We're having a baby girl!

Well tomorrow, December 1, marks the half way point of my pregnancy. WOW I can't believe I'm half way to meeting my precious little baby. It has been a great few months and I hope the next few continue to be this way. We had our big ultrasound appointment this morning to make sure the little one was developing correctly and also to find out the gender. We got to see all of the baby's organs - even got a close up look at the chambers of the heart. It was absolutely amazing! The ultrasound tech printed out a ton of pictures and was taking measurements the whole time. I didn't catch this, but according to Adam with each measurement a due date would flash up. All measurements were right on target at an April 20 due date.

Of course she waited until the very end to tell us the gender. The little one was being modest and not wanting to open her legs so the tech had to do some mashing and pressing on my belly to make her move. The tech goes "I think it's a girl". You THINK? Ok lady, I need to know for sure here because you say girl and I will paint every square inch of everything she owns pink and buy a ton of girly clothes. If there's any doubt in your mind this is NOT a girl, speak now or forever hold your peace. She went into a little spiel saying how they can never be 100% correct but that it's over 90% sure. Hmm, well ok then lady. She didn't give me the warm fuzzies I was hoping for, but nothing was going to bring me down!

After the ultrasound we met with the doctor and he told us everything looked great with the baby. Everything with me is great too. He answered a few questions and sent us on the way. Next appointment is December 28.

Many people have been asking what we plan on naming her. We have decided on Sarah Elizabeth and we will call her Sarah Beth. I love double names for girls and I think this one is so beautiful! We both have Sarah and Elizabeth on both sides of our families so this will keep in the tradition of family names. If it was a boy, he would have been Foster Templeton. Maybe the next one will be a boy :o) Here are some pictures of little Sarah Beth.

Here's her entire body - so cute if I do say so myself!


Up close shot of her profile


Leg on the left - it's bent so the knee is at the top and her foot is on the left. Arms are on the right - they are bent at the elbow and are in front of her face. Little hands on the right side.


Foot on the left - will she have my huge feet? Hmm, I sorta hope not! Bottom shot on the right.


It's a girl!

My baby is a....mango?

One particular website sends me a weekly update to tell me what's going on with me and the baby. I have really enjoyed seeing what fruit or vegetable they compare the baby's size to each week. You can view the entire list by clicking here. Last week we were a sweet potato. This week, a mango! Grow baby, grow!



Baby is also covered with a waxy "cheese" called Vernix that helps protect the skin from amniotic fluid. Mmm, cheese.

Weeks 7 - 18

Yeah, week 6 was where the weekly pregnancy documentation ended. I'm a horrible blogger, what can I say?! I actually have a lot of guilt for not documenting this pregnancy like I planned. I wanted to do weekly updates like my dear friend Dusty but alas, I did not.

I must say this has been a pretty easy pregnancy. I never got sick in my first trimester, thank goodness!!! I had some bouts of nausea but once I ate I felt better. I was just HUNGRY and TIRED for the most part! Here is a picture of our 8 week ultrasound. Little bean's heart was beating 156 BPM!



I sailed into the second trimester and things have been really great. I got another quick unofficial ultrasound at 12 weeks which was really great. We got to see the baby again and it actually looked like a baby this time! It even moved around for us. Here's that picture:



The 16 week appointment was great. We heard the heart beat with the doppler an scheduled the BIG ultrasound for November 30th! The date is fast approaching and we can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or girl! Most importantly we want to make sure the baby is healthy. We had the second trimester blood work screening done at the 16 week appointment. That tests for all major genetic abnormalities with the baby. Luckily it all came back fine.

To occupy my time I have been studying my pregnancy books such as Your Pregnancy Week by Week, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and Baby Bargains.

I've started creating baby registries at Babies R Us, Target, and Wal Mart. I'm trying to keep most of it gender neutral so we can use these items again with the next one. My favorite item, and my big splurge, is the Bob Stroller. After polling several friends that own these and doing lots of research online and through my Baby Bargains book, I decided that this is our best options. I can use it from the infancy through toddler years. It has an infant car seat attachment that allows us to snap the car seat into it until the baby is big enough to fit in the regular stroller seat. It is built with all metal but is really light weight - very durable! The front wheel rotates 360 and you can push the thing with one finger. I tried one out in a baby store and fell in love. It's the Cadillac of strollers, for sure.

Of course I'm also obsessed with baby bedding! I have it narrowed down to two choices. I originally had picked some rather expensive bedding from a boutique custom place, but I found this other bedding at Target and fell in love. It's affordable, adorable, and when the inevitable diaper blow out or throw up happens, I won't lose any sleep if I have to replace something. Here's the girl option. You can see that is is reversible as well.





Here is the boy option. Precious!



That is the rest of my pregnancy in a nutshell! I am absolutely dying to find out the gender of this little one! So far the majority of people guess GIRL. I'm not patient, so let's hope that November 30 gets here as quickly as possible!