A big day!

Today we had our 21 week ultrasound. It was so amazing and so fun! Ryan and I were in awe as we saw our baby on the 'big screen' for the first time (well, since it looked like a tadpole at 6 weeks)! It's just unbelievable how God has designed our bodies. All of this happens without any effort from Ryan or I. God does it all, but we get to be a part of it. It's just miraculous! It's also quite unbelievable that technology lets us a get a sneak peek at it all.


The baby was so cute and well behaved during the ultrasound. Lil' Weaver was kicking its feet, almost as if it were swimming. We just watched in amazement at she measured everything and pointed out the organs. The sonographer told us to look away as she checked to make sure the lower regions were developing okay. Our baby cooperated and even revealed his/her gender to the sonographer. Ryan and I didn't want to know, but I was proud that our baby complied because most mommies and daddies look forward to the 'big screen' to find out what they're having and Little Weaver didn't disappoint. According to all the measurements, Little Weaver weighs 14 ounces and looks to be 'fully cooked' on June 8th. They didn't change our original due date because it's just the day before.


Here's my favorite picture from the ultrasound today. A profile shot... the head is on the right side (whitish/grayish blob) and the belly is on the left. You can see hands and fingers between the head and belly. Don't Ryan and I make cute babies?!

I also put together a video (about a minute long) of all the ultrasound pics.

Following the ultrasound, we had our regular doctor's appointment. After waiting for nearly an hour, I weighed in, which wasn't as painful as it could have been. 5 lbs in 5 weeks... right on schedule, for a total of 11. Then we heard the heartbeat - 155 bpm... waited some more and finally talked to the doctor for a whopping two minutes. It was pretty much a waste, but from what I understand, that's what most of these second trimester appointments are like.

We headed to Hereford House for lunch after the appointments and stuffed ourselves beyond belief. YUMMY! It was fun to go out on a lunch date with Ryan in the middle of the week! A treat we almost never get!

After lunch we set out to register at Babies R Us! Holy Toledo! It was really fun choosing tons of stuff we wanted, but seriously, decisions, decisions, decisions. Battery powered or electric? Always electric! Monitors with sound, lights, and vibration - or is that more than we need? Bottles... how many choices are there? And don't even mention nipples! Six different options for baby bathtubs... 8 different bouncers... high chairs... swings... baby gates... the list goes on and on. We made decisions about all of them until we were so tired we could barely peel ourselves out of the rocking chairs! It was super fun, but by the end we were worn out. I'm sure we'll add more items later, but for now, we're registered and I'm content.

As promised, I took a belly shot today. Getting bigger by the week, but so far I'm still comfortable. My hands are swelling a bit, so the days of wearing my wedding ring are about over for the time being. And every time I have to tie my shoes, I wonder how much longer I'll choose shoestrings over slip-ons!

All in all, today was a great day! It was our first big ultrasound and our first chance to register for a baby! What a fun day! Now with 21 weeks down and 19 (maybe less or maybe more) to go, I feel like we're getting prepared and it's starting to sink in that we're actually having a baby!

People ask me all the time, "So when did it become real to you?" I'm not completely sure of the answer. It seemed real when I peed on a stick, but then it got more real when we saw a baby in my uterus at just 5 weeks. Then seeing the heart beating on the big screen at 6 weeks left no doubt that this is a real life. Over the next several weeks, I didn't have many pregnancy symptoms, although I knew things were happening that I just didn't know about. When I felt the baby move at 19 weeks and as it continues to move all the time, I am sure that a baby is really growing inside of me. This is real. But then today, when we saw a real-life, little baby on the screen, things definitely seemed real. But still, I don't think anything will sink in for sure until I hold our baby for the first time and see him/her with my own eyes in the flesh. By then, things will probably be too real and I'll freak out... just a little!