Third Trimester & Babymoon

We've made it to the third trimester! Only 10 more weeks to go. I can't believe how time has flown by. Our last few appointments have been what my doctor calls the "boring visits." All she does is measure my belly to make sure growth is on track and listens to Gwendoline's heartbeat. They're quick and easy appointments, which is nice since we're going every two weeks now instead of every four. But I miss seeing my baby's face on sonograms, so I'm very excited that our next appointment in two weeks will be a "growth scan" sonogram to make sure that she's growing at an appropriate rate. My belly has been measuring slightly small, so we're expecting a petite little girl to show up during the scan. Her size is still within the standard deviation of normal, so the doctor isn't concerned; we're just curious.

The Gwendoline Bump @ 29 weeks, San Antonio Riverwalk

Double bumps, triple babies! Amy @ 30 weeks,
sister-in-law Keely @ 28 weeks with twins!

Jeph and I recently went on a mini "babymoon" vacation- our last weekend away together before we become parents. And probably our last weekend away without a baby in tow for quite a while. Since I'm still having some nausea and am a bit of a nauseous flyer to begin with, we decided not to fly anywhere. And since my doctor calls me "not her lowest risk patient," we didn't want to be too far from home, just in case. I also didn't want to be in the car for more than 3-5 hours for comfort reasons. Therefore, we picked San Antonio as our babymoon destination! In addition to the required eating of meals on the Riverwalk, Jeph and I enjoyed visiting SeaWorld and the Alamo! Jeph had never been to either place (and it had been more than a decade since I'd been), so we had a lot of fun. We also took some time to relax by the hotel pool and take naps whenever we wanted. It was a fantastic weekend and a lovely way to celebrate the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

Remember the Alamo!

Crazy pregnancy strength

SeaWorld, San Antonio

Nursery update #3

Due to requests from several interested parties, here are some updated nursery photos! I'm having such a blast getting the nursery ready for our little girl. I think it's almost done! Just a few more items to hang on the walls...

Courtesy of Pinterest and etsy, I recreated these prints all by myself! By doing it myself, I saved a ton of money and was also able to alter some of the wording, design, and colors. They'll be hung over the dresser/changing table.

Courtesy of Granma, we have the cutest curtains in the land! Granma has been on her sewing machine constantly lately, making all kinds of precious things for Gwendoline and her room. We also got our glider this week. Jeph assembled it in record time and I'm already enjoying rocking in it.

Closed curtains so you see more of the cute!

Last but not least, I got Gwen's name hung over her crib. Again thanks to Granma and our painting party, these letters add a personal touch to the room. Obviously, "GWENDOLINE" would have taken up quite a bit more room, and she'll be going by Gwen most of the time anyway, so I stuck with "GWEN" for the wall.

Newest piece of equipment: Britax B-Agile travel system with B-Safe infant car seat/carrier. I picked this one based on great reviews- both ease-of-use and safety- and a couple of recommendations. Ultimately, I wanted something safe but also non-bulky that I could see around. Mommies, if you have this system, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! 

So the high-risk specialist is nice...

We had a little scare this week. Thankfully, our daughter is just a bit of a diva and our God is BIG. We went into this past weekend with everything looking and feeling great. But by Saturday night, I realized I hadn't really felt Gwen move much since Friday. When the non-movement persisted through Sunday, mommy got nervous. I know it's still a few weeks early to be "kick counting" in earnest, but the baby had been moving and shaking in big and consistent ways for several weeks, so the decrease in movement was definitely drastic.

After a quick phone call, my wonderful OB/GYN, Dr. Catherine Holt (I cannot recommend her highly enough!), squeezed me in Monday morning for a quick check. And quick it was! Everything looked fine- healthy heart rate, optimum fluid levels, and Gwen was moving around a little bit, just not sharing those movements with me. We even saw her hiccuping! But Dr. Holt reminded me that there is cause for concern anytime there's a dramatic decrease in fetal movement like I was experiencing. So we decided to give our little ear of corn (her size this week) a couple of days to get out of her funk and start dancing again. But by Wednesday, I still hadn't felt much movement, so in we went for another quick check that afternoon. This one turned out to be not so quick. The first several, long seconds of the sonogram revealed a dramatically slow fetal heart rate. It quickly picked up to an acceptable and normal rate, but that little blip, combined with the decrease in fetal movement, was enough for Dr. Holt to refer me straight to the high-risk specialist for another "quick check." She was concerned that what she had seen was a fetal arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).

After a sleepless night, Jeph and I found ourselves in the waiting room of Dr. Michael Zaretsky at Children's Medical Center this morning. We have been so blessed to almost haphazardly find wonderful physicians, and Dr. Zaretsky and his staff are no exception. After an extremely long and detailed high-def sonogram, including 3D, Dr. Zaretsky could find no evidence of an arrhythmia! And he checked everything from heart rate (several times) to umbilical input/output, kidney function, and even femur length. It turns out that Gwen is in the breech position, folded in half with her legs up over her head, all crowded into the left side of my tummy. This position, combined with an anterior-facing placenta, probably accounts for the seeming decrease in movement. Dr. Zaretsky assured me that Gwen has several weeks to flip around into the proper position, so we shouldn't worry about that or anything else, including her movements or lack thereof. And I confirmed with him about ten times: NO ARRHYTHMIA! Jeph and I left with big smiles on our faces, a skip in our step, and loosening anxiety knots in our backs.

I officially declare this the end of over-worrying for this pregnancy (though rational caution will never stop). Next time, I'll just remind myself that we have a little diva in the oven and a BIG God in Heaven.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise! (1 Chronicles 16:25)

Gwendoline Celeste's profile @ 24 weeks

Look at that baby sucking her thumb!

24 Weeks (Nursery Update 2)

We started week 24 yesterday and I have the bump to go along with it (see below)! Jeph and I are still having a lot of fun getting Gwendoline's nursery ready. This weekend, we picked up the crib (thanks, Granma and Papa Gary!), Jeph assembled it, and I loaded it up with bedding. I feel like we're making really good progress. Pretty soon, the only thing we'll have left to add is a little Gwen! We're hoping she appreciates girly-girl decor; otherwise, we'll have a lot to redo in the future.

Gwen's bump @ 24 weeks

Pink chandelier and sky (thanks, Dad!)

Nursery Update

Today was paint the nursery day! Thanks to Daddy Jeph, we got Gwendoline's room all painted (in record time), and it is absolutely adorable! The pink and green paint matches the colors in her bedding. It's starting to come together! Up next... nursery furniture.

Ribbon pink and mint green nursery

Penelope nursery bedding (Pottery Barn)

Weekend bounty: paint, dresser/changing table, and bedding

Anatomy 101

This week- the 20th- marks the halfway point; we are now halfway to meeting our daughter and holding her in our arms! We had another sonogram this afternoon and got to see just how much Gwendoline has grown in the last month. Gone are the days when we could see her entire body in one frame- she's so big! Today's sonogram was the "anatomy scan," where the doctor counts and inventories all of Gwen's parts. Great news- they're all there and they include:

• 2 flailing arms
• 2 kicking legs
• 10 tiny fingers
• 10 tiny toes
• Big, juicy brain

And her stats measure up perfectly to what all the books and doctors say they should:

• About 7 inches long
• 11 ounces in weight
• Healthy heart rate of 141 beats per minute

Gwendoline Celeste at 20 weeks, 1 day

The last week and a half has been such a treat as I've been feeling the first of Gwen's little movements and the sweetest baby kicks you can imagine. Though I had felt small twinges and flutters in the preceding days, the definitive, that's-definitely-the-baby-and-not-gas moment came when I was sitting at my desk at work. After a long series of about 10 kicks over 15 minutes, I couldn't concentrate on anything for the rest of the afternoon! Jeph has been lucky enough to feel a few of her kicks himself and I think he is just as awed as I am. Today the doctor confirmed that her little legs and feet are positioned exactly where I've been feeling the bumps and nudges, so they're definitely kicks. We've got either a soccer star or ballerina on our hands- maybe both.

From the maternal health standpoint, I am finally feeling better! I've been steadily eating and gaining weight and nauseous moments are fewer and further between. I've also been off the anti-nausea drug Zofran for a full week- so far, so good. And that strange bump/lump in the side of my abdomen from last month? It simply can't be found now, praise God!

Gwen or Skeletor? She's staring at you.

Baby bump at 19 weeks

Double bumps! Amy @ 20 wks, Kerri @ 32 wks

Sugar and spice

What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?

     Sugar and spice

     And everything nice,

That's what little girls are made of.

After our gender confirmation sonogram yesterday, we are overjoyed to announce that we are having a GIRL! A little Gwendoline Celeste is on the way! The specialist had told us four weeks ago that she was 85% certain it was a girl, so we were already prepared and excited for the confirmation. And after Jeph told me that he had secretly wanted a girl all along, that sealed the deal. I must admit that, up till now, I had always envisioned myself with a little boy, but my perspective has completely changed over the last four weeks. We are so thrilled to be having a daughter! 

17 weeks: Sweet baby girl toes.
All of the other pictures from this gender
confirmation sono are a little revealing of our little
Gwen, so her tiny foot and toes will have to do!

Some of you may be thinking, "But Amy, I thought you said your gender confirmation appointment wasn't until next week. What's up?" Yes, it's a week early. My doctor decided it was a good idea to bring me in a little early when I told her about a small problem I was having. I've developed a somewhat-large lump/bump/mass in my upper far-right abdomen area. It's a little larger than a golf ball, but smaller than a tennis ball. My doctor took a long look at it yesterday and her official medical opinion is "that's weird." She's stumped as to what it could be but is not overly concerned at this point since it's not causing any pain or other symptoms; it's just hanging out. She doesn't even think it's necessarily pregnancy related because of the location. The specialist I saw before will be rounding on my doctor's office in the next few weeks and is going to check it out for us then. Until then, our prayer request is that this lump/bump/mass is nothing more than something slightly unusual that will have no effect whatsoever on the baby or me. And if you like to pray for ideal scenarios, ideally we would love for it to just go away and never be seen or heard from again! (For any moms out there who may have experienced this or something like it, I'd love to hear from you.)