Baby West makes its pictorial debut :)

I don't like calling our baby "it", but since we don't yet know if we are on team pink or team blue, I've mostly been referring to the bun as little one, munchkin, and gummy bear ;) (You'll see why down below).

Our first appointment with my doctor was when I was supposedly at 6 weeks, and we expected to be able to see the little one's heartbeat on the ultrasound. Unfortunately it was a disappointing (to say the least) and scary appointment, as all my doctor saw was an empty sac. He said it might be too early to see anything, but that it might also be a blighted ovum, which is when the baby never develops. Brian almost fainted and we were just devastated. I got more blood drawn and we made another appointment for a week later. After going home and scouring the internet I saw that this is quite common and often its too early to see the baby on the ultrasound, and I might not have been as far along as the doctors and I thought I was. My doctor called the next day saying that my HCG levels were doubling appropriately which was a good sign, and he'd let me know what my progesterone was when he got those results. A day or two later he called and said my progesterone level was at 31.6, and that any number higher than 25 usually indicates a healthy pregnancy! :) Great news! I was able to breathe a little easier until my next appointment.

On April 15, Brian and I went back for ultrasound #2 praying we'd get good news. The doctor looked around for a moment, and then asked Brian to turn out the lights and look at the screen. There it was... a little smudge (OUR BABY!) and a little flicker on the screen (OUR BABY'S HEARTBEAT!). I immediately burst into tears as I felt relief, joy, excitement... all at the same time. Brian and I were SO happy our baby was there and it was ok! I will never forget that moment as long as I live. My doctor (Dr. Kohn, btw, we love him!) told us to remember that when our baby turns into a tantrum-throwing toddler ;) Without further adieu, here is the very first picture ever of our little miracle at 6 weeks, 4 days:

(the little circle is the yolk sac, not the baby's head... baby is the little smudge between the 2 plus signs hehe)

Our next appointment was scheduled for exactly 2 weeks later, and there it was again... the little heartbeat (beating at approx. 140 beats per minute - great!), and our little one, looking more like a gummy bear now (hence the temporary nickname). Here's Baby West at 8 weeks, 4 days:

Last week we had our biggest appointment yet... actually, 2 appointments! In the morning we went to a high-risk doctor (that my OB sends his patients to for certain testing) who was going to do the first trimester scan called a Nuchal Translucency scan. They basically look for indicators for Down Syndrome and create a risk score for the possibility of the baby having Down Syndrome. They look at the fluid in the back of the baby's neck (the skin is still translucent at this point), check that a nasal bone is present, and then they combine those results with my age and an analysis on my blood. The doctor said everything on the ultrasound (more about that in a minute) looked normal (yay!!) so even though I haven't been given my score yet, we're not worried.

When we first go to the doctor they had us speak with a genetic counselor who explained the test and what they're looking for (they look for two different types of Trisomy disorders along with Down Syndrome). Based on my age we're not worrying about this. I think the average risk for having a child with DS at my age is like 1:990.

I feel confident our baby is going to be just fine :) Perfect, even. And we will love it no matter what.

Now about this ultrasound... it was AMAZING. It was a high resolution ultrasound which was great, and the ultrasound tech started out. So with Brian sitting next to me, she squeezed out the gel and put the wand on my belly and said, "there's your baby". I can't even put into words how relieved and thrilled we were! I started crying immediately and Brian teared up, too, and grabbed my hand. It had been 4 weeks since we had seen the little one and we were really starting to worry if it was still in there, growing... I asked about the heartbeat and right away she showed us! And the baby... well, now it looks like a baby! No more gummy bear! We saw its little head, and body, spine, brain (!), legs, arms, hands (with little fingers I just can't wait to smooch!). The tech started moving the wand around and labeling parts to print out (for their records). She checked to make sure the umbilical cord was in the right spot and that everything looked like it should. Baby started moving around a lot, and even started hiccuping! It was the cutest thing I've even seen! Then we heard the most amazing sound in the world... our baby's heartbeat!! We saw the rhythm on the screen and heard it loud and clear... I can't even describe the feeling of hearing our child's heartbeat for the first time. It was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life, and I will never forget that sound.... The tech also looked all around the baby, and we asked her if she had a guess on the gender. She said, if I had to guess, I'd say _____ (you didn't really think we'd spill the beans before being sure, now do you? hehe), but she said not to hold her to it! She wouldn't even tell us how often she's wrong... but I think she's right. We will hopefully know for sure in 3 weeks!

The doctor came in and looked all around again, explaining what he was looking for and commented that the he could see the nasal bone and the fluid space was normal... great news! He didn't have the best bedside manner (so glad we love our regular doctor!) but he was nice enough, and I was so happy to see our baby moving about I couldn't have cared if he was an alien pretending to be a doctor! He said baby is growing right on schedule and he didn't even need to change my due date. We left with a couple of great pictures...

Here's our little one at 12 weeks, 4 days:

(the little black dot on the body is baby's stomach!)


baby head, baby body, baby legs (you can see the bones, too)...

(cutest baby I've ever seen! but I could be saying that because I'm the mommy! hehe)

In the afternoon we went to see my regular OB. He just checked the heartbeat with the doppler (we recorded the sound on Brian's iphone, though its not very clear) and we told him that our appointment with the other doctor went very well so he didn't need to do another ultrasound. Baby's heartbeat was 162 bpm which is great! I asked him if we were ok to officially spread the word now, and he said we could shout it from the mountaintops! So yesterday, at the beginning of my second trimester, we officially shouted our news from the mountaintop that is Facebook! :) We got so many amazing responses and really feel so loved by everyone. It definitely feels more real now... we're going to be parents!!!

My estimated due date is DECEMBER 5, 2010! I can hardly believe that by the end of this year we are going to be parents! We are beyond excited!! :) Stay tuned for more updates about the baby... and my belly!