Heart Check

Profile view...her head is on the left and she's looking up

Tuesday, July 24, I went to Winnie Palmer for a fetal echocardiogram. At the sonogram two weeks prior the ultrasound tech was not able to get a good view of the little bit's heart because it was still early (17 weeks) and the position she was in (upside down and facing backwards). Just to err on the side of caution Dr. Lambert sent me to Winnie Palmer to get the heart views and measurements needed to check to make sure everything was on track.

Thank goodness everything was absolutely perfect and at this time I will not have to go back to Winnie for a sonogram. Which is a huge sigh of relief in terms of that place was a mad house. So busy! I waited for over an hour past my scheduled appointment time and that was after arriving half an hour early per their request. Good thing I brought my kindle with me to keep me busy (finally got to start reading Defending Jacob, and have like 5 more library books waiting for me).

Looking from the bottom of her foot, like she's standing

The sonogram itself was the longest one I have ever had. Probably a good 45 minutes. The ones at my doctors office normally don't last over 10 minutes. The tech literally scanned every inch of this little girl's body. Well, aside from not being able to double check that she is in fact a she because her legs were crossed tight. There were over a hundred pictures by the time she finished. She was a pretty awesome tech though. She told me every single thing we were looking at (good thing she knew what most of those body parts were lol). We saw bones, toes, feet, fingers, hands, arms, spine, bladder, kidneys, her brain, and of course her heart. The little stinker was still in that same position from the sonogram before and made it very difficult for the tech to see everything that she needed to see. Even with all the poking and prodding she wasn't about to budge. Also, almost every time the tech would get a decent shot of her profile/face, she would instantly throw both of her hands up and cover her face up entirely. I guess she's a bit camera shy and/or stubborn. This behavior does bother me slightly because it truly reminds me of the spunky little Alyse we have. And, frankly, two little Alyse's running around is quite a scary thought ;)

Her face, skeleton style lol she has a bit more fat she needs to put on!

Once she was finished getting all the measurements she had the doctor review them and then he came in to tell me that everything looks perfect and that he has absolutely no worries and to continue doing whatever it is I'm doing. Hopefully we'll actually get a chance to get a good look at the little babe inside before she makes her debut! We hardly have a profile shot of her because of the awkward position she is in. I just hope that by the time D-Day comes that she is set and facing the proper direction. I also had a bit of encouraging news that she's measuring overall on the smaller side, so maybe we won't have a toddler on her birth day after all!

A couple of side notes:

1) Winnie Palmer/Arnold Palmer now have free parking! woohoo! I was getting ready to pay at the guard gate (even made sure I had $4 cash with me before leaving) and the guard told me no more charges. I always thought it was quit dumb to make patients have to pay to park their cars during their visit.

2) Addisyn has named the baby. She said her name is "Onray." Note quite sure the spelling she has chosen but she pronounced it as ON-RAY. I guess she likes original names, as I asked her where she came up with it and she wasn't able to tell me.

3) Just three more weeks until the girls start their Ballet classes and four more weeks until Addisyn starts PRESCHOOL!! How in the world is she old enough for PRESCHOOL?!?!? :/
4) I updated my blog design, the other one was really annoying.

It's a....

GiRL!!!

Yes, that makes three of a kind! I am beyond excited to be adding a THIRD baby girl into our family. As excited as I am, I think little Addisyn is even more excited. Alyse doesn't understand, but was more than willing to eat some delicious cake. Doug, well, he claims he isn't disappointed. I know otherwise though. I know he will love this little girl just as much as Addisyn and Alyse, but he was REALLY hoping for a hunting buddy. Guess he will just have settle on three little ballerinas :)

Just before cutting into the beautiful cake by Sweet Ashley Rae's

On Friday, July 13th, we had our big gender reveal party. It was so exciting to find out along side some of the most important people in our lives. All four of us went to the sonogram the Tuesday prior, and Doug and I really and truly turned our heads when the tech told us she was going to be looking at the baby's legs. She didn't let off any hints and she even wrote the gender down AFTER we left the room. No cheating on our parts! Straight from there it was off to the baker to give the envelope away so there would not be any temptation. 

It was a long three day wait, but I just tried my best not to think about it. Doug was sure it was a boy because he said the tech saw things too fast (ha! It felt like we had our heads turned forever). But honestly though, it could be just as simple to see something NOT there as something that WAS there.

there were still some votes to come

The party itself was simple and the whole point was to just cut into that dern cake and find out what our little baby was. We did have everyone cast their votes on a chalkboard. The boy side of the board was completely full and there were just a few votes on the girl side (including mine and Addisyn's and a few "cheater" votes where someone couldn't decide so they marked both). We even demonstrated the ring test old wive's tale where it predicted three girls and then a boy (oh, geez!).

Once it finally came time to cut into the cake we had Addisyn and Alyse come to help. Little Addi was so excited and had been saying all week long that she was so excited because she was going to get to have a pink cake. While we were cutting she was staring that cake down. I think she was probably more nervous than us. Doug got the first glance of the pink icing and his "awwwww" gave it away to everyone else that it was a girl. Once the slice was pulled all the way out, there was some yelling and "it's a girl" going on. I can only imagine what would have happened had the icing been blue.

Addisyn patiently watching to see if it will be a boy or a girl.

So happy for pink!

All in all, it was a successful party and reveal. Although so many were hoping for a boy (there aren't many boys in either side of the family) I think most are still excited over a third girl. Not too many families have three of a kind. Who knows maybe there's be opportunity for a full house. Totally kidding! I told Doug on the bright side, there's not much we need to buy to be prepared. Goodness knows we have oodles of clothes that are still in great condition. 

For anyone wondering: No, we are not telling the name again! Sorry, folks. You already know the game and it's not changing this time around. Plus, it is going to be quite a hard task to come up with a THIRD girl name. So hard, that it hasn't even been discussed yet anyways. Plus, it's more fun this way...at least on our end ;) I love surprises!

Also a big thank you to Zoe for helping throw everything together! LaShaun for taking these awesome photos! And, Sweet Ashley Rae's for the beautiful (and delicious) cake!

Have to throw this picture in because Doug actually smiled for a picture!

What's it going to be??

Today was the big day, the gender scan!! BUT, we still do not know if it's a boy or girl just yet, because we have a gender reveal party planned for Friday. I am so excited, and even though it's just a few days away, I feel like they are going to drag by. The ultrasound tech was awesome and just before she went to look in the leg area, she told us to look away. Doug and the girls came along to view and even to Doug's dismay he cooperated and didn't look (don't worry, I watched him since he was on the other side of the room from the screen). He is dying for a boy, but I keep telling him he's wrong. It will be so exciting to see for sure what this little babe is. I was sure to double check with the tech that she was sure over what she saw and she responded that she was because she had a clear shot. She also didn't write down 'boy' or 'girl' until AFTER we left the room so we wouldn't even be able to try to guess how many letters she wrote! She brought the sealed envelope to me in the waiting room, and after the appointment it went to the baker!

During the scan she was not able to get a view of the baby's heart (although she heard a perfectly strong heartbeat). She said this was probably due to the fact that I was only 17 weeks, when the scan is normally done at the 20 week mark. The baby also had it's head facing my back which was an awkward position to get that view of the heart as well. So just to be sure, my doctor is having me go to Winnie Palmer for another scan with better technology. She assured me that she wasn't worried over it, but was just going to be on the safe side. Hey, it's an extra chance to see the nugget, and I'll also have them confirm the gender and get to see for myself!

At my appointment, I also had the second round of blood work drawn for the NT testing. They said they would have results back within a week (which would then be combined with the initial blood work and ultrasound) to determine baby's chances of being born with a genetic disorder. If I don't hear from them in a week, all is well, and results will be gone over during my next appointment in August. Hoping for no phone call!

Until Friday, we'll be sitting around and speculating over who's right in the gender guesses...can't wait!

16 weeks!

Four months, and finally starting to feel a bit better. I can't remember the last time that I took a zofran, which is a good thing. Definitely not feeling 100% "normal," but that's expected during pregnancy. A friend asked me today if each pregnancy gets harder each time, and honestly, I really don't think it does. Maybe it's because I'm still on the younger side? Or maybe it's because the other two kiddos keep me busy that I don't even have time to think about it?

This morning when I woke up to Addisyn crawling up into the bed with me, I could totally feel the little babe balled up on my right side just near my belly button. I was definitely feeling the baby, just not the typical kicking type movements, moreso just feeling the baby floating around in there. I'd press down on the lump and could feel little Baby Dupp react to the pressure. So neat. After getting up and moving around though, baby seemed to disappear back into its hiding place somewhere in my belly. I'm excited to get to feel the little babe all the time and the kicks and rolls, one of my favorite things about being pregnant. I'm also anxious for Addisyn (and Alyse too!) to get to feel her brother/sister kicking around and really understand what's happening. She was a bit to young to piece everything together during Alyse's pregnancy, which is basically the age Alyse is now with this baby.

A week from today is the big ultrasound. Hopefully the tech will be able to see boy or girl, because we have a gender reveal party scheduled for the Friday afterwards. I'm getting anxious to find out what it is, and the car ride from the doctor's office to the cake shop is going to be torturous knowing that the baby's sex will be right inside my purse, haha! It's going to take EVERYTHING in me not to take a peek during the sonogram and also in the car. I can do it though, because I don't want to ruin the surprise. It will be so fun to find out with everyone else. I only worry that if it's pink there won't be much of a reaction from others, because everyone seems to think we "need" a boy. I'll be happy either way, and I'm not just saying that ;)

Tomorrow, we have a big day planned for the fourth. Swimming out at my parents, and then coming back to our house for a cookout and our annual [pregnant] walk down to the lake to watch the fireworks. I'm just glad I'm not as pregnant this 4th as I was when I was pregnant with both Addisyn and Alyse. Yuck. Hot and miserable.