Our 1st Appointment

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Chris and I went to our very first appointment on Friday, April 19th where I got the normal things done (bloodwork, etc.), and my doctor scheduled for us to have an ultrasound on the following Tuesday since I was a "special" case.

Watching the ultrasound was an incredibly amazing experience. Our little peanut was jumping straight up and down, and would hardly be still long enough to be measured by the technician. Peanut was waving his/her arms and legs around, and actively playing, even looking over at us a couple of times. It was nothing short of miraculous. Chris and I just watched in amazement, jaws dropped, and haven't been able to wipe the smiles off of our faces since then. We have been proudly showing the first photos of our baby, and now want you all to see them too. If the activity of the baby we saw on that screen was any indication of what we have lying in store for us in the future, we're going to have our hands full, but we just can't wait. :)

Our 2nd ultrasound

My very good friend Dr. Debra Hester (a Veteriniarian at the animal hospital where I worked for over four years, and pretty much grew up) offered to perform an ultrasound on me. Everyone I tell thinks it is halarious that I had an ultrasound done in the vet clinic, but hey...it's not what you know, it's who you know, right? (quote from Chris). I climbed up on the treatment table, where they had so kindly laid out blankets and pillows for me, and we got started. It was really nice to be in that comfortable atmosphere among friends, and lots of them!, as well as my mom. Chris got the opportunity to video tape the entire thing, and has encoded it here for your viewing pleasure.

Little T.K. has doubled in size, and is even more active, if that is possible, than three weeks ago. He/She bounced around, and stretched out his/her long legs. I think he/she gets them from his/her momma. :) I think I'm growing a future kick-boxing champion!

UPDATE: We have a video of our ultrasound from May 8th. You must use Windows Media Player to play it. Make sure to turn up the speakers to hear all of the oohs and aahs. :) Click Here

Our 2nd Appointment
Our 2nd appointment was Thursday, May 16th. All went well, and we got to hear that great heartbeat once again.

IT'S A BOY!!!
We had an appointment with a specialist that our OB recommended 5/22, and during a wonderful ultrasound we discovered that we are having a little boy, and he's not shy about it either! We couldn't be more thrilled. It's now officially time to shop! The Sigma Chi romper has already been ordered, and Chris is already planning on our little TK being a Sig.

We will be seeing the new specialist at least once a month from now on just to monitor baby and my development. The good news about that is that we'll get to see our baby and hear his beautiful heartbeat a lot.

His heartrate is 141BPM, and it sounds like sweet music to these new parent's ears. Now begins the baby name game...

3rd Perinatologist Appointment - June 26th - click on the photos to enlarge - "Hey Guys!": He's waving at us in this one!

His outstretched leg

His...umm..."boy parts"

His little body, head facing down, and a clear view of his spine

His two little feet! :)

More ultrasound photos are on their way! Our appointments have been going very well, but there are now nearly too many to post every time. I've seen the Perinatogist (specialist) three times now, and will be going every two weeks from now on, unless they eventually change that to every week. There I get an in-depth ultrasound, which is great, and another ultrasound, which is not so much fun. But, it's all for the health of the bebe.

I'm seeing my OB every 2-4 weeks now, just depending, and I'm coming up that big halfway mark. I'll be 20 weeks on Friday! Chris and I can hardly believe that we're already halfway there! It's flying by for us, but dragging for family and friends. We've been receiving some really adorable baby goodies, which we love, but we've only allowed ourselves to buy two outfits. We're working hard on the house, and Chris has the task of getting the nursery ready. I'll have the best time of decorating in there though.

I'm feeling our little boy move more and more everyday. Once what was definite kicks are now just more movements. We can tell where he is lying, left or right side, by the tilt and fullness of my belly. Chris finally got to feel little TK kick for the first time last week, and he was amazed.

We've decided on a name too.... Elijah Allan Welch. Allan is Chris's grandad's middle name, and we are honored to be able to carry it on. We just love the name Elijah and all of the Biblical history that goes along with it. Want to read about it? Go to I and II Kings.

The third specialist appointment went really great. Chris sat this one out and let mom go with me, so mom got to see little TK in action. Dr. DeMay said he looks perfect. She got some good shots of his heart, which looks great, and said that we don't have to come back for 4 weeks! Yeah! But, after that, it will be every two weeks for the premature labor testing. Fun!

20 week OB Appointment - June 28th

The appointment went great, and Dr. Reeves seemed very happy about our progress, and optimistic about the rest of the pregnancy, including labor and delivery. And guess what...our OB is preggo too! Now at least she can really "share" my joys and pains.

4th Perinatologist Appointment - July 24th

Baby Eli is looking great, as usual. We can't believe how much he's grown. He's got a big head, which I'm saying comes from Chris. :) He kept his little elbows up around his head and is still head down, so we didn't get any good face shots, but the tech and Dr. both said that he looked wonderful. I had my first fFN test (fetal Fibronectin), which tests some chemical to see if I'm at risk of going into preterm labor within the next two weeks. Thankfully it was negative, but I get to go thru it every 2wks from now on. ugh...

24 week OB Appointment - July 26th

Another great one! My OB said, and I quote, "I'm treating you like a normal pregnancy because you are acting normal." We took that as a great sign. We are measuring a little ahead of schedule, and his heart sounded great. We go back in 4 weeks for the next appt, and the glucose test, which I'm not looking forward to. After that, it will be every 2 weeks. We feel sooo blessed to keep having such good reports. It just shows that God is in control.

August 19th - 3D ultrasound!!!

His profile, facing right, and a little hand up under his face.

This is looking up at him slightly, and you can see his slightly open mouth, nose and perfect face, with a little hand to the left side of his face.

A close up, looking straight at his face. You can see his full lips, shaped just like Chris's, with mouth open, and his little round nose.

This one is not as detailed his hands kept getting in the way, but you can see the shape of his head and face.

After finding the one place in Chattanooga that will do 3D ultrasounds, we scheduled one immediately. We had it done on 8/19, and got to see the features of our beautiful baby boy. He is gorgeous, not that we are biased or anything :), and he looks like he has my nose and Chris's lips. He has full cheeks, and loved to keep his hands up around his face. He has turned and is now in the breech position, so we are praying that he turns again quickly while he still has room so that I do not have to have a c-section. We got a few photos and a videotape of the ultrasound, which we will post some streaming media from as soon as possible.

We had quite an experience at the clinic as I ended up passing out completely after lying flat on my back for just a few minutes. That woke us all up, and after I came back to and the Dr. said it was ok to proceed, we got on to the ultrasound, but everyone was very paranoid that I would do it again the entire time. It was an experience to say the least!

My next appointment with the Perinatologist is Wednesday, the 21st, where we will get another ultrasound. And my next OB appt. is Friday, the 23rd. I will get my glucose tolerance test at that time to see if I have gestiational diabetes or not at that time, along with our regular OB appt. I will post after the appointments and let you know how they went.

OoOoOoOo TURN, BABY, TURN oOoOoOoO

My next appointment with the Perinatologist is Wednesday, the 21st, where we will get another ultrasound. And my next OB appt. is Friday, the 23rd. I will get my glucose tolerance test at that time to see if I have gestiational diabetes or not at that time, along with our regular OB appt. I will post after the appointments and let you know how they went.

OoOoOoOo TURN, BABY, TURN oOoOoOo

Final Update:
Obviously Elijah never turned, and my OB, Dr. Reeves, set up a date of October 22nd to delivery him via c-section at Erlanger Baroness Hospital. She decided on a date 3 weeks before my due date because that was the earliest she could take him and he still be considered "full term." We didn't want to risk me going into labor, which could further complicate things. We were so excited when we heard the date of Tuesday, October 22nd. The sooner the better (at least my back was telling me that!). :o)