18 weeks old

Today we had our fetal scan with the fetal specialist, Dr Cohen. He took pictures of everything... the face, heart, arms and legs, the head, spine. He gave us a few to take home. Here is a great picture of the baby looking right at the "camera" (such a little ham already!):

He was able to see almost everything except the heart. He said there are 2 angles from which he likes to see the heart, and because of the position of the baby (the baby is currently breech), he couldn't see the both angles. He was able to see all 4 chambers though. Also, the baby kept moving around, which made it difficult to see everything.

Because of my previous history, he also had to examine the length of the cervix, but all looked great. We have to go back in 2 weeks because my BP was a bit high (not surprising after my Colorado trip) and he wants to try to see the heart again. Also, the placenta is in front of my cervix, so he wants to watch that as well.

But overall things look great. The baby is 7 inches and is the right size for its age. So we left with outstanding news!

Fogged in

Ida and I are stuck in Colorado Springs, due to an extremely heavy fog... there is NO way we are making our connection in Chicago :( I am hoping they cancel this flight soon so we can try to drive up to Denver and get a flight out of there (no fog).

We have had a blast here in Colorado Springs for AHA... we have met a lot of New England transplants here, and my guess is that didn't move voluntarily, but got stuck here and decided to stay! Last night we decided that we could totally live in Colorado... it's so laid back and everyone is really nice and it is SUPER dog friendly! But now we may not have a choice lol. But seriously, this place is just gorgeous... and i will totally come back with Steve on a family vacation.

Ida and I also decided that AHA needs to come back to Colorado, as we now have figured out how to do this vacation right! Our hotel was so nice. We were very spoiled there, with our nightly turndown service, fancy chocolates and luxurious bathrobes. It is great to go to conferences and experience hotels we'd never go to on our own!

Shopping for the baby

We have a crib! and a stroller too... so excited! Babci Di and I went to Baby Furniture Warehouse yesterday and picked up a crib (on sale -- score!) and the Phil and Ted's Stroller. They were having a sale where you got the doubles kit for free, so now we have a double stroller for the future. I am really excited about the stroller... it's the one item where I decided it was most important to splurge. Based on our city lifestyle, I think it is really the best investment we could have made. Plus a few friends have this stroller and say it was the best thing they bought.
My mom and I had a blast in the store. Although shopping there could be dangerous. It was filled with lots of really cool, but unnecessary, stuff. I have to remind myself we need to be practical. Plus I have to remember we will eventually move... and I hate packing!

And I found this cool Widget that I added to the right side of this blog. Now I will be able to countdown the days to the lil one's arrival! I can't believe in 5 months we will have a child to bring home. On some level, it's all still so surreal.

17 weeks

Wow it has been a while since my last post. I have been spending my time enjoying this experience rather than writing about it :) Let' s see .. lots to update...

- feeling the baby move - such a cool feeling! My friend Kelly described it best as feeling like "butterflies". It also feels like the baby is tickling me on the inside, which makes me want to giggle. The first few times it was so faint that I barely felt anything, and wasn't sure if it was the baby moving or not. But now it has been happening daily, usually at work when I am sitting at my desk and it is unmistakably the baby. Love it!

- Big Ultrasound - is next Monday! We'll be 18 weeks along, so we'll be able to see everything... including the sex. However I think we have agreed to be strong and keep it a surprise... but I will post pics as soon as I scan them in!

- new Doctor - we decided to switch our OB to someone at the BI. I liked that hospital better (for a hospital), and i feel that Steve and I clicked much better with our new Dr. She seems a lot more supportive and helpful when it comes to approaches to a natural birth, which is the plan. She also has experience with Hypnobirthing, which we hope to use as our birthing method. As much as I want to hire a Doula, I don't think we are in the right place for it for this pregnancy. I hope we will get to experience a birth with one at some point though!

- buying gear - we are lucky to live in Boston with an extremely active Craigslist... we have been lucky to buy a few items at a reasonable price. We have gotten a swing and bouncer/vibrating seat and the Snap-n-go stroller so far. We figured the baby can only use these things for about 6 months, so they can't be too worn! Plus there are just so many things we need to buy new...

- furniture - we may have found some nursery furniture. We really like the lines (and prices) at USA Baby, but the closest stores are in CT. So Steve and I went to a store up here in Reading. We lucked out and found a great crib that is discontinued, thus is on sale. And there are several other brands that match really well with the crib. So "Babci Di" and I are going today to hopefully get the crib and order a dresser. And the stroller we really like is on sale, so we may grab that as well! And Memere bought us a beautiful glider that will match the furniture perfectly. And the furniture matches our BR set, so we will use our extra night stand (or 2) in the baby's room, as we have no room for it in our room anyway!

That's about all I have for now. Going to Colorado this week for a conference... my last "hurrah" before the baby arrives ;)