Follow up to last weeks ultrasound...

We had our monthly visit to the doctor's and next appointment is the sugar test...Woo Woo! :) We heard Ella's heartbeat and man was she moving all over the place. The doctor found her beat and then she'd move and she'd have to look for the beat again. After the doctor's and dinner with Grandmom and Pop Pop, we drove back up to get the ultrasound done again so they could get the heart measurements...Well - THANKFULLY I didn't have to drink the water again, however we still had to wait 40 minutes (and there was NO ONE in the office) until they called us back...We asked if Mike could go back to start and they said "it's office policy that no family members are allowed back there until after they get the measurements for the doctor"...So needless to say, Mike was NOT happy at all!!! But anyway, we saw Ella again (and she confirmed she is definitely a girl - we have the pictures now to prove it) and she was moving a lot and kicking. She had a fist and put it up to her forehead and then she was stretching out her neck. The tech said she has petite features, but she looks healthy and our tech loved her for cooperating. I got to see the 4 chambers of the heart which was pretty cool and saw her nostrils. Oh and then she snuggled her head against the uterine wall and starting sucking the amniotic fluid! That was cool to see too!! So yes the wait was definitely worth it, however for our next child, we're definitely going to a different imaging center.

Oh and in other news, Ella went with us on her first long trip. We drove down to Greensboro, NC to visit with Uncle Don, Aunt Steph, cousin Donny and Uncle Jay! She kicked for about 10 minutes at 3am Monday morning and I actually felt my stomach lift with my hand on it! Pretty awesome!!!

We will keep you posted on anything new that comes up!

Love Vickie & Mike

And the verdict is...

A GIRL!!!! We're having a baby girl! We went in for the appointment at 7:45 (appointment was at 8:00)this morning and of course I had to wait about 25 minutes for them to call me back (on a full bladder no less)...So after ALMOST peeing my pants the technician called me back...She was doing her measurements of the baby and a short while later let me see the screen and showed me the baby's face. She was looking right at us and had her mouth wide open and arms in the air! (I didn't know it was a girl just yet - I asked for Mike to be in the room when she told me)...So after she got all of the measurements (except for the heart - the baby wasn't cooperating and sitting in the wrong position), she called Mike in and told us that it was a baby girl! Mike - speechless - was overwhelmed with joy! :) So, Ella is currently 13oz and moving around! We go back for the heart beat pictures/measurements next Tuesday (after our next doctor's appointment)...

It is awesome that we now know that we're going to have a baby girl join our family and we're really excited!!!!

Love Vickie, Mike and Ella

Looking at mommy and daddy:


Ella sucking her thumb:

Photos

8 Weeks and 2 days


17 Weeks


Mike


Kirby


Jack

Our Pregnancy - Recap

We learned on January 29, 2009 that we were expecting our first child in the Fall, however we wanted to wait to tell everyone until after our first appointment and/or first trimester.  We told our parents the last weekend in February and they were all very excited and even a little emotional (no one was expecting it - except for Mike and I of course)...Both sides did a good job with keeping it a secret (thank you) and let us spread the news towards the end of March/middle of April.  Pretty much everyone (friends and family) found out by Easter weekend!  So the next news to come (in 3 days) is if we're having a baby boy James or a baby girl James...Everyone will find out one way or another on the 20th, so be expecting either a call or a text or even an e-mail...

What have I experienced over the last 19 weeks and 5 days?  A lot of bloating early on, about 2 weeks of morning sickness (nausea) - although the last few nights when I've gone to lay down in bed, I've felt very nauseous, but thankfully nothing more than just the feeling has occurred-, and 2 really bad migraines (in the first tri).  Oh - and I also fell down our steps early in the morning during week 8 and landed on my bum...The baby was fine (probably more of a ride for the baby), but mommy was in pain and still has occasional pain (hurt my tailbone).  I've also had a few mood swings, but they've mainly been at work, so Mike has been lucky (so far) not to have experienced anything tooo bad.  :)  I've started getting back pains (probably about 3 weeks ago), so we went out and got a body pillow for me to help me lay on my side at night and it has really helped thus far...Cravings???  I can't say that I've had any MAJOR cravings...I mean, early on I craved having my homemade potato salad (which I finally made about 2 weeks ago) and then when I'd watch TV, if a commercial came on, I'd start craving either pizza or meatball parms...But I deftinitely have not had any "weird" cravings, although my mother-in-law keeps pushing the whole pickles and ice cream on me (thankfully that still sounds gross to me and hopefully will for the next half of my pregnancy)...Oh and finally, I've felt the baby kick a few times since Thursday, May 7...The first time, I was at the Phillies/Mets game (in NY - for business) and while we were sitting there at the game I felt a flutter...At first I thought "Uh oh...Maybe that burger I ate wasn't a good choice for me", but I didn't feel sick or anything....Then I felt it again when we were on the train back home, so then I knew it was the baby!!!  Mike said the baby was trying to tell me that he/she wanted to leave the stinky Mets stadium already and to get out of the city...Ahhh - my kind of child...  :)  Anyway, then I felt some more kicks while I was at work (after lunch) on Thursday and actually felt it with my hand this time....After I felt the first little kick, I put my hand on my tummy and then it kicked again!!!  It's happened once or twice this weekend, but Mike still has yet to feel it and I want to feel it again with my hand!!!  

What else???  Oh, names...So if it's a girl (which I believe it will be), her name will be Ella Marie James.  (Ella - after my middle name (and my grandmom's middle name), Marie - after Mike's mom's middle name).  If it's a boy...This is still up in the air...For the longest time, Mike was trying to convince me to like the name Rhys (pronounced Reese) Lewis James, but I couldn't get over the spelling of it (I was afraid he'd get made fun of)...Well luckily for me, our neighbors next door adopted a female dog 2 weeks ago, and guess what her name is???  Yes, that is correct, it is Reese...So now that name is definitely out of the running, but we still can't decide on a name.  Mike keeps saying Henry (Hank) Aaron James, but I can't come to terms with the name Henry either...I like Aaron, but he seems "eh" about it...So, I'm thinking we'll wait until Wednesday and if we're having a boy then we'll get more serious about the name thing...If anyone has any suggestions, please suggest away...

Well that's all for now...I will post on Wednesday the results from the ultrasound.  Please feel free to leave your guesses as well as to if you think it's going to be a boy or a girl!  

-Vickie & Mike

(Sorry for the novel)