Oh My, Third Tri!

I can't believe we are already here. Good bye, second trimester. Great memories of second tri include my 40th birthday, our road trip to Indiana/Wisconsin, our first shower, painting little man's room and picking up his dresser just last week. Coming up we have two more showers, our second wedding anniversary, and all of the fun fall and winter holidays. Once I can catch a breath from all of that, we will be a family of three. It's so hard for me to believe that a year ago I was still at a treatment standstill for three months after my September polyp removal surgery. Baby Sunshine should arrive within days of the one year anniversary of our first IUI failure, the one that I was so sure had worked. What a difference a year can make!

Ah! Double digits!

I think I am probably the first pregnant girl to think, "Oh my God, this is going too fast!" On the one hand I want the weeks to tick by quickly as that increases his odds of being born a healthy weight and not doing time in the NICU, but on the other hand, I feel so completely unprepared and I rather enjoy being pregnant....most of the time......: )

Well, ready or not, January is swiftly approaching and so is the arrival of Baby Sunshine. 98 days to be exact, that is if he is a punctual male. Yesterday I saw the 99 days on my Bump ticker and started humming '99 bottles of beer on the wall' and thought hmmmmm....yes a beer does sound good.... OK, maybe I will be ready to evict him in 98 days. My feet swelling like balloons yesterday just about sealed the deal!

Happy Viability Day!

No, I don't want him to be born any time soon, but it is nice to know that if he was he would have a fighting chance. 40% is not great odds, but it is a milestone, one that I often wondered if we would ever reach. Here is the promised 3D pic. So sweet!! However, I do think he's got the world's biggest lips. He also has some really big legs, so maybe he kicked himself in the face and gave himself a fat lip. Well, speaking of big, I am going to post my 24 week belly pic. I think I look pretty huge. It's hard to believe that I have only put on about 12 pounds, but I guess the extra 10 from thyroid problems and fertility treatments before hand didn't do me any favors either!

This picture was taken in his nursery. As you can see,

all we have done is the paint. My cousin gave us the

glider as a shower gift, and the animals have been

acquired over several years. The large giraffe,

we call her Penelope, has been our inspiration

for his safari themed nursery. I made Pierce

buy Penelope for me when we were in Vegas,

and he had won a good chunk of money.

He thought it would be fun to keep on playing

and probably lose everything, but I insisted that

we have something to show for his

winnings. We had been trying for a baby for only a

few months at that point, and I told him that our

baby would definitely need a giraffe.

Funny how he has about five giraffes now.

Baby Sunshine gets an A+!!!

Yesterday was the long-awaited trip to see the pediatric cardiologist. Nicest guy ever!!! Anyway, we had an approximately 30 minute ultrasound in which he called our little guy by name (sorry, I'm not announcing yet!) repeatedly, called out a bunch of numbers to his nurse who was filling out the report, and then explained the results to us in the consultation room afterwards. He explained what the major heart problems are that many babies with Downs have in common. He explained to us the difference in function between the heart of a fetus and the heart of a baby...very interesting. And, in the end, gave us a perfect report card, and said that little man has no heart abnormalities whatsoever. He offered to take a look at him once he is born, but said that there was no reason for us to come back otherwise. I haven't stopped smiling since! I knew it would be OK!

Immediately before that appointment we saw our peri for a 24 week check up. We only got 1 good 3D that we haven't scanned yet. I'll post it later. Baby Sunshine weighs 1 lb. 6 oz. and is on the high end of normal. Fluids are great, growth is great, placenta looks great, cervix is long and closed. Sounds like we are doing quite well for our high risk status. Oh, and both doctors felt his kicks from the outside while doing their exams! He has become quite active. I sure hope that Pierce feels him soon!