It's A...

It's a girl! After our ultrasound on Tuesday September 23rd, we found out that we are having a healthy baby girl! We decided to include our parents with the exciting news. Jeff and I felt that it would be fun to let them in on our little secret before spreading the news to the rest of the family and our friends. So now, we are starting to pick out nursery furniture and working on a color theme for the new room...there will be pink of course! As for names, you'll just have to wait until February!

The ultrasound revealed a healthy little girl. All of her bones and organs are forming correctly. We even got to see the four chambers of the heart beating. She is right on for all of her growth requirements. We guess she is perfect!

We've included a picture of our latest ultrasound. She's pointing with her index finger as if to say she's number one or she's looking at us. Regardless, it was too cute not to post!

Movement

After my doctors appointment on the 11th, Dr. Kanios assured me that by the next month's appointment I would definitely be feeling the baby move. Boy was she right! Our little peanut has been moving around like crazy for the past 5 days. While I'm the only one to appreciate these flutters when I'm quietly relaxing, Jeff likes to tease me that it's only gas! I'm going on the record that it's just not so! Our little one is just a mere 6 inches long (according to our baby book), so it's easy to understand that I'm the only one to enjoy the little kicks and punches. I do look forward to sharing future kicks with Jeff.

Healthy Appointment

I just had my 18 week (and 1 day) appointment this afternoon. All is going well. My doctor has been very happy with my weight and health. My previous blood work has returned, revealing no concerns with neural tube/ spinal defects. One less thing to worry about! Our next ultrasound has been scheduled for Tuesday September 23rd at 2:30. While this will allow us to check for organ and bone development, we should also be able to determine the sex of our little one. So, check back in a couple of weeks as we share our big news!!

Starting to show

I'm officially running out of clothes that fit yet I'm not ready for maternity clothes. I'm in limbo! While I expected problems buttoning up some pants, I wasn't expecting to fill out so much in the buttocks area! Apparently this is a sign that we are having a boy along with the fact that I haven't experienced any morning sickness (but the Chinese calendar says it's a girl!). Regardless as to the sex of our little one, my belly is getting itchy and I'm putting on tons of thick lotion to keep from rubbing my stomach like a Buddha! Jeff has been helping me apply my 'belly butter' each evening. By eighteen weeks, I've already gained 12 pounds so I've got a lot more weight and itching to go!