Pregnancy Update

I had my 16 week (and 4 days) appointment on Tuesday (of last week).  All went well.  We hadn't done blood work at either of my last appointments so they drew blood, which I don't mind because (a) I used to give blood every three months or so for the Red Cross and (b) I have good veins so it's also super easy.  Ellie was a champ sitting in her car seat and provided my entertainment while they drew the blood.  I used to be able to watch but have gotten more nervous about watching in the past few years.

The blood draw was actually at the end of the appointment.  At the beginning they checked my blood pressure - normal.  Then the doctor listened for the baby's heartbeat with the doppler - nice and strong.  And then he measured me - right at 16 centimeters.

So next month we'll go to the hospital for a level 2 ultrasound.  My OB was actually wondering initially why he had planned to do the level 2 ultrasound since it would be to check for abnormalities with the baby, and Ellie didn't have any abnormalities.  But he thinks it will be best to make sure that they see any issues beforehand if there are any to be seen.  And I am looking forward to getting a more detailed look as well and hoping that they'll be able to see if anything looks odd about the placenta.

I've felt the baby move off and on little bits since I was 7 weeks pregnant.  (Sounds crazy, I know.  But I could definitely feel what I call the vibrating/swooshing movements.  Not all the time but from time to time.)  In the last few days though, I've been feeling kicks.  At first they were so quick that I'd second guess myself as to whether I really felt it.  But now the little one is much more noticeably active, especially when I sit down.  Last night I could feel what must have been his/her back rubbing up against me.  I looked up his/her size, and he/she should be about 5 inches long so none of his/her other body parts would be big enough to be what I was feeling.  I also felt him/her do a flip last night.

And in another three weeks, we hope to be able to stop referring to him/her as a "him/her" and to be able to share whether we're having a boy or girl!  It's hard to believe it's only a month away!  And a month after that will be Ellie's first birthday.  So much going on...

This picture isn't all that great so I don't know why, after waiting five days to post this (I wrote everything in this on Sunday) so that I would have a bump picture, I'm posting it.  But it's hard to get good pictures at the odd angle you have to stand to show off your bump.  I got a really cute haircut yesterday (when this picture was taken) but we didn't take belly pictures after.  I made sure Kit took this before the haircut just in case I didn't like the new 'do.  But it turns out that my new hair is fantastic!  More photos soon(ish).