From sonograms to showers...

Since all was progressing so well, it is the practice at our doctor's office, not to perform any further sonograms. :( That was a difficult adjustment to make. After having a sono, basically every other day for a couple of years trying to get pregnant, and then to finally have success, that is when you really want to have the sonos of the baby and enjoy the experience. But the good news is that all seemed to be well, so we took comfort in that.

Next we moved on to getting the room ready for Fender and attended two baby showers in his honor. The first was with family and friends in town. The second was a shower that Drew's office friends threw for us at his work. Fender has LOTS of STUFF. You wouldn't think something so little would need so much, but babies come with lots of extras. This boy is so loved and already spoiled. :) Below is a picture of his crib full of baby clothes, stuffed animals, and hand made quilts, etc. Next is a picture of Fen's first $100...courtesy of his Great Great GREEK Aunt Pauline, who also happened to buy him his first lottery ticket about 7 weeks in utero. And a picture of his cradle, courtesy of his Grandmama, which his Daddy put together late one night with a broken hand and all. :) We're having so much fun already!

Fender 27 weeks in utero...3D sonogram...

27 week 3-D sonogram photos. He was difficult to photograph because he kept his feet and hands up by his face the whole time. The sono technician did a good job to get the ones we got. He was completely folded in half the whole time, with his legs stretched straight up over his head. He even scratched his nose with his foot at one point. It was so neat to watch. He yawned a couple of times and opened his eyes a couple of times too, but mostly he slept and seemed pretty content to do so, despite all attempts by the sono tech to get him to budge.

Here are another couple of our favorites from the 3-D sonogram.


In this last set, you can really see his hands over his face in the first. He yawns in the second. His feet are over his face in the third. He's back to hands (and feet) over his face in the fourth. And the last is a regular 2D sono of him yawning (his face is on the left looking right at us and his mouth is all the way open.

Fender 19 weeks in utero...

19 weeks: In this body profile, you can see the head at the right facing up, and follow the spine down his back to his bum, and see his legs folded onto his belly. You can even see his tiny organs. Incredible! - In the second photo he flipped over and into my belly. Much like the 11 week leg picture...we are looking below him with his bum on the left and his legs stretched out to the right. - At this appointment, we also found out...He's a boy! I wasn't quite prepared for that. For some reason I really thought we were having a girl. I wanted either one, in fact, I had always hoped for a boy first so that if I ever had a girl, she'd have an older brother...but I still had in my mind that we were having a girl and when I got the news we were having a boy, I was in complete shock. I remember thinking how cool it would be to wait and "be surprised" at delivery, but boy was I glad we found out now. It took me several weeks to really adjust to the fact that we were going to have a boy. And now...almost 20 weeks later, I can barely imagine what it would have been like to have a girl. I am super excited about having a boy and just can't wait to meet him.

Fender 15 weeks in utero...

15 weeks body profile: Head is at right looking up. - Middle picture is of bottom half of Fender, but he has flipped over from the first picture so that he is facing down. His foot is at the far left. You can see the bones of his foot, leg, knee, femur, etc. His bum is up at the top in the center and his spine is the heavier white curve at the top right of the picture. His head is off the screen. Wow...he is growing. What a cute nose in that first picture! :)

Fender 11 weeks in utero...

11 week face and chest profile - 2nd picture...he flipped over so his bum is on the right side. It is seen as if he is sitting on his bum with his legs and feet stretched out to the left.

Fender 9 weeks in utero...

9 week sonogram - Mar 8th - Heartrate 179: At this point, we were told to discontinue the nightly progesterone injections. And with all progressing well, we graduated from our RE (Reproductive Endocrinologst) to our ObGyn. Here's a picture of Drew having WAY too much fun with the nightly progesterone injections. Thankfully I take shots very well. : /

Fender from the beginning...

3 Days After Conception, one of these three groups of cells became Fender. This was our second IVF attempt. What a thrilling journey it has been. 14 eggs were retrieved and fertilized on January 18th. 3 days later these three embryos had survived to be transferred back to my uterus for implantation. One strong booger took. We found out we were pregnant on February 1st with an Hcg level of 131. Two days later...levels continued to double beautifully at 355.

My Belly Pictures

36 week belly - 38 week belly


32 week belly - 35 week belly


24 week belly - 28 week belly


17 week belly - 22 week belly

38 weeks

Learning to Blog and post pics, etc. This might take a while. But should be fun. :)