37 Weeks but who's counting?

Wow, I can't believe 8 weeks have passed since our last blog. As of this week I'm at 37 weeks which means that the baby is considered full term now. My stomach seems huge to me but supposedly the baby still gains 1/2 ounce per day during these last few weeks.

Two weekends ago my family threw me a shower but for some reason I got really sick that day. I managed to drag myself to the party to see all the beautiful decorations and say hi to everyone but you can see that "green around the gills" look on my face in the photo!

That same weekend, Shannon, her daughter Madison, and her mom Jean, who is an artist, flew up and painted our baby room with beautiful flower decorations. Here she is in action!

My work threw me a shower and after my mom and aunt saw all the baby gifts in our home, they agreed that we could open up our own baby shop with all these wonderful clothes and gear.






Today I saw my OB again (visits are now every week) and he did an ultrasound to confirm that the baby's head is down. At this point, there is only about a 1 % chance that the baby will turn around between now and delivery. He also estimates that the baby's weight will be 6.5 to 7 lbs at birth. For some reason, he predicts that the baby will be born after its due date of June 6... but we'll see. I think he's just trying to make me feel better because he will be away on vacation from June 1 to June 11 which means there is a good chance that he won't be around to do the delivery. Dang!

Right now the baby is busy turning, kicking and punching. We can't wait to see her!

Twenty Nine Weeks and Counting!

Ok, I was waiting for some better belly photos but due to request, I am updating my blog. Somewhere between 21 and 25 weeks my belly just popped out! It seemed like it grew by the day and the skin on my abdomen just couldn't keep up with it!. For those of you who have not been pregnant, it's like walking around with a big bag of rice strapped to your stomach. From my perspective, the belly is humongous but people still tell me that I look small for 6 months. It did seem like from one week to the next, all of the sudden my patients at work were spontaneously saying, "Are you pregnant?" Meaning, that it was obvious enough that they would say something and be sure the answer wasn't, "Why no, what are you talking about?" : )

So far things are going good but I can feel myself slow down a bit at work. I can't run from one room to another as fast, hauling around an extra 22 pounds is hard work! And on top of that I think I've developed B.O. which is weird because A. Asian people in general don't have bad B.O. and B. I swear I have never had it in my life! Any advice on a good deodorant?

Ok, here are a couple of belly shots, disregard my fat face.




OK, here is a photo of Chris and I shopping for rocking chairs with the help of Shannon and Allen. Chris displays his sympathy belly:

Is he a great husband or what?

22 Week Ultrasound and Doulas

This is week 22. My belly is getting bigger and this morning we went in for an "anatomical" ultrasound. It is where they look at all the major organs of the baby to make sure everything is in order. Once again, we got to see our baby girl. You can almost make out her facial features in some of the images! Everything looked great according to the Dr. and technician. The technician once again remarked that the heart sounds were very strong and beating at 158 beats per minute. That always makes us feel good when they say that!

Otherwise, things are going well. I can feel the baby moving around more and if I press in the area of my abdomen, I can feel her roll or move against my hand. Pretty neat. I've started checking out prenatal yoga classes around town and found two different ones that I like. It is a great way to meditate, relax, and become more flexible in preparation for the birth. The teacher of my yoga class tonight is also a doula which is something I'm just learning about. A doula is usually a non-medically trained person who acts as a labor coach during birth. They are usually women and supposedly they help you get through the labor process both emotionally and physically. I kind of like that idea since my experience with childbirth was as a med student. And I can guarantee you that medical people do not think about the emotional or spiritual side of things during a delivery. It is all about the medical process and procedure of having a baby and not much beyond that. They say that women who have other women present during labor usually do better. Anyway, I am toying with the idea of a doula but not quite sure about it. I think if you click personality-wise with someone it could work out well.

Karyotype

This is a photo of the chromosomes from the amniocentesis test. You can click on the image to make it bigger. There are 46 chromosomes in each cell of the human body. One is inherited from the mother, and the other, from the father. It's what gives us our genetic diversity! Note the dark bands in each chromosome, these are DNA tightly compressed. Different organisms have different numbers of chromosomes. Primates have 48, the hare has 46, and the potato has 48 as well!

With the karyotype ( A photomicrograph of chromosomes arranged according to a standard classification), the lab figures out which chromosomes are which and lines them up. In Down's Syndrome, you would see three number 21 chromosomes and in Trimsomy 18, you would see 3 number 18 chromosomes. Luckily, none of this existed in our baby, thank goodness! The neat thing to look for is how many chromosomes under X and Y. The baby has two X chromosomes and that is how they know it is a girl!

The results are in!

Well, the results are in! Thank goodness the results from the amniocentesis came back normal. So genetically, the baby is fine and we found out it is a girl! I think Chris and I would be happy with either a boy or girl as long as he/she is healthy. But it sure is nice to know the sex at this time! It cuts down our name choosing by at least 50%!

At this point I am 19 weeks along and my belly is definitely expanding! It is quite obvious to me, but many people have commented that they don't notice a thing. Do I normally look this fat??? Amazingly enough, I can already feel the baby move and this happened some time over Christmas. It feels like a muscle twitch or gas, but not quite, so I think it is the baby rolling around.

Anyway, Chris and I want to thank all our family and friends for their well-wishes. It is nice to have so much support from everyone.