Drum roll, please...

We THINK it's a girl! :)

Jeff and I are 95% sure...but the tech wasn't too helpful. It wasn't because she didn't want to tell us or anything, but she was like...oh, I think it might be a girl. Yeah, it kinda looks like a girl. Very unexcited. Kinda disappointing, but before we went in for the ultrasound (a few days before), Jeff studied a bunch of ultrasound images on-line and he's pretty certain it's a little girl! It's a good thing, too, 'cause the only names we really had picked out were girl names! hehehe...

It was amazing to see our little girl's spine, heart pumping away (151 bpm!), little belly, arms and legs, and you could even see tiny facial features! I think she's going to have some high cheek bones! hehehehe...actually her facial shot looked like a little alien head, but she's adorable, nonetheless. The doc said she's already 11 ounces! Once Jeff gets the images scanned, I'll post them here. Don't know how they'll turn out, but it's worth a shot. She looked awful crowded in there, though...I guess that's why she moves around so much...:) Trying to stretch out her living space...

WE'RE SO EXCITED!!! Our little baby girl...Jeff's going to spoil her rotten...I can see it now...;)

Anticipating the Ultrasound

Jeff and I are very eagerly awaiting tomorrow morning's appointment with the ultrasound technician. We are hoping that the little one will cooperate and let us know if the squirminess is a he or a she. :) My belly has grown an inch since last month's measurement...it looks much bigger than just an inch, but who knows.

We will let you know the technician's guess as soon as we find out!

Definitely Belly Movement!!!

Yesterday's sensations were definitely little Ryals making him/herself known. This morning, about an hour after I woke up and wandered around the house getting ready for work, I felt the same sensation so I stopped moving around and placed my hands on my belly...and I could feel the little one's movements with my hands! It went on for about another five minutes or so while stood there just holding my belly...:)

Throughout the day today, too, the flutters continued on and off...what a beautiful and odd feeling!

I also had my first back muscle cramp today. While I was sitting at work, a tiny little area on the left-middle of my back got all knotted up and was a little painful, but after I stood up and walked around a little bit, it was much better. I guess it's about that time when I need to start moving around every hour or so to keep the blood flowing properly instead of sitting at my desk the majority of the day. Lesson learned. :)

First Movement?

I think I felt the little one move today!!! I was sitting at work around 3pm and suddenly I felt a little flutter in my tummy. At first I thought maybe I had some gas bubbles (I know, disturbing), but then I didn't feel any pressure in my intestines as I normally would if I had gas bubbles. So, out of curiosity, I sat really still land thought about the baby swimming around...and then I felt it again!!! The little flutters...like a little foot or arm was stretching out to touch the walls around it...it continued a few more times and then it stopped. I haven't felt any more since the afternoon, but could this have been the first fetal movement??? How wonderful...:)

Second Dr. Appointment

Today's appointment was not as exciting as we both expected it to be. We were both hoping to find out the sex of the baby, but we didn't even get to see the baby today. Sad. But, we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat - beating at a rapid 156 beats per minute! Trust me, I have no caffeine in my system!!!

I did get some blood drawn for cystic fibrosis, down syndrome, and neural tube defect tests. All in all, it was an uneventful appointment, but it was really nice to hear the baby's heart beating so strong and healthy.

Our next appointment is the 2nd trimester ultrasound appointment and Dr. Han said that the technician will be able to tell us the sex of the baby at that time. 15 OCT 07 - can't wait! Dr. Han also told us that I should be able to feel the little one move in the next couple weeks!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

Anticipation

It's funny the things you anticipate when you're pregnant. I'm almost finished with week 18 now, and the one major thing I'm looking forward to is feeling the first fetal movement. I read everywhere that it's hard for first-time mothers to tell the first movements because it often feels like gas bubbles or just an overturning stomach, but I just wish there would be a definite way to tell if it was the baby moving or just dinner moving around...hehehe...

Sometimes I sit really still with my hands on my peh and my eyes closed and think about the baby swimming around in there...imagining him/her reaching out and touching the walls and feeling around him/her. It makes me smile.

I sang to the baby today on my lunch break. Jeff and I are really looking forward to our next appointment this Friday. I'm hoping that this doctor will let us know the gender...if she can. If the baby will let us know. :) We really want to know so we can starting imagining the little one as a he or a she and address it as such.

How exciting!

16 Weeks

I'm starting my week 16 and have thus far had a relatively easy pregnancy. I've definitely had a few days of morning sickness where I spent more time saying hello to the bowl than I would have liked, but I have to think I've been lucky after some of the horror stories I've heard about morning sickness. Sleepiness is inevitable; I'm just glad I don't seem to have much trouble sleeping at night. As for rollercoaster emotions - not bad, actually. I've only just gotten more teary-eyed than usual watching shows like extreme home makeover and such. I do have a little bit of joint pain, a bit of indigestion, and a few dull headaches here and there, but nothing to really make me feel immobile. Thank goodness. Jeff and I just got back from a quick vacation in the Philippines, so I'll post some family pics here, soon. The pictures are the first shots of the little one starting to show in my belly. I'm really looking forward to my next appointment at the end of this month!