Week 17 (4 months) - It's a ...

Boy!  We're super excited.  You can't see his legs in the ultrasound photo below because he has his legs pulled up to his chest.

We had his anatomy scan today at Duke Perinatal.  Everything looked great.  All the bones were the correct length for his age, brain, kidneys, bladder, heart were all functioning and looked great developmentally, and hands and feet looked wonderful and outstretched.  His heart rate was 153 bpm.  We even got to see his eyes.  The technician we had was really great about explaining what all the shading colors meant and so forth.  I think we got more information this time than the last two anatomy scans with the girls.


I was so nervous beforehand given the recent X-ray and the medication I've had to take for my lung issues lately so hearing all this great news was very reassuring.  And he wasn't shy about showing us the family jewels.  We couldn't be more excited.  I had been feeling it might be a boy but I only had a 50/50 chance of being right!  Now to start shopping and looking into new bedding!  He will definitely change the dynamic of our house which right now is dominated by princesses and pink.

Natalie was very happy to hear she was having a brother and already asking when he'll be here.  (Claire is still too young to understand).  The girls are going to be great big sisters to their brother.  We announced to our family via Skype again.  This time we showed them a profile photo in a blue picture frame.  Unfortunately, my family couldn't really tell the color of the frame so we had to tell them but Emile's family picked up on it.  Everyone is super excited.  

Looks like I'll be following in my mom and Nana's lead -- both had two girls and a boy!


I'm now 17 weeks pregnant and 4 months pregnant!

I think this photo makes me look bigger than I actually am but I'm definitely filling out more (maybe I should start taking my photo first thing in the morning).  My belly button is sticking out more now too.  I have gotten a few more aches and pains when I move around or even when I cough.  I think a lot of this is round-ligament pain.  The other night I think I had sciatic nerve pain down my left leg which I didn't have before.  The cause is thought to be associated with pressure on the nerve caused by our developing baby.  Other than my continuing lung irritation, everything has been going great.


Our baby is now roughly the size of my hand outstretched.  The crown-to-rump length is probably about 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 inches.   He has a much more normal "human" appearance now.  He is now able to hold his head more erect and his body and limbs are longer in proportion to his head. Pads are forming on the tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent. Our baby's eyes are looking forward now. Our baby's skeleton is transforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.  This is a period of rapid growth as the fat begins to form underneath the baby's skin. Baby and placenta are about equal in size now. The tiny heart is pumping as much as 25 quarts of blood a day! The reflexes are probably in place now as the baby sucks, swallows and blinks.