roly poly

today was the big ultrasound day! the lady was quite surprised when i showed up alone. she told me people usually bring a barrage a peeps for the viewing. i really didn't even think about asking anyone to come along. awes is working everyday this week and this is pretty much the last week baby westphal would be viewable before space becomes limited in there. i knew i'd be getting a video of the whole session to share with anyone who wanted to see so i wasn't too concerned. i am kinda happy i didn't bring anyone along because i don't think the session would have lasted as long as it did if someone else was there.

the lady warned me there was the possibility we wouldn't get any good pics since i was a little further along than they'd like to see. she said the optimal time is between 28-30 weeks. the video below is pretty much what she got as soon as she put the wand up to my stomach. "whoa, i don't think we're gonna have a problem with this little one." she told me. she kept telling me how she always has a hard time getting good face shots and how she usually only gets shots of the hands and feet. but baby westphal was the complete opposite. she got plenty of good face shots and had the hardest time getting a shot of a foot or his "bits and pieces."

so the whole time she's doing the ultrasound she's recording EVERYTHING for me! i now have an hour long video of the whole session. unfortunately i don't know how to get video clips easily off the dvd she gave me (not sure if i have the right software or file formats.) so i had to play it on the computer and record with my phone. that's why the quality isn't that great. this is literally the first 41 seconds of the session. she pretty much switched over to 4d mode afterwards. i'm gonna have to find a really good spot to make a shorter clip of that part.

the session lasted a little over an hour, which was half an hour longer than they told me it would last. "you're my last patient today so we can take as long as we want." sweet. i came out with an hour long dvd, a huge stack of photos and a disk of all the photos she took during the session. i definitely think it was money well spent.

misfit baby

today was another baby doctors appointment. i had to get an ultrasound to check on the placenta problem they found at my last appointment. and just like the doc told me it's migrated upwards and, as of now, is no longer a problem. the doc quickly did a 4d ultrasound for me and was able to get a decent face shot. i can now rest seeing the baby actually has eyelids. i was a little worried for a second there. the nurses at aaron's office have given baby westphal a new nickname, squiggy from laverne and shirley. i actually think he could be a future member of the misfits, but that's just me. it's not actually his hair, just a shadow the machine put on his forehead, but it is funny to think that it is. i don't think he's sucking his thumb. that's what everyone has been asking me. i'm pretty sure it's just his hand up by his face.

the rest of the appointment was pretty standard. i did get a regular flu shot, which was a first for me, at least that i can remember. i'll be getting the swine flu shot when it arrives in the next month or so. my quad screen also came back negative which was great and one less thing to worry about. and, drum roll please, i've gained a whopping 8 pounds in the last month. so from start of the ivf process in march to now i've gained about 20 pounds. i'm gonna guess i'll gain another 20 before it's time to deliver. yeah right. we'll just have to wait and see.

at my next appointment, which is in three weeks, i'll be doing the dreaded glucose test. i have a feeling if there's any test i'm gonna fail it's gonna be this one. pretty much all i've been eating are sweets and carbs. i wouldn't necessarily say i've been craving them but set a box of french fries in front of me and i can pretty much guarantee they'll be gone in no time flat.

here's my 22 week pic and my attempt to look a little slimmer. ;)
i finally finished the 20 pairs of scrub pants i had to alter. so hopefully in the next few weeks i'll be able to concentrate on some other sewing projects. i do have a few already in mind.

baby gut

i'm not sure if it's "officially" made an appearance. seems like in the morning it's a bump but by the end of the day it's turned into a gut. so here's my 18 week belly shot, actually it's closer to 19 weeks. i've decided it's impossible for me not to make a silly face when taking pics of myself. this pic will give you an idea of what's to come. i'll have to check and see if my camera has a remote. if you could have seen what i went through to get the photo: placing a stand-in lamp for focusing, running back to the camera to focus and set timer, running back and moving the lamp and posing in less than 10 seconds. it was a pretty funny sight to see and i have a feeling it'll get harder the bigger i get. i'll be a pregnant blur by the time 40 weeks rolls around.

yesterday i had my official ob appointment. i stepped on the scale and i had gained a whopping seven pounds in the last month! of course i was a bit confused cause the day before i weighed myself at home and had only gained two pounds. so your guess is as good as mine as to how much i've gained. my appointment was pretty uneventful. we got confirmation that baby westphal is still a boy. he said everything looked good except that my placenta was a little lower than he'd like to see. so i was diagnosed with low-lying placenta previa. the doctor didn't seem too concerned. he said it would probably migrate upward the further along i get. i'll have to be closely monitored and have another ultrasound in four weeks to make sure it does. seems like me and the ultrasound machine are becoming fast friends. the doc did do a quick 4-D ultrasound. unfortunately the baby's arms were blocking his face but you can kinda make out some of his features. hopefully next time we'll get a better pic.

it's an...

alien! see i wasn't exaggerating when i said the baby looked like an alien last ultrasound. and now i have the proof! ;) last thursday i went in and had another ultrasound done at the free clinic. the main purpose of my visit was to have a gender scan. it was still a bit early, 16 weeks 6 days, so there was a possibility we wouldn't see anything or the baby wouldn't cooperate. fortunately the baby was ready to reveal it's secret. so without further adieu here is the money shot everyone has been waiting for.

i know it's always difficult figuring out what is what in these pics so i went ahead and labeled as much as i could to make it a little easier. what you're seeing is a shot from the underside with the baby's legs spread eagle. the little red circle is baby westphal's bits and pieces. so we're pretty sure it's a boy. i asked the ultrasound tech if she could give me a percentage, like 75% boy 25% girl. she told me she's about 95% sure it's a boy and she'd be quite surprised if i was told otherwise.

next tuesday i go in for my official ob appointment where i will be getting another ultrasound to hopefully confirm what we already know. i did go and get a few outfits after i found out. i refrained from going overboard and kept all my receipts just in case. here's one last pic to share. a profile shot.

baby got back

yesterday i decided to give the free clinic a shot. since i'm officially starting my second trimester, i thought it'd be nice to see how the little one is progressing. i called in the a.m. and they were able to squeeze me in an hour later. this was my first abdominal ultrasound. at first the tech pointed out the heartbeat. "see the little heart beating?" uhhh, no. "right there." pointing to a little speck on the screen. okay. suddenly there's a clear view of the face. almost alien-like, with the big eyes. it's mouth opening and closing. is it eating i asked? "no, it's breathing." it was cool and creepy to see. i wish i could have gotten a video of it.

the tech continued to take measurements. baby westphal is measuring right where he/she should be. unfortunately by the time the tech got around to taking pics for me, the baby decided to flip completely over. she tried to jiggle the baby to turn over for us, but that proved to be futile. so here is a nice pic of the baby's back side. you can see the spine (the brighter line in the pic), it's little head, and even an ear.

i'll go back on the 17th of july to the free clinic to have another ultrasound, hopefully i'll be able see what we're having. if not, i have my official ultrasound with my ob on the 28th of july.

little buddy

so this is about a week after the fact, but here's a pic of my latest ultrasound. little krispie has now graduated to having buds. it's amazing how fast it's growing, and how fast it'll continue to grow. not only did i hear the baby's heart beating i could see it. it's little heart just fluttering away in it's tiny little chest.

i had my first ob appointment last thursday and was surprised that instead of seeing my normal nurse practitioner i'll be seeing a doctor. apparently my pregnancy is still considered high risk (at least to this group) because it happened through IVF. my RE reassured me that as long as i was carrying one baby it should be considered a normal pregnancy. i guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

at my appointment i was told i have to wait another 8-10 weeks before i get another ultrasound. it's so weird to have already gotten two in the last two weeks to having to wait what seems like a lifetime for another one. the girls at aaron's work told him about a clinic in town that'll do ultrasounds for free. i'm almost tempted to go every friday to check on the baby's progress. ok, maybe every other week. ;)

another thing i learned at my appointment. even though the baby measured a couple of days early at the first ultrasound they stick with my original calculated due date. unless it fluctuates by more than a week they keep the same date. which makes sense since at the second ultrasound the baby measured two days older. so my official due date is december 25. yes, baby westphal is officially a christmas baby! yep, he/she is gonna be one of those poor kids that gets birthday presents wrapped in christmas paper.

as far as symptoms go my major problem is being EXTREMELY tired all the time. this baby is sucking the life force out of me, literally. i'm told that once the second trimester starts that'll dissipate. fingers crossed it does, i hate feeling like a huge slug. another problem i'm having is being hungry but nothing looks or tastes good. i think it's my body subconsciously avoiding morning sickness. it's just really odd that i have to force myself to eat. according to my ob it's normal and is considered a form of morning sickness. so i guess by definition i am having some slight morning sickness but no vomiting or extreme nausea. thank goodness.

the computer went on the fritz last week and has been getting repaired the last two days. i love apple. luckily i purchased the apple care program with this computer. why would you not with a huge purchase like this. i called monday morning and they physically sent someone here to boone yesterday to fix it. it had a defective fan that was making all this noise and the guy replaced it and went ahead and replaced the motherboard while he was at it. i can't believe how quiet it is now. amazing.

so this means updates should be coming more regularly. we've got a busy month ahead of us. aaron's dad and grandmother will be here next week. then the caraways will be heading our way and we'll all be heading for the beach in a few weeks. the summeys will officially be residents of boone in a few weeks. and aaron and i will be heading back to illinois to celebrate the 4th. we fly in on the 1st and will be there til the 7th. yes, busy, busy, busy!

baby on board

just one baby on board. as much as i would have loved to have two, my body is thankful it's only one. so here's a pic of our little rice crispy. (the nickname is a reference to it's size) we were also able to hear it's heartbeat on tuesday. it was 151 bpm. it's insane to think something so small even has a heartbeat.

the baby measured at 7 weeks and 3 days. which was two days before my ivf calculated due date of december 24. baby westphal is due december 22, my dad's birthday. so looks like we're going to have a christmas baby!

everything looked good and i was released to my ob/gyn. no more treks to hickory or charlotte for medical care. i had to laugh, my RE gave me a little pregnancy care package that included a onesie that said, "made in charlotte" and technically it's true.

as far as symptoms go. i've been lucky and haven't had any morning sickness. just very burpy or vurpy and mild heartburn. some minor cramping and just tired all the time. one of the main reasons blog posts are short and far between. hopefully that will change in the upcoming weeks. we'll be documenting this pregnancy and with that will come the obligatory belly shots. right now there isn't much to see.

yes, it's gonna be very interesting to see what happens to my tattoo. maybe that's the real thing we'll be following. lol!