Doctor's Appointment Update

Carson had another doctor's appointment this morning. We listened to his heartbeat and it was strong at 149 bpm. We were all laughing because when the doctor had the doppler on, Carson was moving (shocking) and every movement sounded like a "bleep" on the doppler. The bleep reminded me of the sound they play when they bleep out swear words on TV shows. So his heartbeat sounded like this..."Thump thump thump thump BLEEP thump BLEEP thump thump BLEEP"....It was pretty hilarious. I go back on 2/20/08 for another visit and the screening for gestational diabetes. From what I hear, it involves me drinking some gross liquid and then waiting for an hour. Sounds fun!
I was also pleased to learn that I have only gained 8 pounds so far. We'll hope that keeps up despite excessive consumption of food items like jelly beans and Funfetti cupcakes (which I swear jumped into my cart at the grocery store yesterday with no warning).

Our next ultrasound is tomorrow. I will post pictures if we get any good ones!

24 Week Bump

My 24 week bump is substantial.

I had a couple of cravings this week. Jason has been so excited to go get me something, anything, that I have been wanting.....except I haven't really wanted anything special up until this week. Earlier this week, I wanted Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Jason bought me a 2.5 pound bag with all the assorted flavors (including the weird ones like Buttered Popcorn) and I have been toting them in the car with me when I go places. Dangerous. Yesterday we were watching one of our shows and someone mentioned a hamburger. I instantly wanted a McDonald's cheeseburger Happy Meal complete with an orange pop. I am determined not to be "that pregnant lady that wants fast food all the time", but Jason convinced me that it was OK. We have a couple of doctor's appointments at the week's end...A regular appointment on Thursday and another ultrasound on Friday.

Time marches on!

23 Weeks....It keeps growing....and growing....and growing....

Look out!

It's kind of funny that we are doing another ultrasound next week to check for growth.

GROWTH?? Are you kidding me? It's a little obvious!

Here are some things Carson really likes:

1) The gym.

2) Reading books. "Oh baby! The places you'll go!" by Dr. Seuss is his fave.

3) 3: 00 AM kickboxing lessons in my belly.

Above is the paint color we selected for Carson's room at Home Depot. Thanks to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Ian for the gift card that purchased the paint! Jason worked long and hard this week to put together a new desk for our loft area. We sold our old, much larger desk and he put together a smaller one. Now we have more space for Carson's toys and room for him to play upstairs.

22 Weeks

There's no hiding that thing anymore!!

Pregnancy = Not For Sissies

This week we did quite a bit more shopping to prepare the nursery. Carson is now the proud owner of a crib, changing table, and tall dresser, as well as a glider for (hopefully) putting him to sleep and feeding him at night. We still have some room arranging to do before we can put these items in his room, so it will be awhile yet before we have everything set up. But with 125 days to go before he's here (or sooner), things are moving at a good pace.
In other developments, this last week I began to inject myself with blood thinners per the recommendation of my doctor. Long story short, I am heterozygous for Factor V Leiden, a blood clotting disorder which causes blood clots to form more quickly. I inherited one dominant gene of this disorder from one of my parents....we'll blame my dad since he gets the blame for most things :-).......In rare cases a blood clot can form in the placenta and cause growth problems or late term loss. Since we have no interest in either of those things, we decided the injections were a good idea. Luckily bikini season is a way off, because they do cause bruising on my belly which is rather unsightly. But I would walk around in a polka dotted bunny costume for the rest of the pregnancy if it ensured a good blood supply for Carson. So on we go!

21 Weeks...getting bigger!

My bump is ever expanding!

This weekend, for the first time, a stranger asked me if I was pregnant. I must look it...

I was kind of excited that someone noticed!

This week, Carson is the length of a carrot and weighs about a pound.

We picked out nursery bedding this weekend so things are moving on that. Carson will sleep on "Animal Alphabet" bedding. One day soon, he will remind us all that "T is for Turkey"!

We have also picked out a crib with matching dresser and changing table. We haven't ordered it just yet but will very soon. We were careful to select a crib with a wide railing in hopes it might prevent Carson from leaping out of his crib at 16 months as I was guilty of doing as a babe.

Nonetheless, we know payback is still on its way!

Another appointment for Carson...

Carson had another doctor's appointment on 1/3/08.
Everything looks great. Dr. Pollock checked the heartbeat (144 bpm) and because the ultrasound room was the only one open, we got yet another viewing of Baby Carson. During this scan, he was wildly waving his arms back and forth. It's really pretty hilarious to see all the movement that goes on in there, and some of the time you have no idea!
His kicking has become continuous. Last night he woke me up at 3:30 AM. I determined that he was either doing the half pipe on the umbilical cord or possibly had the hiccups. Either way, it was fun to lay there and laugh imagining whatever in the world he was doing in there. Needless to say, I don't believe Carson will be winning any "who can sleep the longest" contests any time soon!
Our next doctor's appointment is 1/31/08. We also go back to the perinatologist on 2/1/08 for another ultrasound. Because he was in such a pickle during his 20 week visit, the doctor couldn't get each and every view of certain body parts that he wanted to. Everything we saw looked great, but we'll go back on 2/1 hoping for a more cooperative Carson.