It’s Alive….

I couldn’t help but recall an all too often used movie scene when the hand in our most recent pictures popped up on the doctor’s sonogram screen. Do you remember those times in movies when the villain is thought to be dead, buried under a pile of rubble. Its dark and raining, the hero and girl embrace and walk away relieved, thinking all is well and that trouble is over. Yet, as the camera pans back to the pile, the broken blocks of brick and steel begin to quiver. Suddenly, a strained, glistening fist emerges from the wreckage telling the world……………..The fun has just begun!!! Well, I thought that I’d share my impression of our child’s Kodak moment and was wondering what our faithful visitors thought about……….the HAND! If you have an imagination, and an observation, I’d love to read your take on the photo.

 

Camera Shy

No luck getting a cameo today. The good news is that Baby is already practicing the best position for birth–head down, facing the spine (anterior). I know Baby doesn’t stay in that position all the time, but today, he/she stubbornly insisted on remaining there for our entire visit with Dr. Buchanan. Oh well!

Baby Reed-29 weeks

Talk to the hand, 'cause the face ain't watchin'

 

Summer Update

June was a very busy month for us–between finishing up the school year and diving into summer activities, we’ve only now just started to breathe… A lot has been accomplished on the baby front, so I will go over the highlights:

1) We had a sonogram back in May. As promised, I have posted a picture below. It’s not much to brag about, however; Baby was reluctant to show his/her face, so I have selected the best view that we have. Enjoy.

Baby Reed-23 weeks

2) The crib came in and shortly thereafter, the matching armoire. We are so thankful to have been gifted with such beautiful furniture for our little nursery! I am confidant that these gifts will last for many years to come!

3) We are not finding out the gender of our baby until birth. So quit asking if we’ve changed our minds! And no, we do not secretly know and are thus conspiring to keep it a secret from everyone. You’ll just have to wait and be surprised like everyone else!

4) We are not sharing names, but we welcome suggestions!

5) Baby was incredibly well-behaved in Europe. It will be fun one day to share the pictures and say, “and look, there you are with Mommy in Rome!”

6) We have another sonogram scheduled for Monday. The purpose: to get some better pics of the baby–and it’s free of charge! I hope we’ll have some good ones to post next time.

7) The nursery theme: safari. Primary colors are green, brown, and orange. Fun stuff!

8 ) The registries are up and running…see the links to the side. I don’t know how well the Amazon registry will work out…I imagine most people prefer to hit up Target at the last minute (that has been my track record, at least!). Some specialty items are so hard to find in stores–glass bottles, a durable Moses basket, organic items, etc–so we’ll see how it goes!

9) We are very excited to be using the Birth Center of Gainesville. Check out their website here:

http://www.birthcenterofgainesville.org/

10) After much reading and research, we have decided to use hypnosis in lieu of pain meds during the birth. Our home study kit will arrive any day now and we are eager to learn the techniques. Check out the hypnobabies website:

http://www.hypnobabies.com/

I think that’s about it for now. Today marks 29 weeks; 11 weeks (give or take a couple weeks) to go!

 

A Peek into the Future

We had our first sonogram today–and it was very exciting. I was looking forward to it all week, but any bit of anticipation could not prepare me for the experience. Wow. What else can I say?

The doctor was very friendly and took his time with us. For some reason, we were both expecting a crotchety old white man who was used to the routine. Instead, we met Dr. Buchanan, a thin young black man who seemed happy to see us at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon! He had recently purchased a new sonogram machine–it looked similar to a laptop–and, fortunately for us, he was eager to try out all the cool features of his high-tech gadget on us, such 2D, 3D, and 4D-imaging, zooming, infrared, etc.

He took multiple pictures during the visit, explained positioning, labeled and identified the legs, back, stomach, arms, and head. The baby was very active for us, but didn’t want to pose for a portrait, so we didn’t get a good profile of the face (maybe next time). We did get to see the heart beating, and the doctor assured us that our baby’s 4-chambered heart was much better than a 3-chambered heart! “Everything looks good in there,” he assured us–no signs of any problems…not that we were worried, but still good to know

After the sonogram, Dr. Buchanan asked us if we had decided the learn the gender of our baby. He offered to write it down and seal it in an envelope for us…

…but we resisted. We will wait. It is good to know that someone knows, though–makes the prospect more tangible, I guess.

*Oh, by the way, our due date has been moved back 5 days…so now we are looking at a potential birth on October 3rd. Or will the baby wait until our anniversary the next day??

Pictures to come.