20 weeks!

Wow! We are halfway there. I think both my husband and I are still in awe and shock when it comes down to it.I mean in just a few months we are going to have a baby boy with us. It is so incredible and exciting and I am so so thankful that so far this has been such a pleasant ride for us. See how easy it is to forget terrible morning sickness? Mother nature is a very strong thing indeed. Here are some pics of me at the halfway mark.

Family distance

Time has started to fly and sometimes I find it overwhelming and sometimes I find it exciting. One of the hardest things for me to deal with is just the fact that my mom is thousands of miles away.

I try to remind myself that even if I lived in the U.S. I would not see her very often unless I had stayed in the same city as her after high school which I doubt, but it can still be frustrating to think about having to spend half a grand just to see her for a few weeks.

However I have been talking to my husband about my "ideal plan" for when the baby comes and that includes two visits a year to my mom in the States some visits with my husband and some visits without- mainly due to the big money factor and the fact that he needs to work, and her visiting us once a year here. This will end up to about 9 weeks give or take of great quality time for us with grandma and in the end I have to think that that is more then many kids get.

I also hope to be able to send kids to "grandma" for summer breaks when they get older. Summer break is only 6 weeks here so not the three months that people are used to in the States but I don't think I could handle more then 6 weeks without my (future tee hee) children anyway.

So what do you think of my solution? Would you do something different? Moving isn't an option.

Theodore

So I think that finding out the sex and seeing our healthy baby really helped make Theodore even more "real" for us.

We purchased our first outfit specially for -him-. It is incredible to think that our little baby boy will actually be wearing it in the near future.

It is also wonderful to watch my husband get excited for the child who will be entering our lives. He asked yesterday if the baby could sleep with us. Not all the time but for naps and on the weekend as he thought it would be pretty awesome. Of course I said yes. I have trouble sleeping when people are touching me though so I think we will probably end up getting one of those bassinets that goes next to the side of the bed and is like a half circle. They normally have railing on one side and since the baby still has it's own space I think I would feel better about it, and hopefully still be able to sleep.

Although who are we kidding I am sure hours of my life will be taken up with just staring at Theodore while he is sleeping. I can't wait.

The "Big" one

So we had the "big" appointment today and it went great.

First the doctor showed us the heart and said it looked perfect just as it should, then we saw the ribs and spine- it is crazy how much you can see and how "human" it looks now. She also showed us that it had a full bladder and open mouth which shows that the digestion process is working correctly-but I am sure you all don't care about that LOL.

She asked if we wanted to know the sex and we said yes- she said at this point girl's vaginal lips are pronounced so it can look like testicles but it looks like you are having a girl, although I am not sure yet - and she kept looking for a better angle. I was thrilled!

Then DH said but what is that? and she laughed and said the umbilical cord:D

But then about 3 seconds later she said- oh no that is most definitely a boy :D And little Theodore showed us his package a few times after that and she was even able to get a picture so we are most definitely having a boy LOL. The doctor thought it was so cute that I was so excited when I thought it was a girl and a boy- but how could I not be when it is our first?!

We are both thrilled. I thought that it was what we were having but then I thought that I would have to be wrong so probably girl:D We will also be going to a 3/D U/S place in the next few weeks just to check for a cleft since my doctor can't tell about that but as of now everything looks great and we are having a healthy boy:D

18 weeks

Baby is starting to make their presence known.

Nervous

So the big u/s is officially a week away and I am scared. We have names picked out for both sexes and I will be thrilled if it is a boy or a girl, so that is not what I am nervous about. I am nervous about being one of the one in a thousand or ten thousand or twenty thousand who gets the news that something does not look right.

I know the chances are slim but that doesn't keep me from having a general feeling of dread about the day. I am trying really hard to focus on the positive- like the fact that I am feeling the baby all the time now. Which is absolutely wonderful and I am sure it is baby's way of telling me that they are doing just fine but unfortunately my brain won't shut off. I've read the statistics and stories and know what is possible and will probably not be able to calm down until the ultrasound is over next Wednesday.

Any positive thoughts you all can share are appreciated.

Update

So I have been away on vacation but haven't been doing too much.

Mainly eating:)



Here are some belly pics to catch up.

15 Weeks

16 Weeks

Next up in baby news is taking a tour, doing info night, signing up for prenatal classes and for registering to have my birth at the local birth center. I can't wait!