come back for an ultrasound in the 3rd trimester to check for the placement of it then. So, in a couple of months, we will get to see Peyton once again with another ultrasound.
I started feeling Peyton move at about 17-18 weeks. I keep saying the best way to describe the movement is exactly what it is, a little kick inside. It also feels like a little piece of popcorn popping. Since then, I have continued to feel increased movement all the time. Peyton is quite the active little girl. I love it each and every time I feel it and can't wait for John to be able to enjoy it as well. Hopefully we are only a few weeks away from him being able to do so.
Maternity pants and I are NOT good friends. Although I definitely can't fit into my regular pants anymore, I have not loved any maternity pants whatsoever. I have been living in leggings and long sweaters. I just very may well continue to do so as long as I can. John and Molly got me 2 pairs of fold over yoga pants for Christmas (which I am wearing right now), and I absolutely adore them. These will be added to my everyday wear. My mom and Tommy also got me 2 maternity shirts for Christmas and I love them as well.
Finding out the sex came just in time for Christmas and our friends and family definitely took advantage of that buying LOTS of things for Peyton for Christmas. We received a pair of sandals from Karin and Eric, a Ladybug onesie, monkey bib, and lion stuffed animal with blanket from Grandma and Grandpa Kirkpatrick, 2 little stuffed animals from Grandpa Kirkpatrick (his annual gift to all the girls in the family and we felt very special for him to include Peyton this year), a pack of adorable onesies, a polk-a-dot pink dress, hair clips, and jammies from auntie Anna and Uncle Colin, Peyton's first photo frame, a sleep sack (that also turns into pants), and a few outfits from Nana and Papa, a cute yellow and pink onesie from Nana Demaris, and John got a "Daddy's girl" onesie in his stocking from Santa. Nana and Papa also got us a BabyCook so that we can make our own baby food for Peyton (Tiffany was especially excited for this!). We were so flattered that people thought of her on Christmas. It was very sweet of everyone, and fun for both John and I to open our first girly things after finding out that Peyton was a she. Her crib is already getting filled with lots of fun things (see pic).
I am really enjoying the pregnancy so far, and feel that I can identify even more with the baby, now knowings she's a girl. I look forward to all the new adventures that will come in the next 5 months until we can meet her!
No comments:
Post a Comment