My aunt Fran flew in from Pennsylvania today for our baby shower this upcoming weekend. We (my mom, my husband and myself) picked her up from the airport and surprised her with a trip to 4D Picture Perfect in Fort Lauderdale. The last 3D ultrasound we had was back at around 20 weeks and I was so excited to see how much Ethan grew now at 33 weeks, 6 days!
Sure enough, he looked like an actual baby in there! He's gigantic and running out of room (sorry, kid! Your mom is only 5'0"!) and so cute! He's still frank breech but since I'm already scheduled for a c-section, no one is concerned. We were still able to get great pictures of him regardless of his positioning and it was so cool to see which features he inherited from me and which he inherited my husband (because, whatever, you can totally tell!). If you're wondering, we've decided he had my nose and chin and my husband's lips and (huge) feet!
Today marked my one week of bedrest. My appointment with my OB brought great news: apparently bedrest is working. "Signs of preeclampsia" has remained as such and didn't morph itself into actual preeclampsia which is, of course, a fabulous thing. My baby shower is still on and I'm just to continue on as I have been because it's working. That's what I like to hear! I also don't have to return for another two weeks which makes me feel more like a normal third trimester mom-to-be instead of someone with something to worry about. With that good news brought to the table, I promise to (try my hardest) not to complain about being on bedrest again. I can handle six or seven weeks of laying around in bed. I can do this.
We also got an ultrasound today which revealed that Ethan is sporting a ton of hair:
Not that I'm surprised, of course. My husband and I both emerged from the womb looking like monkies!
He's still measuring a bit ahead, with most of his measurements fitting in more with 34 weeks (I'm 32 weeks and 4 days) but that's okay. He weighs 4 pounds, 12 ounces and is still breech! Not that he needs to feel any pressure to flip since I already have my c-section scheduled for other unavoidable reasons so he can remain however he is comfortable -- as long as he remains in there and remains comfortably!
My doctor also gave me the good news that my husband and I can go out to dinner this evening. This is added good news because today is our two-year wedding anniversary!
I can't believe it's already been two years and that on this day, two years after our wedding, we were sitting in a doctor's office looking at an ultrasound of our little boy!
All of this good news in addition to seeing Ethan on ultrasound is by far the greatest anniversary gift possible! Being able to break bedrest to go to dinner with my husband to celebrate? Just icing on the cake. (Not to be all stereotypically pregnant but cake sounds so good right now.)
Ultrasound days are admittedly my favorite kind of days! Nothing is as fun as the tech switching on the machine and seeing little Ethan there, waving hello!
Ethan is now weighing two pounds, seven ounces. He's breech (my poor ribs knew all along!) but ridiculously awesome and perfect. :)
Yesterday morning, my family and I had a 3D/4D ultrasound done at 4D Picture Perfect in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This appointment was initially scheduled as a means to include the whole family in a big ultrasound as we weren't able to have everyone join in the anatomy scan. Being that this is my first pregnancy, I haven't had much experience with the whole 3D/4D thing. Also, being that this is the internet, there are numerous opinions on how wasteful, frightening, creepy and unwelcome 3D/4D ultrasounds can be in the lives of, oh, almost everyone. Personally, I always found them cool and that's all I knew going into this. When I came out of the room after my session, everything felt surreal. I felt like I knew little Ethan so much better, like we shared some kind of connection during that time when I could see his features (the poor boy has my chin. Sorry, Ethan!) up close. I knew I wasn't the only one because my dad sat in the room (and the lobby...and the car ride home...) and cried like an absolute crazy person.
Ethan has big feet and long legs like his 6'4" dad, which is a foreign concept to me as a five footer. He has my silly chin but my mom and sister are insisting he looks just like Aaron. (I guess you do this when it's your first child/the first grandchild: everyone, yourself included, analyzes the little baby on the ultrasound when you're not even 23 weeks along and likens his characteristics to those outside the womb!)
Before I left the house in the morning, I said, "I bet he'll have his hands over his face the whole time." He did. Well, he did until the tech gave me a small Milky Way chocolate bar...then he began cheering, smiling and proving he really was a Schneider after all. He'll fit right in with me and my mom's side of the family!
There are lots of these things that warrant usage of the word "unreal," but nothing can feel as "unreal" as seeing the little baby that is inside of you sucking his thumb, or smiling as he "eats" a piece of chocolate.
All in all, I think this has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life, not just my pregnancy. We're already choosing the date later on in my pregnancy to go again. That, and I've admittedly sat here and leafed through the 50+ pictures and watched the DVD of the session well over 30 times since yesterday. I can't help it. That's Ethan in there, and he's awesome.
Today was our anatomy scan. I took the 8:15 a.m. appointment because I knew I'd be so impatient all day. They didn't take us back into the room until 8:50 which made me so antsy! We got called into the room and I totally just pulled up my shirt and was ready to go. The tech took a ton of pictures and then said, "uh oh, Baby just won't open it's legs!" I swear, I was about to cry. My husband was yelling at me to calm down but, come on!, that couldn't happen!
Eventually baby cooperated and, behold, there was a penis! We didn't have a preference for either sex and we both were guessing boy, but it was still such a surge of joy! Joy and excitement and a desire to bust out of there (after the doctor confirmed everything looks fine) and buy up all of the adorable baby boy clothes the world can make. Which we did. More on that later.
I felt like I was walking on air! "The Baby" had a name now: Ethan Nicholas. We could call him Ethan instead of "baby" and "he" instead of "it."
Our first stop was to my parents where I played them True Blue by Bright Eyes (the song accompanying this post!) and made them guess the sex of the baby. My mom got it on the first mention of the word "blue." My dad sat there intently listening until my mom couldn't stand it anymore and we all laughed as he tried to understand what the song had to do with boys. Oh, dad!
Aaron went off to work and mom and I went off to shop, after a delicious lunch. We picked up Megan from school and played the song for her. She, too, got it on the first "blue!" The three of us went to Babies 'R' Us where I'm pretty sure we literally went on a shopping spree. After, we went to Macy's where I'm pretty sure we went on even more of a shopping spree. Once we got home, my best friend brought over more clothes. Ethan officially has more clothes (in one day!) than I've had in my lifetime. Not even kidding, see?
That's my coffee table underneath all of those clothes!
As for me, I'm feeling wiped out. I couldn't sleep last night due to nerves and excitement over today. Now I get to go read my son (whoa!) a bedtime story before I totally pass out. ♥
I'm 14w5d today, which meant today was my 15 week appointment. We got to hear Baby's heartbeat and, of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to record it.
We also set up our anatomy scan! On February 24th at 8:30 a.m., we will be finding out if Baby is a BOY or a GIRL! My mommy-instinct is telling me BOY. I will be legitimately surprised if Baby is a girl!
We also set up a (tentative) c-section date...or, more excitingly, Baby's birthday! July 7th, 2011. 7/7/11. Thursday, July 7th, 2011. I love the sound of it! How exciting it is to know that Baby has a (tentative) birthday!
We got to see Baby on the ultrasound screen today and everything looks great! It was such a relief to me as I really let my anxiety run away with me the past couple of days (no, I really do have anxiety disorder and that can be totally fierce sometimes). My husband, my mom and my aunt Melanie all accompanied me into the ultrasound room (yeah, we're those people) and we got to see this fluttery, super adorable little heartbeat that, really, is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
My doctor put me at 7w5d (so I'll resume my weekly posting on Thursday when I hit 8 weeks) and I got a new due date of July 14th (you guys were right -- that date sure does flip-flop around!). We're going to stick with July 14th as Baby's due date. I like the sound of it.
I actually watched the following video an embarrassing amount of times already but I just can't help it! It really is the greatest thing that my eyes have ever seen:
And this afternoon as I sat in the bathroom hunched over the toilet in agony, I couldn't help but hum a couple of songs in my head as I waited for that here-comes-the-puke stomach turn that I've come to know so well: Baby, Baby, Can't You Hear My Heartbeat by the Herman's Hermits and I Can Feel Your Heartbeat by David Cassidy. It just adds such a festive, wonderful happiness to my being sick to my stomach.
(I'm sadly not even remotely being snarky. I think this is the actual definition of 'elated.')
