Well we are officially
over half way there till little Girl arrives! The last few weeks have been
pretty standard. Growing belly, increasing hormones, more excitement,
etc.
On Sept 18 we had the
official BIG ultrasound where they scan all parts of baby to make sure all the
fingers and toes are there and so much more! At one point the ultrasound tech said,
"and now I'm going to check the heart for all four chambers". I was
reminded again what an age we live in where they can check the chambers on the
heart of a 20 week old baby still growing in the womb! I also remember thinking
"gosh these techs are amazing, I can barely make out a profile of sweet
baby even after they point it out to me while they can find all the little organs
and chambers and detect if something is missing or forming differently.
It was a REALLY special
appointment because Chad and Stephanie were able to come! They brought their
oldest son, Maddox, also so he could see his baby sister moving around on the
screen. Daniel also came along since we only get to see our sweet IP's about
once a month.
So first they take me back
for the 30-min scan alone. I remember when I was pregnant with Gabriel and we
showed up to find out the gender and they told daniel he had to wait for 30 min
before coming in (he was not the happiest camper) but when we asked the tech
about it they told us that they need to focus solely on taking hundreds of
pictures for the doctor to review and having dad standing over their shoulder
asking questions or pointing out what they think might be wrong can distract
and make the techs job even harder.
Needless to say, we were
prepared for the first solo scan and they pulled me in a few minutes early
which was awesome cause you have to go in with a full bladder and delayed
appointments can make that part difficult.
I got into the scan and
after about 15 min the tech asked me to go use the restroom because I had drunk
SO much water in prep that she was having a hard time pushing down on my lower
belly for photos! Ha-ha! Leave it to me, the "over-achiever" to drink
so much I actually over did it!
After about 30 min we
called everyone in and got to see pics of sweet baby girl! Of course, I was
laying on the table still so I mainly just watched their faces since I couldn't
get the best view.
I think Maddox' reactions
were my favorite. At first, she just showed us still shots she had taken and
poor Maddox looked so confused. He kept turning his head and putting it on
mommy's shoulder. Then the tech switched over to live feed and baby girl
started moving around and his little face lit up and he started pointing and
saying "Baby! Baby!". He would look from the screen to the
scanner on my tummy with a quizzical look and I think it slowly dawned on him!
It was so sweet to watch!
After the appointment,
Daniel told me that while he and the family were in the waiting room before
being called in, another patient showed up with a baby in a stroller. On the
way to the appointment, Chad and Stephanie had been telling Maddox that he was
going to see the baby.
So, when the other patient
came in with a baby, Maddox asked expectantly "is that our baby? Do we get
to take that baby home?" Ha-ha! Oh, sweet boy, she will be here soon
but not yet!
I had my follow up
appointment two days later and everything looks great! The ultrasound actually
hadn't been signed off yet so my doctor couldn't see the exact results but
reassured me that if there had been any issues they would have contacted him
the day of the scan so in this case, no news was good news. A few days later
the ultrasound report was posted to my patient portal and everything looks
great!
At my follow up
appointment the doctor said we could book the c-section at this point. Because
my last two babies were delivered through c-section, we are doing a repeat
c-section with baby girl. They like to plan repeat C-sections at 39 weeks,
I'm guessing to avoid me going into labor beforehand. I told the doctor I
would have to run the date by Chad and Stephanie too but I was pretty certain
Fri Jan 26 would be the best due to work schedules and such.
I must admit this was a
whole new world for me! My second born was an emergency c-section after hours
of labor. My third, we were attempting a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after C-section)
but he never came on his own and inducing after a c-section can be very
dangerous. So, after a routine checkup we felt the Lords peace to walk across
the street to the hospital for little man’s arrival. Now with baby girl, we
know when she will arrive (as long as she stays put up to 39 weeks).
Anyone who knows me, knows
I am an EXTREME planner so picking a date was pretty exciting! The date worked
great for Chad and Stephanie as well so I ran out and bought a 2018 Calendar
just so I could hang it up and put baby girl's arrival on it!
In the last two days I think baby girl has started some tap dancing classes in there! Its so crazy to be feeling baby kicks again! I was able to get some quick videos to send the Chad and Stephanie which was awesome!
One prayer request I've been asking for is my anxiety for the rest of the pregnancy. This last weekend I was able to escape up to Oregon to spend some time with my sister. I had a wonderful weekend but noticed that I get extremely nervous about so many things I never worried about when pregnant with my own children. I started frantically searching google while in line for airport security to make sure it was safe for me to go through the scanner (even though I traveled internationally while pregnant with all 3 of my boys and never stressed over it). There have been other examples and I'm just praying for my heart to trust and rest in God's will for this child and not over-think everything I do in the next 4 months.
Well I think that's it for now!
Thanks for following along on this amazing journey!
