Saturday, October 2, 2010

A new adventure













It's been pretty hard to find motivation to blog the last few months. There's really not been a lot of exciting things to say... until now. As I think almost everyone knows, Sean and I are expecting!

We had a prenatal appointment yesterday and our first sonogram. It was very exciting to see the Little One. He or she is about three inches now. We could see a nose, eye sockets, a mouth, fingers, toes, legs, arms, heart (all four chambers!), brain, spine. We could even tell (OK, mostly the sonographer could tell, but she was really good at explaining what we were all seeing) that the stomach and bladder have formed, and the baby had a working diaphragm and at least one working kidney. Yeah, kidneys!

We could see him or her jumping around, but the baby spent most of the show with ankles crossed and arms behind his head like he was hanging out in the La-Z-boy. Funny. It was really quite amazing. Thankfully, everything looked completely normal.

The heart beat seemed so fast - between 163 and 175 beats per minute - but it also was completely normal. We even found out that the little one is measuring about a week ahead of his or her gestational age: so 13 weeks. We have an overachiever from the start! The midwife didn't think this was significant enough to warrant a change in due dates, though. We are still expecting the Little One in April (hopefully while the cherry blossoms are still in bloom - fingers crossed!).

We also have a stubborn little bugger, too (not that we were expecting less - Sean and I have to be the two most stubborn people on the planet). He or she absolutely refused to position himself in the proper way for the sonographer to get an important measurement. Finally, Little One cooperated, but it took 45 minutes.

I am doing well - the worst of morning sickness is behind me, I think. I am able to eat peanut butter again (thank goodness), and I am hopeful that we will be able to have fish again, soon. Poor Sean is going through withdrawal. We ate fish probably three times a week before I got pregnant, but I couldn't stomach even the thought of fish during the first trimester.

I have more energy and am actually looking forward to a bike ride and yoga this week. Two areas in which Sean has also been suffering, either directly (in the case of the bike rides) or indirectly (in the case of yoga). I am so lucky to have a completely amazing and wonderful partner and husband, who is supportive beyond my wildest imagination. Little One, your Dad has been taking very good care of us these last three months.

I have gained 2 pounds so far, which is absolutely perfect. And, as Sean put it, I have the blood pressure of an Olympic athlete. It's always been safely in the "good" category, but it was really good yesterday. Woo hoo!

Overall, the second trimester is looking sunny in the Siem household.

2 comments:

Alton said...

Yeah, I am so excited for yall. You know, that kid is going to have to get to liking fish! We all need to start looking for airline tickets for May, so we can visit the new family member.

Debra said...

YAY! - an update. Lynn (Sean's Mom) and I (Staishy's Mom) are going to be grandmothers for the first time ever. I am so excited - I can't wait until April. What a great birthday present for you Staishy! Keep up the good work!

Love to you both - or rather the three of you,

Mom