3D!

After 3 students practiced doing ultrasounds on me (for an 1.5 hours!) they finally started trying to get some good 3D images. Unfortunately, they said Harper was really nested in and her face was up against the placenta so they couldn't really get a good shot :( Luckily they are letting me go back in about a month just for some 3D shots! They said once Harper gets bigger she should be easier to see. On the plus side the woman said she was 99% positive that its a girl. After my first ultrasound at 19 weeks i was a little leary. Even though they told me it was a girl the ultrasound tech didn't sound too sure. But after today, with Harpers little legs wide open, we are for sure ready to start buying frilly pink clothes!! Anyways, hopefully she be in a better position for some pics when we go back.

22 weeks

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, Harper is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If we could see inside my womb, we'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside Harper's belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily. Tomorrow is 3D ultrasound day!!! I was lucky to meet another pregnant woman who told me about Vanderbilts need for pregnant women for the students to practice doing ultrasounds on. I have to sit through an hour or so of them looking around doing whatever they need to do for their educational purposes but then they give me a bunch of 3D pictures for giving them my time (and my belly). So stay tuned for more pictures to come!!!

21 weeks

Harper now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. I already feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements have turned into full-fledged kicks and nudges. If I look at my belly I can see it move when she kicks(totally weird)! I have yet to discover a pattern to her activity, other than the fact that she seems to sleep in cause i don't normally start to feel her move til around 9/10 am but maybe I will see more of a pattern as I get to know her better. In other developments, our baby's eyebrows and lids are present now. Next wednesday (a week from tomorrow), I will be going to Vanderbilt to turn my body over to science! Ok, i'm just letting the sonography students practice doing ultrasounds for an hour and in return I get free 4D pictures of Harper!! Our Dr. doesn't do the 4D ultrasound so now i can get a clearer picture of our little girl. I'll post the pics after I go.

20 weeks and half way there!

Our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe. She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Its a .....

GIRL!! The Dr. said she is completely normal and I am still due around Sept. 1st. We are pretty set on the name Harper but we'll be open for suggestions for a little while longer. Isn't she cute. Look at that cute little nose!

19 weeks and the somach virus!

Our baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear our voices now, so I guess its a good thing Mark isn't afraid to talk to her/him almost everyday. Our baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of an heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

On another note, i visited with my aunt and grandparents on their way to IL from FL, on saturday. We had lunch at my sisters for maybe an hour and then they were on their way. Sunday night around midnight my grandma and i were both up all night/morning and monday with a stomach virus. Strange but true! No one else got sick (knock on wood)!! Anyways i'm feeling better now but i 'm still supper tired from no sleep.

Thursdays is the big day!! Stay tuned for a posting sometime that evening for a newsflash on the sex of the baby!!!