baby b3

I am now 23 weeks pregnant with Baby B3. Over halfway! Where did the time fly? This pregnancy has been so different from G's and W's, that sometimes S and I wonder, are we really having a baby? Is it going to be an owl or puppy instead? =) Nope. We ARE having a baby (just one!) and now have the pictures to prove it. We had an ultrasound done a week or so ago and everything looks just great. We had a great technician who went through everything that she was looking at and measuring which was so neat to see. She was also good and turned the screen when she was looking at the lower abdomen so that we wouldn't be able to tell gender. And she told us that she didn't find out either because the little pumpkin's legs were tightly together the whole time. That actually made me feel better because it would have drove me nuts if she knew and said she knew! We were surprised with both G and W and it was so wonderful, and we are doing the same with B3 (especially since we have all the girl and boy stuff already), but there is always a little part of me that wants to know too! It was just so amazing to see this little person - fuzzy and grainy as it was - we saw them moving, waving around, the heart beating, tiny toes and fingers, and all sorts of other little baby things. Just puts you in awe of how God knits us together!

face shot - these can be a little creepy, but you can see the great cheeks that all our kids have! =) You can also see the heart (it is the dark spot in the chest and we could see it beating!)

shot looking down at the top of the head - you can see the fingers curled up by the mouth (sucking his/her thumb!)

here's the foot - "TINY TOES!" G exclaimed. G was most excited to see the tiny toes. She was actually really interested the whole time and could see and point out things which surprised me. W on the other hand couldn't care less, but luckily didn't fuss too much so that S could concentrate on the ultrasound as well.

And the profile shot - this is an active baby so it isn't quite as clear as G's and W's profiles that we had, but it is definitely our child! The head is on the left, and he/she is on their back with their legs pointing straight above their head! Looks like they are doing an olympic dive or something - great form! (this pose made both S and I laugh because s.i.l. C had a dream where our baby had a serious life threatening condition that would make them look like Michael Phelps when they grew up! And I thought I had weird dreams! =) Oh, and for all of you that are looking hard in that certain area, the little dot you see (lower than where it would be) is not boy parts - it is the umbilical cord!

I was actually hoping that if this pregnancy was similar to either G's or W's I would be able to have a good guess as to whether it was a boy or a girl, but no! As far as the pregnancy has been going, I have been feeling good. Tired, especially in the evenings, but not sick or nauseous at all, which is quite a wonderful change from G's and W's pregnancies, where I was sick for 6 months. I also am achy in different places, have different craving and turnoffs, and it just feels different. I think all of my pregnancy hormones have gone to my head rather than my stomach as I am super sensitive about everything! TV shows, news, commercials, newspaper articles, looking at me funny, anything will either make me squeemish (blood or violence - even the mention of it) or cry (uber empathy!). We had an appointment with our wonderful midwife K last week too, and Baby B3 has had a growing month! I gained 10 lbs (after only gaining 1 pound the whole rest of the time!), and also my belly grew 8 cm (normally it grows 1cm for each week)! No wonder I have been so tired!

I also thought I would include one of those awful side belly shots for you to see too. I cringe looking at the rest of me, but we did these when I was pregnant with W and it is so fun to see the belly grow in the last half of the pregnancy! And I always love looking at pictures like this of other people so I won't deprive any of you of that. =)


We are still trying to come up with names. For those of you that know us you know that this is the hardest part for us, and that both G and W were born without having a name picked out (don't get my mom started on G's birth and naming her and when we let everyone know...). So here is your chance to throw your suggestions at us!