Second OB Appointment - May 16, 2008 (Susan)

I had my second OB appointment with Dr. V. this morning.
She went over my tests - the blood tests from the first OB appointment came back fine. She also went over the nuchal sonogram and blood test - everything was fine with that as well. Mark and I were relieved.
Dr. V. then listened to the baby's heartbeat with a microphone. It was going strong and fast. Giblet even moved for us during the test. I think this baby is going to like the spotlight.
My next appointment will be a blood test in two weeks to check the baby for neural tube defects (such as spina bifida). Then two weeks after that I have another appointment with the doctor. This is a lot to keep track of. Luckily Mark is here. He is a real trooper and comes with me to all of the appointments and helps me to remember them (or at least put them in his Blackberry).
That's all for now.

Our Cruise (Susan)

Last week we booked a cruise to Bermuda for the end of July/beginning of August. We were thrilled to find this cruise because it leaves right from NYC (so no flying) and would give Mark and me a great chance to relax before the baby arrives.
Today, I was getting very eager for vacation so I decided to check how to get to the pier. While on the cruise line's website, I noticed a link that said "What if I'm pregnant." Dreaming that they would have people rubbing my feet and feeding me grapes, I clicked the link and found out that they do not allow you to travel or take a cruise if you have entered your 24th week. I quickly calculated that I would be in my 25th week by the end of cruise! "OH NO!" I said. That wasn't really what I said but I want to keep this G.
I called the cruise line and spoke with a woman who was very nice and said that it was within a week since we booked and that we were still eligible for a full refund. I thanked the woman and told her I would call back and then quickly called Mark and alerted him to the dire situation. He told me to cancel our current reservation, get the refund and we would try to find another cruise tonight. I called back and spoke with another woman at the cruise line and told her what was going on. She was very kind and congratulated me on my pregnancy and told me she was happy I happened to check the web site today so that she could give us our refund which she did. PHEW!
So anyway, to make a long story short, Mark and I just booked our cruise (same cruise line). Everything is basically the same except now we will be going about a month earlier. It should be fun. It's already proving to be quite an adventure.

Sonogram for Nuchal Screening - May 9, 2008 (Susan)

Today our baby had its nuchal translucency screening to assess its risk for Down Syndrome. This entailed a sonogram for Susan. It was a long sonogram with lots of pushing and prodding because Giblet was not cooperating with the technician . I told Mark that the baby takes after his stubbornness. Finally though, the technician was able to get what she was after, a measurement of the space in the tissue at the back of the baby's neck. I also had a finger stick. That along with the measurement is supposed to give the Dr. the information she needs. We will see the test results during our appointment next Friday with Dr. V.
In the meantime though here are some more pictures of the little one. Enjoy!


Still relaxing!


"Take me to your leader!" OK this one is a bit weird looking :)

Sonogram - April 24, 2008 (Susan)

I had a sonogram today!
The technician measured Giblet from head to rump and determined "Little G" to be 39 mm - I am now 10 weeks and 6 days, putting my due date at about November 15th.
Unfortunately Giblet was still too small to do the nuchal translucency test so I will be going back for another sonogram on May 9th.
We did, however, get to see some really cool things like the heartbeat which we also heard and Giblet was moving its arms and legs around which was so cute and funny.
We are looking forward to the next appointment just 15 days away. In the meantime, here are some pictures from today. Enjoy!


Check out the big brains on Little G!


From the front, you can see the face.

First OB Appointment - April 4, 2008 (Susan)

I had my first OB appointment this afternoon.
I saw my doctor again who I hadn't seen in a few years, Dr. V. She was very nice and took time to answer all of our questions - or most of our questions - unfortunately my due date is still a bit hazy but she thinks it should be between November 13th and November 20th. We inquired about telling people about me being pregnant and she said it's a good idea to wait until after the first trimester (those are the doctor's orders moms )
There was no sonogram today but I have one scheduled for April 24th - three whole weeks away during which they will also do a nuchal translucency test in which they look for the folds in the baby's neck to determine if there is Down syndrome (sounds mysterious). They do this test for everyone nowadays.
That's all for now.

First Glimpse of the Heartbeat - March 25, 2008 (Susan)

It was another early Tuesday morning appointment. This time Dr. M saw us.
I had another ultrasound and we were delighted to see our baby's heartbeat! It was truly amazing! Dr. M pointed out the gestational sac, the yolk sac and the baby (which is now about .33 cm long). She then focused and steadied the picture and pointed out a slight fluttering of the baby, it was its heartbeat. Dr. M said little Giblet is growing well and looks healthy. Also the blood from last week seems to be gone which is good news.

Here is the picture. Dr. M pointed out that it looks like a "signet ring." The yolk sac is the ring part and Giblet is the gem :) Enjoy!

First Baby Picture - March 18, 2008 (Susan)

Mark and I woke up bright and early to go see Dr. B this morning and it was a great visit.
I had another ultrasound and this time we could see the gestational sac and our baby!
Dr. B also noticed a bit of blood near the gestational sac that will need to be monitored. He said I should take it easy, "don't do any hiking or 8 hour shopping trips." We are to come back next Tuesday for another ultrasound - we might be able to see the fetal heartbeat by then!
In the meantime, here is Giblet's first picture: