22 and a half weeks...

Today, we had our second visit with Maternal Fetal Medicine. Everything went well and there's not much to report. Today's visit was fairly short and everything looks good. Trace is growing at the normal rate, and we received the reassurance that everything looks good. He weighs in at 1.2 pounds and is very active. He was moving around quit a bit during the ultrasound and was making it difficult to get a good profile view. We did get to see him yawn twice and it also looked like he was trying to put his foot in his mouth.



The nurse tried to get us a 3-D image of Trace, but he wasn't very cooperative. In a few months, she said we'd be able to get a good look at him once he is a little more chubby. Here's what she was able to get today:

Daycare Anyone?

So, today we had a visit with Dr. Harris, but not much new to report. She weighed and measured; and we listened to his heart, which was 147 bpm. We just finished our last round (hopefully) of antibiotics; so they’ll check for the bacteria next time we go. Let’s hope that the pesky germ will finally be gone! Also, I’ll have more blood work at my next visit, as ordered by Dr. Jaekle. She said I’ll have these randomly, sort of like “pop quizzes”. He also put me on some additional vitamins that are supposed to help with thinning my blood even more so than the regular low-dose aspirin, which I’ll continue to take as well. One final note on our visit – our AFP screen came back normal, which we were relieved to hear.

Alright, now onto daycare, this has become a big topic of discussion in our household lately. We really don’t have any firm plans yet and are looking at all available options. Right now we’re just trying to get on waiting lists, which is looking like I won’t be able to go back to work for a year or two after Trace is born, because these are some serious lists! We’ve been on a list at LSU for over a year now and they still can’t tell us when or if we’ll be accepted until after we deliver. We visited two new places this morning and went on tours of their facilities. UPC on campus seemed like a good option until we went there today and waited a half an hour for the lady to tell us to come back in February to get put on a list. Plus, the lady was kind of rude, so I’m gonna go ahead and rule them out. Then we went over to Country Day School on Highland and Kenilworth , which we liked and it seemed nice; but their waiting list is booked until March 2008. They told us they have another location on North Blvd., which is in our neighborhood; so we’re going to check that place out on Friday. Plus, their list is a little shorter. We also plan on taking a tour of the LSU facility and Parkview’s preschool on Friday, which by the way, also has a waiting list of at least 2 years! So, if you know of anyone in a good daycare or if you have some alternative suggestions, we’re interested!

Thanks so much for the prayers, happy thoughts and encouragement. We love you all!

About Half Way There...

We're closing in on the mid-way point of our pregnancy and had our first visit to the maternal fetal medicine doctors. Our visit was yesterday (March 7) with Dr. Jaekle, who we had heard good things about from our friends. He definitely lived up to what we were told. He is a kidder and likes to use humor to make you feel comfortable. We had an ultrasound done and everything looks great and normal for this point in our pregnancy. Trace measured in at 12 ounces and was confirmed to indeed be a boy:


We are scheduled to go back to the maternal fetal doctors in 3 weeks, and they gave us a lot of comfort and positive reinforcement. The doctor said they would be watching us closely and said that if we ever have questions or want to come in for a check-up, just to give them a call or come by. We may not take them up on this offer, but it's good to know that the opportunity it there if we need it.

On the home front, we are starting to get the nursery ready. We ordered some wall letters off the Internet and bought a shelf to put up in the room. Now we have to figure out how we want to arrange everything in the nursery. We'll probably move stuff around quit a bit between now and July. Ashley is doing great and hasn't had the nausea that she felt last time. Her hips are starting to bother her a little, which may be caused by our hard-wood floors. The doctor told us that wearing shoes or slippers around the house may help.

We want to continue to thank everyone who has been thinking about us and praying for us and ask that you continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It's been an exciting 19 weeks so far, and we look forward to sharing the rest of our journey with you.