19 Weeks - It's a BOY!

The best birthday present ever.

Today, we found out the gender of the baby. It's a BOY! Yippee!! After we called everyone to tell them, they all said that they knew it was a boy, but hey, the odds were 50/50 it would be a boy. Wow! A boy! There hasn't been a boy grandchild in the Lai family since Ian who is now 13 years old!

I'm going to have to stop fawning over little girls' clothes and start taking a closer look at baby boy clothes. I have to admit, I thought it might be a girl (no reason at all), so I kept gushing over girl clothes and didn't pay that much attention to boys' wear, but now that I think about it, those little boy cothes are pretty darn cute too! Yay, now I can finally shop and buy something for him!!

The ultrasound appointment was so fun! The tech we had this time was friendly and willing to talk. I told her right away that we wanted to know the gender. It was amazing to see all the little parts of his body as she took the measurements. Then, the reveal....it was so clear! There was the angle looking at his little bum, and you could clearly see that there was something there between his legs! She said "You're having a boy!" and I got all weepy and emotional. Great times. S snuck our camera in and captured most of it on video. I'll edit and try to upload it soon.

Since Dr. V is still on vacation, we had our appointment with Dr. P and it was really quick. The results of the Integrated Prenatal Screening were great. Low risk of neural tube defects and low risk of Down's Syndrome at 1/15000 which is super low. Yay for prenatal vitamins! My blood pressure is perfect and she listened to the baby's heartbeat on the doppler machine. It was so amazing to hear! S was very impressed with the machine and how clearly we could hear the strong little heartbeat. If we get one of those now...we can use it again for the next kiddo! Or lend it to friends who will be expecting!

Anyways, here are the pics!

He's doing what S has dubbed the "Captain Morgan" pose. If you look at that jumble of limbs from left to right, you'll see a knee/leg, a little arm/hand, a raised leg/foot, then an arm/hand raised. Kinda like a running pose.

This one's kinda spooky. The angle is looking at baby face-on with his face on the right. He looks like an adorable little Skeletor.


Hands and feet stretched way up. Whee!!!


Here's a cool upside-down angle that shows his tiny little spine. teehee..! \

Next prenatal appointment is February 4th! No u/s, but if my current rate of growth is any indication, I can just imagine how big I'll be then...

That's all for now,

T.

New year, New Baby

Happy New Year!

What an exciting 6 weeks it's been. I haven't updated much, but it's been exciting. We had our holiday trip to Jamaica for 2 weeks. What a fantastic trip it was. Getting there was a bit rough since we left in the middle of a weekend of snow. We were lucky that our flight wasn't delayed by too much. We narrowly escaped missing our flight due to all the lineups, cancellations, and delays. To make it even worse, I was random-searched while going through the metal detectors for carry-on luggage. The agent even commented that I was pregnant while she was inspecting me and doing the handsearch over my clothes. I was miffed by the search, but kinda happy and emotional at the same time because it was the first time that a stranger noticed I was pregnant.

During a 9 hour stopover in Miami, I picked up some stuff that I had ordered and shipped to cousin Darryl's house. Maternity clothes and our first baby-thing! A GORGEOUS set of diaper bags and matching snack pack things from Bumble Collection. Yay for Babysteals.com!

Thank goodness for maternity clothes. I wore all the new items that I bought while in Jam. They are SO comfy.  I don't care if my nighty looks like a pink paisley sack.  It's soft and stretchy.

During our layover, Darryl took us for lunch at a yummy cuban restaurant called Havana Harry's in Coral Gables. I had this AMAZING pulled pork dish called Lechoncita: Shredded pork with onions, garlic and mojo sauce, served with moros rice and sweet plantains. It was so yummy, and I was so satisfied, that the baby kicked me! I felt a flutter that I've never felt before. It wasn't gas, it wasn't bloodpressure, it wasn't digestion. It was a flutter like when you drum two fingers quickly on a surface. So, that was a milestone moment. Our first kick! Baby likes pork!

S helped at the store for the first week of the trip while I watched the nieces and let them wait on me while I ate and slept my way to an additional 5+ pounds in the course of, oh...let's say 3 days. Then there's the almost 0.5 pound/a day weight gain for all the other days!

Christmas was amazing with lots of friends and family at the family home in Jamaica. Big dinner and lots to eat. Lots of belly rubbing. I felt like a happy little buddha! Everyday, the girls asked me questions about the baby in my belly and made predictions about the kind of mommy I'll be and the kind of daddy S will be. It was incredibly adorable to learn how excited they were about their soon-to-be baby cousin. I've been learning to accept the amount of weight I'm gaining and that I'm not just getting fat, I'm pregnant. It was hard to avoid with the little girls remarking with astonishment everyday "Aunty T, you're belly is getting bigger and bigger every day!". So now, I'm obviously pregnant from about just below the breastbone downwards, and I think it's cute, at moment. A round bump.

The second half of our trip was spent hanging with cousins in town, and then a 3 day trip to Ocho Rios with S's brother, 2 cousins, and a combined total of 5 kiddies. So fun! So relaxing! The resort wasn't the greatest and our room was dodgy, but it was still fun for the kids and it was very family-oriented. We had a good time hanging at the beach and the pool with 5 little nieces. Thumbs up for maternity swimsuits, nachos with cheese, and a perfectly cool and beautiful beach. Sure, we will not be seeing a couples resort anytime soon for the next few years, but the beaches will still be available to us for enjoyment.

Now we're back in T-dot and things are chilly, but I'm still nice and warm inside. I guess that's what they mean with the "bun in the oven" reference. I'm hot all the time!