Friday, May 21, 2010
Update
The condition of Baby X's kidneys and ureters has not changed...it's not better and it's not worse. The half-full outlook is that we are scheduled for another ultrasound at 35 weeks...I just love looking at our baby girl!
Long Awaited and Much Requested
Back in December I took one of these - mostly to prove to Oliver that I was indeed pregnant. He kept asking how I knew, I just did. 
December 5th was a day to remember - I was five weeks and a few days.
On that day we looked like this (for the record Oliver still looks like that).
Then after 15 weeks I looked like this...yeah YOU can't tell, but I could.
Then at 20 weeks more people could tell.
Since some people thought I was just getting fat and since I was feeling fat, I hacked off all my hair. It was so people would stop focusing on my weight/waist/whatever, and have a conversation about something else. I work in an engineering office - they aren't known for being subtle, sensitive, tactful or politically correct. It was supposed to make me feel better and beautiful and it mostly worked. But then, ask anyone who knows me, I LOVE CHANGE!
So then at 29 weeks I looked like this.
December 5th was a day to remember - I was five weeks and a few days.
On that day we looked like this (for the record Oliver still looks like that).
Then after 15 weeks I looked like this...yeah YOU can't tell, but I could.
Then at 20 weeks more people could tell.
Since some people thought I was just getting fat and since I was feeling fat, I hacked off all my hair. It was so people would stop focusing on my weight/waist/whatever, and have a conversation about something else. I work in an engineering office - they aren't known for being subtle, sensitive, tactful or politically correct. It was supposed to make me feel better and beautiful and it mostly worked. But then, ask anyone who knows me, I LOVE CHANGE!So then at 29 weeks I looked like this.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
New Machine
I went in for my regularly scheduled doctors appointment on Monday and asked about when they would be scheduling my follow-up ultrasound to check on the progress of her developing kidneys. It just happened to work out that the office that does my ultrasounds would have a rep in town the next day demoing some new features of their machine to be able to see the baby with all her skin, etc. This type of ultrasound is ideal for women past 26 weeks and before 30 because the baby has some skin and fat but isn't too big to be able to see anything. That made me a perfect candidate. My doctor doesn't believe in doing ultrasounds just for fun...but since I was needing a follow-up anyway she scheduled us for the next morning at 10 am! Our friend Missy came with us and there were 4 techs in the room learning how to use the machine...it was hot and AMAZING!
First we got some standard pictures like ones we have seen before like her profile...
At my appointment I was diagnosed with a pregnancy rash that isn't supposed to manifest itself until 35 weeks and 75% of the women that have the rash deliver boys. Needless to say I left my Monday appointment worrying whether she was still a girl (and if I was super far along)...so I asked the ultrasound tech to check and make sure. I would be devastated...hello, her room is already decorated! :) Sure enough, she is still a she.
She was yawning over and over and they were able to catch a picture of it.
After they measured her kidney progress (the tech doesn't tell me anything I have to wait for the doctor to call) they switched over to their new technology and started looking at the baby in 4D. These pics don't even do justice to how amazing it was in the office. Everything at the office was in color - not full color - but colored. So the picture below shows her resting against the placenta which is attached to the uterine wall. In the office her skin was one color, the placenta another and the uterine wall a third. AMAZING!
And here she is with her hands curled up to her face...she's learning to say her prayers.
And we don't have to wait to make sure that she has all her fingers, because you can count them clearly in the following pictures.
We'll let you know about her toes when we meet her.
For now, it was amazing and we haven't heard anything. But we'll keep you posted as we learn more. She weighed in at 2 lbs 12 oz and is measuring 8 days ahead of schedule, but this won't affect my due date.
We also still lovingly call her baby x. As we were discussing names last night I vetoed one from Oliver's list I was pretty emphatic that it didn't matter how much he liked it, she wasn't receiving that name. When he asked why I told him that it has nothing to do with the name, I just hate the way he says it! Yep, he's from Utah, and consequently some names are immediately stricken from the list because I don't like the way they get said... :) No, I'm not telling you which name it was...
First we got some standard pictures like ones we have seen before like her profile...
At my appointment I was diagnosed with a pregnancy rash that isn't supposed to manifest itself until 35 weeks and 75% of the women that have the rash deliver boys. Needless to say I left my Monday appointment worrying whether she was still a girl (and if I was super far along)...so I asked the ultrasound tech to check and make sure. I would be devastated...hello, her room is already decorated! :) Sure enough, she is still a she.
She was yawning over and over and they were able to catch a picture of it.
After they measured her kidney progress (the tech doesn't tell me anything I have to wait for the doctor to call) they switched over to their new technology and started looking at the baby in 4D. These pics don't even do justice to how amazing it was in the office. Everything at the office was in color - not full color - but colored. So the picture below shows her resting against the placenta which is attached to the uterine wall. In the office her skin was one color, the placenta another and the uterine wall a third. AMAZING!
And here she is with her hands curled up to her face...she's learning to say her prayers.
And we don't have to wait to make sure that she has all her fingers, because you can count them clearly in the following pictures.
We'll let you know about her toes when we meet her.
For now, it was amazing and we haven't heard anything. But we'll keep you posted as we learn more. She weighed in at 2 lbs 12 oz and is measuring 8 days ahead of schedule, but this won't affect my due date. We also still lovingly call her baby x. As we were discussing names last night I vetoed one from Oliver's list I was pretty emphatic that it didn't matter how much he liked it, she wasn't receiving that name. When he asked why I told him that it has nothing to do with the name, I just hate the way he says it! Yep, he's from Utah, and consequently some names are immediately stricken from the list because I don't like the way they get said... :) No, I'm not telling you which name it was...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Public or Private
Our blog was once public, then Oliver wanted it to be private, then I wanted it to be public and I'm sure we'll have the same back and forth hundreds more times. Currently it's public and I prefer it that way. I like that I end up at the top of people's blog rolls when I have posted recently so that my blog actually gets read (kind of self-serving but whatever). I like that people that don't know how to log into a private blog can now read mine - like my parents, etc. I also like that people don't have to ask to view my blog, they don't have to have a gmail account, and they can just read when they want.
I don't like the Chinese character comments though. Do you know what I'm talking about? What is up with random people commenting on my blog? And I have a few OCD issues in my life so every time I get a Chinese character comment I delete it (I cannot verify that they are actually Chinese characters but my sister can correct me if they are/aren't 'cause she's fluent). But do you know what bugs me about deleting these comments - they still add into the total comment tally - and they aren't real comments. If I could change the number of comments and delete them you bet I would! Anyway, returning to my original thoughts...
I read a post yesterday of a friend requesting that everyone remove her family's last name from their blog roll and it was a huge AHA moment. And so, out of respect for her privacy, and all my other friends who go back and forth and public/private, I am removing everyone's last name from my blog roll. Because, well, I'm OCD, and it's all or nothing for me!
I also hate reading private blogs. I understand the need for privacy, protecting your kids, going through divorce, etc. The part of it that I hate is that it doesn't come up on my blog roll when it's been updated. And since I have OCD, I click on each private link EVERY SINGLE DAY to see if it has been updated. It used to be a good use of my time when only one or two people had private blogs but now I read 14 private blogs! I probably should get over my issue - but I find it really annoying when people with private blogs only update once every 6 or 8 weeks - because by then I have clicked on your blog, typed in my username and password, and waited to be re-directed more than 50 times!
Yes, I know I have issues and maybe I'll re-title this post OCD. Thanks.
I don't like the Chinese character comments though. Do you know what I'm talking about? What is up with random people commenting on my blog? And I have a few OCD issues in my life so every time I get a Chinese character comment I delete it (I cannot verify that they are actually Chinese characters but my sister can correct me if they are/aren't 'cause she's fluent). But do you know what bugs me about deleting these comments - they still add into the total comment tally - and they aren't real comments. If I could change the number of comments and delete them you bet I would! Anyway, returning to my original thoughts...
I read a post yesterday of a friend requesting that everyone remove her family's last name from their blog roll and it was a huge AHA moment. And so, out of respect for her privacy, and all my other friends who go back and forth and public/private, I am removing everyone's last name from my blog roll. Because, well, I'm OCD, and it's all or nothing for me!
I also hate reading private blogs. I understand the need for privacy, protecting your kids, going through divorce, etc. The part of it that I hate is that it doesn't come up on my blog roll when it's been updated. And since I have OCD, I click on each private link EVERY SINGLE DAY to see if it has been updated. It used to be a good use of my time when only one or two people had private blogs but now I read 14 private blogs! I probably should get over my issue - but I find it really annoying when people with private blogs only update once every 6 or 8 weeks - because by then I have clicked on your blog, typed in my username and password, and waited to be re-directed more than 50 times!
Yes, I know I have issues and maybe I'll re-title this post OCD. Thanks.