9:40 pm: 3-29-10 and I have been 40 years old for 18 hours and 40 min.

Mommy Amanda is neatly tucked away in bed for the night, resting and growing our daughter. How lucky can one woman be. We had a great weekend just being together. I felt the baby move in her tummy several times this weekend, she is a kicker. Got spoiled - new jeans, shoes and 2 hours at the SPA (very fancy). You know sometimes life gets in the way of "Life", got to make sure we don't miss too much of the good stuff. 40 years can go by pretty fast

Spring Break

My best friend from college, Michelle McDonough, came to visit for Spring Break. She arrived on Sunday morning and we spent the rest of the day shopping and resting. On Monday, we stayed in Denver, ate some yummy Pho, and hung out at my favorite coffee shop/bar, tHERe. The afternoon was spent at the doctor's office, where Rox and I heard our little girl's heartbeat again and asked for information about donating our baby's cord blood.

On Tuesday, Michelle and I got our hair cut by my wonderful sister, Vic at Bliss Salon. After our haircut, we went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory and tried to enjoy Boulder, but the rain/sleet made walking the Pearl Street Mall less than appealing. The rain turned into snow and we spent the evening and most of the next day hanging out around the house with Vik and her kids because we all had a snow day. Wednesday evening finally cleared up and we went to dinner at Casa Bonita.

Here is a picture of Michelle, Kanoa, Amaya and me in front of the waterfall at Casa Bonita. You are not able to see the waterfall because of the lighting, but trust me it was right there.

On Thursday, Michelle came shopping with us to buy a new rocking chair for the baby's room and then we bought some candy for Michelle to take back to Maine with her. After that we headed up into the Mountains and went to Idaho Springs to eat lunch and soak in the hot spring pool, followed by a little shopping. On our way down the mountain, we tried to stop at the Mother Cabrini Shrine, but we were too late to get in so we settled for taking a couple of pictures just outside the gate. Here is Michelle and the view down the mountain.
Here is a self portrait of Michelle and Me just outside the gate of the Mother Cabrini Shrine. Michelle left very early this morning and I already miss her. I had a great time and I can't wait for her to come out and visit again.

Week 20 Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound on March 3rd and we got confirmation that we are having a girl. The baby is healthy and we were able to see all four chambers of her heart as well as her diaphragm. These pictures actually look like a baby. You can see her profile and her hand.

Zuki was moving all over the place during the ultrasound. I have been able feel her movements on a regular basis. I love laying down and putting my hand on my tummy and feeling Zuki move all around, she is especially active after I eat something sweet.

Ultrasound Pictures

This was a picture of Zuki's 6 week ultrasound. You can barely see the image at all, but you can see the heartbeat (123 beats per minute).

This is Zuki's 8 week ultrasound. You can actually see the little bean and there is a better image of the heartbeat (174 beats per minute). It was amazing to hear that little thing with such a strong and fast heartbeat.

These are Zuki's 10 week ultrasound. It is actually starting to look like something you can recognize. During the ultrasound, Zuki's arms were moving like crazy and Zuki kept moving away from having a picture taken.

These were Zuki's 17 week ultrasound. The images include a picture of the arm, a foot, Zuki's legs (which are crossed if you look closely), and a frontal face image. Zuki was moving all over the place. The best news we got is that Zuki doesn't have any signs of any birth defects and everything seems to be developing nicely. Unfortunately, with the legs crossed for the entire exam, the doctors are only 80% sure that Zuki will be a girl. Roxanne is cautious about calling Zuki a girl without being sure, so we will see how the next visit goes.

This was the coolest picture from the 17 week ultrasound. You can actually see Zuki's spine and the doctor was kind enough to fill in the rest of the picture so it would be easier to see. At our next ultrasound, the doctors are hoping to get a picture of the four chambers of the heart as well as a good picture of the diaphragm. We will try to keep you all updated.

Test Results

On Wednesday, January 27 we had a doctor's appointment. At this appointment we discussed risk factors for diabetes, making an appointment for an ultrasound and did some blood work. I got a call today and one of the tests indicated that I have a higher risk for a Down's Syndrome child. We have scheduled a follow-up ultrasound for Wednesday, February 10th. We will keep you posted as to the outcome of the appointment.

Making the announcement

I posted my pregnancy on Facebook now so that everyone knows that I am expecting. I thought I would wait until I made it into the second trimester before telling everybody. Our next doctor's appointment is on January 27.