It's a..........????

We are having a ..................................................

SORRY! We are going to announce it on Christmas with our families and then we will make it public!  The third ultrasound did go well though.  The baby weighs about 6 ounces and is just at 6 inches long (think palm of your hand).  We got to see the heart beating and the blood flowing through it, the hands, feet and we could see the babies ribs.  It was very cool!  The baby did not want to cooperate at one point and the tech was having to tap on my belly and then she had me turn on my side.  The baby finally moved, but I do not think it was very happy!

Third Doctor's Appointment

I had my third doctor's appointment today and everything is going well! I was able to hear the heartbeat and it had a rate of 155, which my doctor said was perfect. He also told me that I am gaining the appropriate weight that I need to at a nice slow pace. I had to get blood drawn for part two of the Down Syndrome testing (the first part came back negative). The most exciting part of the appointment was when the doctor said, "Let me see what strings I can pull to get you an ultrasound next week to find out the gender." I was very excited about this and we are going to be finding out next Wednesday; right before Christmas! The challenge now is how are we going to tell our families. We had it set in our mind that we wouldn't be able to find out until after Christmas and were planning on having a reveal party. That is probably going to change now. So in the meantime are you team pink or team blue??

Baby Update at 16 Weeks

So, if you saw my last post (that I put up like 5 mins ago), you can see that I FINALLY posted a pic of the belly.  A lot of people have been asking me if I had started showing yet, but I have been wearing a lot of loose clothing so it was hard to tell.  I took this photo in one of my new maternity shirts that I bought in NYC this past weekend.  I have to give a shout out to the employees at Destination Maternity in Manhattan (on Madison Ave.) because they were wonderful!!  Prior to our weekend trip to NYC, I was starting to feel really frumpy and just felt like I was gaining weight and not growing a baby.  Shawn said that we could do some maternity clothes shopping while we were in NYC to try and find some not so plain clothes.  I was a bit skeptical because I had this pre-conceived notion that all of the stores in Manhattan were very high end and I was going to this place that was known for super affordable clothing.  Like I mentioned earlier, the staff was fabulous!  The offered me water and/or juice while I was looking at the clothes and trying them on.  She called me by my name each time she spoke to me, got me additional sizes and boosted my ego!  She had asked me at one point how far along I was and I said that I was going into my sixteenth week and she was in shock.  She said that I looked great for 16 weeks (she thought I was only about 2 months along).  Needless to say, that little comment went a long way with me.  Anyway, I got 2 knit tops, a dress and a sweater for $113.  I figured in NYC that was a steal!

Baby update:  I go to the doctor next Monday, but as I mentioned a few posts ago, it is just for a quick doctor's visit.  However, when I am at this appointment I will be able to schedule the ultrasound that is going to tell us the sex of the baby!  This is very exciting and I will be sure to share with you all as soon as we know when the date will be.  So, at 16 weeks here is going on with the baby.  It is the size of an avocado (4 inches in length and weighs 3 1/2 ounces) and tiny bones are forming in its ears, so it can hear our voices.  Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in and taste buds are forming.

And for our fun fact: Babies are born with 300 bones, but only 206 remain by adulthood because some of the bones fuse together!

First Belly Pic!

As promised, like 2 weeks ago, here is the first belly pic!