20 week 4D ultrasound pictures

Last week we had our 20 week ultrasound. Boy has technology really changed since my other two girls were born. This time when the normal 2D ultrasound was done, we were able to have a quick 4D ultrasound and she printed out two pictures for us!

The ultrasound is more clear on the screen when you are viewing it. When they take a picture it gets a little blurred due to movement. Anyway, I thought it was fun and thought some of you may be interested in seeing it!

It's official, 100%

Today we had the ultrasound that determines the sex of the baby. It was without a doubt a girl! So we will be a family with 3 girls...poor Daddy, perhaps he needs a male dog or something. He is so out numbered! I think he will need a man cave when all the girls reach puberty. The hormones raging in this house will be scary!

We still don't have a name picked out. We wanted Emma but found out that it is the #1 baby name right now. We are considering Emily. Daddy still wants Rianna. I put my foot down and said no. Sorry, I want to stay with a name that we can actually find on a keychain.

The girls are happy to have a sister. Sure makes it easy for them to share a room at any point!

Now the nesting can begin!

Talking to the baby

Some Internet sites say around 17 weeks the baby can start to hear sound. So the girls have began talking to the baby and giving the baby fart kisses! They find it really funny to give the baby fart kisses and watch my belly move as I laugh! KK reminds me everyday that my tummy is getting "fat" and she finds it quite funny. Daddy came to the rescue today and told her Mommies tummy isn't fat, she is pregnant and has a baby in it.

I have started to feel the baby move and kick and for some reason this past week my uterus is in a huge growth spurt! I am already having a hard time sleeping. I sleep the first 3 hours of the night but then wake up every 1/2 hour the rest of the night and have to change position due to being uncomfortable. I have a body pillow but maybe I need to do something else? Was there something that worked for you to help you sleep comfortably? If so please share!

We have both of the girls sleeping through the night in their own rooms now. KK is hilarious, we thought it might be easier for her to sleep in the same room as her sister for comfort but she wants to sleep in her own room with her own rules and routines. First off she has to have the bedroom door shut! She needs a flashlight, and wants a music CD on. Aly likes the door open and turns her flashlight off before she falls asleep. She doesn't need music but has to have a humidifier on due to her cough. So I guess it makes sense for them to sleep in their own rooms. However, after the baby comes and is past 3 months old we plan on moving it to its own room. So either the girls will have to learn to share a room or one of them will have to share with the baby!

Nothing else new. I will try and post when we have something to share. Now that I am feeling better I would like to keep the blog up and I know this would make my family very happy!

Chances Are....

Last night we had our 16 week ultrasound. We paid for a private ultrasound so that we could try and see if we are having a boy or girl. I just didn't have the patience to wait until 21 weeks along! I was assured on the phone that they would be able to tell me the sex of my baby even though I was only 16 weeks along. Apparently the owner has been doing ultrasounds for years and was really good at it! Besides, they said if they couldn't tell I could have a rescan free!

We arrived at our appointment all excited but knowing in the back of our mind that we just may not find out what it is. Our ultrasound tech informed us almost immediately that she has only been doing it for 2-3 months and trying to find out when I am only 16 weeks might be hard for her. Oh great, such a different story then I was told on the phone. Where is the owner? If it is hard for someone new to see at 16 weeks why wasn't I scheduled with the owner?

Anyway, the lady was really nice and did try really hard. She just lacked confidence and didn't make us feel like she knew much of what she was doing. The baby did have its legs crossed pretty much the whole time. The tech spent about a half and hour trying over and over again to get a good shot. I think their equipment was not that great or she had the settings wrong. It was very dark and hard to see anything.

So the tech said she wasn't sure but was going to guess that it was a girl. We weren't entirely convinced especially since it was very hard to see anything. We were given a CD of the images and a few print outs and sent home. The print outs were very dark as well and you couldn't see a thing. Today I decided to import the images onto Adobe Photoshop, lighten them, and zoom in. Based on these images I am guessing it looks like we are having a girl. The only way I would say it could be wrong is if her angle was off at she had more of a tailbone type angle. They didn't look exactly straight on. So, I am going to post the three pics I edited and then at the end I am going to post a picture I found on the Internet of a boy at 16 week ultrasound. I would then love for all of you to comment and give me your opinion. We aren't going to buy anything yet or say we are 100% confident. We have an ultrasound at our Dr. office that will be scheduled around 21 weeks and that tech has been doing it over 20 years and is really good at what she does. So we will wait till then to be positive on the gender.

The arrows are pointing at the genitals.

I think that long line you see is the umbilical cord and the arrow is pointing at the genitals.

Here is a boy shot I got from the Internet.

So please let me know what your thoughts are!

Baby News

Yes, it is true, after four years of trying to get me to have another baby, I finally gave hubby his wish! If it were up to him, we would have four children! When I agreed to this one I made it clear, this would be it! I am sure he still has a glimer of hope that I may change my mind down the road...but hey, I am not getting any younger and soon enough it won't be a good idea to have anymore. Besides, I think we will have all we can handle with three children.

As many of you could tell I pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth during the month of November. I was SO SICK! I had morning sickness all day and night! I was throwing up every morning and every night! Heck, sometimes, for no reason I would throw up in the middle of the afternoon. I felt sea sick every second of the day! While I was sick with both Alyssa and Kayla, it wasn't this bad!

I also had a scare during the 7th week of pregnancy. I had a tear in between the uterus and the baby sac causing me to bleed. This is called a subchorionic bleed. This increases your chances at a miscarriage. Lucky for me it was small. I was put on bed rest for two weeks. We just had an ultrasound last Thursday that showed everything is great, the bleed is all healed, and the baby is fine. So now we are ready to announce it!

I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and just starting to feel better. I still have some bouts of nausea, but have only gotten sick once in the last week. I am hoping this will all just continue to get better and better and I will get my appetite and energy back! I think my family hopes so too!

I got rid of all of my baby stuff and maternity clothes so we will have to start all over again...oh well, what can you do? We do still have a car seat and some friends have offered some hand me downs which I will be so thrilled to borrow! We look forward to finding out what the baby is in February during our next ultrasound! Of course, once we find out we will announce it!