14 Weeks

14 Weeks! (sorry about the scrubs, they don't

make for the most attractive picture!)

On August 24, we went back to the doctor's for our 14 week check-up. Our friends Tiffany & Kirk had recently gone to their perinatologist's appointment, & we were pretty sure that they were going to be able to find out the gender of their baby, since she's about 14 weeks along too. But, their little baby wasn't cooperating, & they weren't able to find out! So, Jeff & I took this information with a grain of salt and decided that we wouldn't ask the doctor to do an ultrasound, we would just wait until our 18 week ultrasound to find out.



The doctor did a quick heartbeat check, & the baby was zooming away at 156! The doctor had mentioned that she took a look at the perinatologist's results, & asked if we were able to find out the sex. We told her how the doctor waited until the end of the exam to ask us if we wanted to find out, only to tell us he wasn't able to tell us & that our baby looked like a girl, & that was because either it was a girl or because the little boy parts hadn't popped out yet. So at that point, the doctor started referring to the baby as a "her", & told us how she was able to find out the sex of her two children at 12 weeks along.



After that point, Jeff said "The baby's a girl- even the doctor thinks it's a girl." Looks like little Jeff is having a change of heart in his prediction, eh? :)



Our next appointment with the perinatologist is scheduled for Sept. 24, so I had scheduled our OB appointment for that day as well. But then we had a long surgery scheduled for that day at work, & I had to change the OB appointment to Sept. 23. Sooooooo, it looks like that will be the day that we find out the sex of Little Baby Register!!!



I'm feeling pretty good these days; no more nausea, which is great!!! But I do tend to get a daily headache- the doctor said that maybe it's because I'm not eating enough protein & I'm having a blood sugar crash. So I need to work on that & drinking more water, in case that's the culprit too. I seem to be getting some of my energy back, because this past weekend I was able to clean the house! It took a lot of breaks, & the whole weekend to complete it, but I DID IT!



Thanks for all the love & prayers, & keep 'em coming!

Love,

Ashlee, Jeff, & Baby Register

12 Weeks

12 weeks!!! (I see a little pooch hanging over the pants!)

On August 11, we went to a perinatologist's office to have a special ultrasound, because we opted to have the baby checked for Down syndrome & other chromosomal abnormalities. The doctor was looking for a few things: a fluid-filled area below the baby's neck, the presence of a nasal bone, & general measurements of the baby. He said that all babies have fluid below their neck, but that babies with Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities have a thicker fluid-filled area than healthy babies. Our baby had a normal fluid-filled area from his viewpoint. He was also able to detect & measure the nasal bone, which he said is not usually detectable in babies with Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities. So both of these things are great news! They will combine these measurements with some bloodwork that they took from me to give us a number chance on how likely it is that our baby would be born with Down syndrome, i.e. 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 is a high risk, 1 in 10,000 is a low risk. These results will be given to us in 6-10 days; if the baby is determined to be a high risk, then we will go back to the doctor for further education & testing. If the baby is determined to be a low risk, then great!

The other measurements were typical ones of the baby's length & head width; both types estimated me to be 12 weeks & 1 day, which is 2 days further along than my first doctor's appointment had me at. Both doctors have said that a 4 day fluctuation in either direction is no big deal, & it still keeps the due date between Feb. 20-24.

Because Jeff, Phil (Jeff's dad), & Jordan (my brother) all have a history of having a heart defect, the doctor does want us to continue to be monitored for that. He wants us to come back at 18 & 30 weeks to have an echocardiogram performed on the baby, & then one once the baby is born. Jeff & I feel blessed that we had the chance to have this ultrasound done & that we will be followed for the baby's heart, because the more reassurance you can have on something, the better.

We loved hearing the baby's heartbeat again- another astonishing 174-176 beats per minute! We also got to see the baby move around, although this doctor also had to prod around to get it to move (do you think that this means because the baby is so docile & serene in the womb I'm wishful thinking to hope it will continue once it's born? :) We got some neat pictures of the baby's full-length profile & one of it's hands, which have gotten so big! And during one view of the baby, it went from resting peacefully to it's whole body moving in a wave-like fashion, as if it had a hiccup!

However, we still don't know the gender of the baby. We were hoping we would be able to find out because my OB said that it is possible between 11 & 14 weeks, as long as the person looking at the ultrasound was trained & got a good shot of that area. Our physician who performed this ultrasound was really trained, but he said that at 12 weeks, all babies look like a girl, as our baby did, & that could be because it is in fact a girl, or just that the boy parts haven't "popped out" yet. So, we'll just have to wait until our next ultrasound appointment, which will be in September. Although I think Jeff is sooooo excited to know that he may call the doctor's office & ask if we can pay for them to do an ultrasound when we go on Aug. 24!

These pictures from the ultrasound show: the baby measuring at 12 weeks 1 day (top), and of the baby's feet (bottom).

First doctor's appointment!!!

We had our first doctor's appointment on July 28, & I had my first ultrasound! It was so awesome to see the baby moving around, but only after the doctor prodded it a little. It was perfectly happy just laying there peacefully.

The baby's heartbeat was awesome to listen to! The average rate was 174 beats per minute, but that's normal for a little baby! Makes me tired just thinking about it. My resting heart rate has gone from 65 to 85, & who knows how much it's increased during activity! With every little thing I do, I'm completely winded! We're talking breathing with the mouth open & everything.

To explain the ultrasound pictures, I'll describe them starting at the top left, working down, & then moving over to the top right & going down: 1) A look at the baby, with legs on the left & the head on the right; 2) Same look here; 3) A little booty shot with a peak at the little feetsies; 4) Another booty/feet shot; 5) A look at the baby's head & hands, as if it was fanning out it's hands underneath it's chin; 6) The ultrasound zooming in on the heart to get a listen & measurement of the heartbeat & rate.

I'll go back to the doctor every 4 weeks, but at our next appointment, we won't get an ultrasound. They don't consider it routine, so we'll just have to wait 8 weeks to see pictures of the baby again!

Keep us in your thoughts & prayers as the baby grows & develops.

Love, Jeff, Ashlee, & Baby Register

10 Weeks

10 weeks!

Feeling a little better with the nausea! Still a little tired, but dealing with that as best I can.

8 Weeks

The 8 week shot!

Feeling pretty tired & nauseous, but no vomiting!

Gifts from family & friends

A blanket from Maura & Chris, from Pottery Barn!!!

A hat & stuffed lamb from Laura & Austin

A Build-A-Bear from Nana & Poppy Register- before they closed it, they both kissed it's heart & put it inside.


A nightshirt from Christina

Thanks to everyone who has sent cards & well-wishes!!! We are enjoying every minute of this!

Love, Jeff, Ashlee, & Baby Register

The day we found out we were pregnant

June 21, 2009- Father's Day

After 8 months of trying to conceive, I had been tracking my temperatures & knew that I was one day away from a high temperature indicating that we were pregnant. So even though it was a Sunday, I set my alarm for 5:30am. I was so excited & nervous I woke up on my own around 5am, took my temperature, & it was still high! I rushed to the bathroom to take a test. Just in case, I used one of the cheaper "one line or two lines" test. The control line turned up positive, but no line under the test window. I was furious!!! I pulled out the "pregnant or not pregnant" test & used that one. As I was in the midst of taking it, I looked down & noticed a second line on the first test! PREGNANT!!! And then the second test came back: PREGNANT!!!

I woke Jeff up (around 5:30am, mind you) & said "Sorry, but can you see?" And then I shoved the tests right in his face. I've never seen him move so quickly that early in the morning! We of course did the usual hugging & screaming, & then he insisted we go & get some more "pregnant or not pregnant" tests so that he could be sure we really were pregnant. We went to the store & he immediately pulled into the "Customer with Child Parking"! We bought another box of tests, & when we got home, I took another one that confirmed we were pregnant, & Jeff took one too, just in case we had some false positives!

Much love, kisses, & excitement,

Jeff, Ashlee, & Baby Register