Happy 1/2 Birthday Pierce

Pierce turned 6 months old today. I can’t believe it!! We introduced him to solids for the 1st time this evening and He loves it!! We have been practicing with a spoon for about a week. First we started with just letting P play with the spoon. The last few days we have been giving him expressed breast milk on a spoon. So last night when the rice cereal was all ready, as soon as P saw the spoon he got really excited and started leaning forward in anticipation. He was definitely ready for solids. My mom was over and she took still pictures while Mark captured the moment on video. Pierce wore one of the bibs I gave Mark to tell him we were pregnant. He took right to it. He didn't even make a funny face towards the texture or anything (probably from all of our practice with the spoon). Momma and Daddy have a thing or two to learn about the appropriate bite size. Hence the huge mess. P didn't mind though. He sucked the cereal off his fingers. He even ate the entire bowl. Solids introduction was a HUGE success. I still can't believe my lil' man is eating food!! I am sooooo glad we made our goal of exclusively nursing for 6 months--I am extremely proud of us both!! Our next nursing goal is to continue nursing until at least his 1st birthday!!

ticklish

My sweet P is soooooo super ticklish!! His giggles light up my life!!

22 week appt

Our latest prenatal appointment was today at 22 weeks and 2 days. The doctor said that she heard our sonogram went very well and was excited we had the willpower to avoid finding out the sex. I have gained a whopping 16 pounds (yikes) according to the doc's scale and 17.5 according to my own. I questioned her about this and she claimed that since I started out slightly underweight, she would be very happy to see me gain 35 pounds even though I might not be happy about it. The baby's heart rate was 160 beats per minute. She had to chase it around a bit with the Doppler because it was moving a lot. At one point it made the sound of a record scratching. She said it was caused from all of the movement. I asked her about having an anterior placenta. She said that there is nothing to worry about and that it is extremely common. She said it is just where it chose to implant (on the front side of the uterus) and is like me having brown hair versus blonde. She said the only difference is that the placenta will act like a cushion to some of the baby's movements. She asked if I have felt the baby move yet to which I replied, "Yes!" She said that Mark might not feel it for a while due to the cushion. I told her he has already had this privilege on several occasions. She explained it is because I am thin. The baby is extremely active which makes me wonder what it would feel like if I did not have the cushion of an anterior placenta. The doctor will begin measuring me at my next appointment, and I will be sent for a routine gestational diabetes test. I see her again February 9th.

Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound yesterday at 21 weeks and 2 days. It was the most amazing experience of my life. The baby is absolutely perfect!!!! All four chambers of the heart are present, the brain and spinal chord look great, the nose and lips look great, 2 legs, 2 feet, 2 arms, 2 hands--a clean bill of health!!!! Words cannot express how excited Mark and I are!! The baby is 15 ounces and the heart rate was 140 beats per minute. The baby slept through most of the ultrasound so the tech was easily able to get all of the measurements. At the end, she poked and prodded it a bit to wake it up so we could see it move. She did say that I have an anterior placenta, but that there is nothing wrong with that and everything is okay. We held firm to our plan to not find out the sex. Surprisingly it was not all that difficult. We told the technician as soon as we entered the room so we would not be tempted by her asking. She did look for herself to make sure everything is okay (we were too preoccupied by our wonderfully, fascinating baby to notice!) but does not document it in my chart. She claims that my doctor has a hard time keeping a secret!

Mark feels baby

Mark felt the baby move for the first time last night at 20 weeks and 2 days. His responding smile was truly that of a proud father. He was beaming. He is going to be the best dad. The baby has been very active the past few weeks especially after I eat and at night. It also seemed to like the music from the ballet and Broadway shows in NYC. Like parents, like baby!!

Appt rescheduled

Dr. Reaves' office just called and rescheduled my next visit for January 12. I find myself disappointed because I look forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat at each appointment. Thankfully, we still have the ultrasound scheduled for January 5. I asked if we would be allowed to record the sonogram. Unfortunately, my office does not permit recordings. However, I was assured we would receive several pictures!!

NYC Vacation

We just returned from vacationing in New York City. We had a fantastic time. We made our annual trip to the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park where Mark proposed almost three years ago. We fantasized about one day bringing the baby to visit "our bridge". We also made our first official baby purchase. We brought back a very soft and cuddly teddy bear from the toy store, FAO Schwartz. We are really looking forward to spending the holidays with our friends and families over the coming week. We are very anxious to see everyone!!