12-18 weeks

12 weeks picture:

At 12 weeks I had a first-trimester screening which involved an ultrasound and blood test. Both parts of the screening turned out to show everything was healthy with the baby. Yay!

The ultrasound was awesome! I got to see the baby in 4D and it was so neat to see such a tiny little person inside of me.

During the ultrasound the technician told me she was pretty sure that she knew if the baby was a boy or girl. I was shocked that at 12 weeks she would be able to tell. I was sad that I didn't know to bring Russ with me! She said that she would write down in a sealed envelope what she thought the baby was, and Russ and I could open up the envelope later that night together. She went back a few times to look and see if she still felt the same way, and each time she looked she seemed pretty sure of herself.

I was given a DVD copy of the ultrasound and watched it again as soon as I got home! It was so fun to watch the baby move. I sent Russ pictures that said "hurry home daddy!" That was a long day waiting for him to get home from work so we could open the envelope.

 

As soon as Russ got home that night, we watched the ultrasound (for my third time that day). As we watched, Russ said he thought the baby looked feminine and guessed it would be a girl.

I was shocked when we opened the envelope. I honestly didn't know how I felt about having a girl - I was so excited for a boy and thought for sure that's what it would be. This is the card we pulled out of the envelope. If the card would have been a boy card, I would be sure of it being a boy. I haven't had my second ultrasound yet so I'm not able to feel like I know for sure what the baby is. Boy parts could have been hiding that day! Russ, however - is sure it's a girl and talks about "her" and "she" when I call it "the baby".

I had my 33rd birthday when I was about 15 weeks along and got a lot of new maternity clothes. I had to clean out my closet to fit the new clothes in and pulled all of these ones out since they won't be fitting for awhile.

 

16 week picture:

 

I had to take a picture of my baby daddy "holding" the baby! I'm working on a calendar for next year and one of the months has a pic of Russ with each member of our family - I didn't want to leave the baby out. He is such a sweet dad & I'm excited to get to experience this baby with him.

Other news: I started feeling better around 17 weeks and that's the same time I felt the baby move for the first time. Russ was able to feel the baby move from the outside a few days within my first time feeling it. I feel the baby move all the time now - I love it!