birth slideshow

the arrival of rowan alder in pictures (don't worry, nothing from delivery!)



rowan alder birth from alauna peterson on Vimeo.

big brother, little...

we had our anatomy scan on 1/25 and all went well. obviously, we found out that baby #2 is a boy. it's hard to imagine being a mom to two little (and eventually, big) boys but that's where i'm headed!! finn really thought this baby was a girl (he told people it was prior to this without "coaching") and he is having a bit of trouble understanding that it really is a boy. good thing we've got some time to prepare him :)

 

baby is very healthy and we were lucky enough to have a long u/s with tons of pictures and every little detail examined. hb was 167 (so don't let people tell you that high heart rates = girls!). and we saw that little organ beating away, all 4 chambers looking great.

 the baby was very active and i was actually surprised not to be able to feel that all of the kicking and arm swinging. at this point, the movement i can detect must be full rolls and changing positions. baby boy had his behind his head at one point and covered his face a number of times. his feet were so cute! all of his limb measurements are great.

for the first time ever, we we treated to a 3d view. i often find these a little disconcerting because of the textures but this shot was a pretty good visual of his peanut face. (and it looks like daddy's nose!) finn was extremely scared of the 3d portion and could not handle it, so we only looked for a minute.

true to form, i did go out yesterday and buy a little something (in grey, not blue!) for new baby brother. he is bound to get mostly hand-me-downs and it's hard to imagine him wearing all of finn's things as his own. now that i know gender, i can begin to do some real planning. names, nursery...oh and we're buying a house so that might take up some of my time, too!

12 week ultrasound

we decided to do the "bun" screening to test for down syndrome and other trisomy disorders. i enjoy the ultrasound part of the process (of course!) and we got some great pictures of little baby 2.0. husband and finn were along and it was great to share that experience with the soon-to-be big brother.







the last one is the top of the head with tiny little hands! we did have a u/s at around 6 weeks and were able to see the little speck with a heartbeat and it was so amazing to see the changes in just 6 weeks. the baby kept bring its hand near its mouth like a tiny wave and did a few jumps. the heartbeat was 147 bpm. the bridge of the nose is present and the fold at the back of the neck was within the expected range.

to complete the testing, i had to produce enough blood via finger prick to cover 4 circles on the test strip. as i mentioned a time or two, i don't do well with blood. not at all. at my first appointment (where they take all of your blood and leave you with almost none) i asked to lay down first and in the middle (needle in) i got really sick and a passing ultrasound tech had to come in and hold a trash bag near my face while cooling my forehead with a wet cloth. i am embarrassed when this happens but i have no control over it and try as i might, i couldn't even make it through the finger prick without a scene. after i left the chair i was feeling sick but ok, but as soon as i walked into the main part of the hospital i got dizzy and confused. i handed my husband my water and coat and someone saw me struggling and offered to help. they pointed me to the bathroom and i tossed my cookies (err, salad, which is awful, honestly.). multiple times. over a finger prick!

i guess it was all worth it when i got the call a week later that my results came back fine and the baby's risk of having the tested syndromes were quite low.

3rd ultrasound

i'm back from my 24 week appointment and follow-up ultrasound. it was nice to see baby h3b again. he was very good this time and gave us the necessary profile shot. the pictures didn't come out super clear, but i could make out the forehead, nose, lips, and chin even better as the tech was showing me.

he is still a he (we have another crotch shot to prove it, but i'll spare you) and weighs 1 lb 11 oz. his heart rate was 119 bpm and his measurements for belly, femur, heart, etc. all look great.

i had a nice chat with my dr. and, following my scale reading this morning, asked about my weight gain. so far, i've put on...and please, no gaping mouths here...25 lbs. already! i about fainted right there. but she said it was fine. the more i gain, the more i have to work off after baby, but that she wasn't worried a bit. (insert image of breastfeeding while on the elliptical - yeah not worried, either...). i got my h1n1 shot and my next appointment will be in 2 weeks for the 1 hour glucose test.

must limit candy...

well...

baby h3b is a little boy :) he was very cooperative this morning and more than willing to show off the necessary bum shot. he wasn't however, willing to lay on his back and show us a profile of his face, so we have to go back in 4 weeks to get a better look at the features. they aren't worried, but they like to get a good idea of everything and he just wasn't having it this morning.

the u/s tech said "she has a great heartbeat" or something to that effect before telling us the gender and i didn't know if she just says one or the other randomly, so i had no idea what to expect. to be honest, i knew baby h3b was a boy, but when she showed us for sure, it was so surreal. mr. h3b gave me a playful tap and started openly clapping (practically jumping up and down). he is one proud daddy-to-be!

we got a few pictures, but i'm sad that we didn't get to see a good picture of his face. i'm relieved to go see him again and i hope next time he cooperates! the other "low" point was when the u/s tech said, are you sure you're only 20 weeks? you look so big! um, yep, thanks.

the tech said everything looks fantastic. baby h3b is in the 45%, measuring right on track. we saw all 4 chambers of the heart, heard the heartbeat (u/s and doppler), and got a good look at the bottom of the feet (adorable!), the spine, and all of the limbs. my dr. is pleased with my progress and said i wasn't big at all.

i'll take that :)

12 week ultrasound pictures

here is a nice profile shot of baby h3b. adorable little face and legs kicking away.

a little bit of the hand showing here, legs still moving around.


baby h3b fell asleep in the middle of the 30 minute scan. little hands up covering the face and legs crossed at the ankles. the cross section view of this from head down was adorable.