Monday, January 21, 2013

Half way there

I've officially reached the half way point of my pregnancy: 20 weeks (21 weeks now). The ultrasound went well. Nothing major to report, other than everything is going as expected. Oh yes, and the gender. We found out, which was really exciting.

Sarah was hoping for a baby brother, and she was disappointed to realise that's EXACTLY what she was going to get! Ha, yes, fooled you. She was really excited and so were David and I. I've got some photos of the ultrasound.

Don't be scared of the skeletal imaging - it's meant to look that way. Click on the images to make them larger.


Side Profile


The head pictures weren't very clear, because he decided to park it right underneath my belly button. The radiologist got a lot of the necessary pictures of the heart and blood flow (plus other body parts) but he wouldn't budge his head from my belly button. On the contrary, he was quite happy to get the radiologist to chase his hand  around like a conductor though!


Side profile (close-up)


Twenty minutes into the ultrasound and after every other accessible image was taken, I was asked to walk around and have something cold to drink, to see if that would make him move. Fifteen minutes later, we returned and his head changed position just enough to get these poor quality shots. He sure was having fun hiding.


Front profile


This is Sarah's favourite photo because she's already nicknamed her little brother, "The Red Skull". If you're a Marvel comic book fan, you will recognise the Red Skull as Captain America's nemesis.

I was told by the radiologist some people freak when they see these head shots, because of the skeleton, but we all thought it was cool. Did I mention, Sarah joined us for the ultrasound? School holidays didn't give us much choice, but we wanted her to come along anyway. I suspected I was going to have a boy, and I wanted her to join in the moment we all found out.


The shirt is orange, not red like it looks here


This photo was taken at 21 weeks. The large shirt I bought second-hand, and just tied the straps around me. The maternity skirt was a loaner from someone I know, who likes to wear some items of maternity clothes. They believe they're more comfortable to wear, and I would have to agree!

Finding clothes hasn't been too hard, or that expensive. I've been able to get a few items second-hand (fill a bag for $5) and other items I have modified from my own wardrobe, thanks to these internet tutorials:

Modest maternity mini - my favourite
Maternity shirt and shorts - simple and easy
Room to grow top - spacious and inventive
Maternity pants

As I've had a baby before, I know I don't really need a lot of stuff. We will buy a new baby-carrier for the car (safety reasons) but everything else will be what we can purchase second hand. Like these cute singlets I collected, in fill a bag for $5...


The yellow is my favourite and still suitable for a boy


Some items we won't even bother with, like a change table. It takes up too much room, and I have plenty of tables I can change him on, with a thick towel. I would like to use cloth nappies, which I hope to sew myself with more internet tutorials - but I will share those later.

I'm really happy to have gotten this far in the pregnancy, and my only (small) gripe is the medical side. Too many appointments. Nothing is wrong, it's just standard procedure apparently. It's not my thing to fuss so much, so I've canceled a few appointments here and there. It makes for managing my stress levels easier.

I can't believe it's been 10 weeks since I last posted about our baby's development though. Time has just flown by.

6 comments:

  1. Hello Chris, just realised you were back. Glad it's all going well. Time sure does fly.

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    Replies
    1. Doesn't it fly though! I'm sure if I blink, it will be Christmas again, lol.

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  2. OMG! I am so excited! I was fooled, yes, because I was already convinced you had a baby girl on the way for some reason. LOL!
    If you have the technologist use color in the ultrasound the next time you get one, you will see your sons face in better detail. I have one of Jasmine at around 7 months that is a dead ringer to how she looked when she was born. They couldn't get a good shot of B. ever.

    I also love the top that you are wearing. YOu are one of those really beautiful pregnant mommas.

    We had a changing table but we never used it much. We did at first of course but the fact is that it was easier for me to sit on the floor with a thick towel or lay the babies on the couch instead. A good stroller was a better investment for me since we had the twins.

    I look forward to seeing and hearing more:)

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  3. It's funny how the genders work out, isn't it? I swore Sarah was going to be a boy, but then found out she wasn't. Now I had a pregnancy to compare it to though, I really suspected this one was going to be a boy. Of course, nothing can explain what it feels like, the moment they tell you though.

    I can imagine your surprise when they said you were having twins!

    With two babies, the floor would be that much more practical than a single change table. And a pram/stroller for twins would be a valuable investment. It's hard to believe they're all grown up now! Sarah is half way there. She will be 10 this year, and very much looking forward to being a big sister. It's picking the name we can all agree on, which is the toughest challenge at the moment, lol.

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  4. I can't believe she's 10 already. It's going to be great to have her to help you. I sure hope she enjoys it. Yes, names are hard but also fun.

    I kept dreaming about twins- a boy and a girl, but they always were Mexican and not mine in the dream. I thought I had one boy. How wrong can you get, eh?

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  5. Time really does fly!

    At least you were right about the boy part - your girl was just waiting to be discovered at the same time. ;)

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