26 Weeks!

26 Weeks!!!

My 30th birthday (the only picture we took- losers!)

Week 25- since we missed week 24

Week 25

Today we went to the OB for our 26 week checkup. We had scheduled a 3D ultrasound session so that we could get a few pictures of our little girl & really get to see how she's doing in there! She has just started opening her eyelids in the past 2 weeks, & this picture catches her doing that! It's like she's saying "I see you looking at me!" The thing on the right side of her face is the umbilical cord.

Little smush face

This is how she was in most of the shots- blocking our view of her precious profile. She must be camera shy!

This is her profile shot in 2D.

Her heartrate was 145 beats per minute- still going strong & as beautiful sounding as ever!

She's putting her fist in her mouth but trying to hide it from us!

Fist in mouth- mmm, that tastes good!

A view of her back where she's reaching her left hand around to touch her neck. (There's not a hole in her head, that's just what happens when a part of the body goes out of focus)

Proof that she's a girl! (See the two lines between her little butt cheeks? Again, she's not missing the lower part of her leg, it's just out of focus.)

Sweet baby girl (the umbilical cord is under her chin)

Ohhh, grumpy face!

She's either saying that she's number one, or the Gators are! :)

Knocking on the uterine wall

Her left side, again with the arm by the face (I wonder if she'll sleep that way...)

Beautiful, healthy ribs & spine

So after the 3D ultrasound, I had my regular 26 week checkup. They did a glucose screening test, which is where they gave me something really sweet to drink & then checked my glucose blood level an hour later to make sure the insulin in my body is doing it's job to combat the sugar. They are looking for the glucose level to be 135 or less. If it's higher than 135, I have to go back for a glucose tolerance test, which is a 3 hour test in which they periodically check my glucose level to screen for gestational diabetes. I'll know in a few days what today's result was. They also checked my hemoglobin levels to test for anemia, which is common in women in their 2nd trimester.

We go back to the perinatologist on November 30, & he'll check her heart again, as well as the choroid plexus cyst & her feet. We had the ultrasound tech look at her feet today, which showed that they were still turned inward, so when we interview with pediatricians, we will start talking to them about our options for correcting that after she's born. We really feel lucky that this has been a healthy pregnancy for me so far, & that we haven't had any complications. We are confident that her cyst will be gone, & her sweet little crooked feet will just be a bump in the road that we'll fix for her as best we can!

Then I'll return to the OB on December 15 for my 30 week checkup. Then I'll start seeing the OB 2 weeks after that for a checkup every 2 weeks until I hit 36 weeks, which is when I'll start going every week until I deliver. The time is flying by, especially with all the holidays thrown in there!

If that doesn't hit home, an article Jeff & I were reading in the waiting room states that it's normal & OK for a woman to deliver between 37 & 42 weeks. Jeff said, "Wow- can you imagine delivering a little early at 37 weeks?" And I said, "No, that's only 10 weeks from next Saturday!!!" After my 28th week, I'll officially be in my third trimester & I'm sure the time will fly even faster then!

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts & prayers. Again, we are excited beyond words & just cannot wait to meet this precious little girl that God has blessed us with!

Love, Ashlee, Jeff, & Lily