25 Weeks: Head of lettuce

Shorty is now the size of a head of lettuce! Although she feels much smaller inside me. Yes, I said SHE! Shorty is a girl!!!! Yayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! She is on track with size and weight. She's about 13.5 inches long and weighs about 1.5 pounds. She's starting to get her facial features and her see-through skin is becoming more opaque. At this stage, she is growing hair. I'm hoping a lot of it! 

We enjoyed a nice Baby Gender Reveal Dinner 2 weeks ago. I had my Level 2 ultrasound that Wednesday. The appointment was about an hour and a half long. The tech was measuring things and taking lots of pics. She left for about 10 minutes then the Dr. came in to explain the pics. The doc said that he can not 100% say that the baby has DS but he said there are about 5 indicators and the baby only has 1. That 1 thing, is the bright spot on the heart. However, he just thinks the bright spot is 2 tissues overlapping each other and when the pic is taken, it creates a bright spot that shows up on the pics. He does not believe the baby has DS. He offered me another test that can be done where they poke a needle through my belly and take fluids from the baby so that the chromosomes can be tested but this runs a risk that the baby can be punctured and I could have a miscarriage. I declined the test. Doug and I agreed that Shorty will be here in 4 months no matter what! So, the tech said she checked out the gender of Shorty. I had her write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. The next day the envelope was taken to the party store along with a box I made to be filled with balloons. The employee at the party store was told to fill the box with pink balloons if it was a girl or blue balloons if it was a boy. The box was then taped up and brought to dinner that night. Doug and I began opening the box after dinner...the suspense was killer! The box was opened and pink balloons came out!!! I was so happy! It was so exciting!! Doug wanted a boy, but he seemed to be happy it was a girl too. Overall, it was a great night! I already started buying girly things and the purple paint for the nursery is on the walls! 

 

As for me, I am definitely feeling pregnant! My baby bump is growing and I started wearing maternity clothes (not as comfy as I thought they'd be). I think Shorty might be in karate because she is punching/kicking me ALL the time! When I try and sleep, she's awake and practicing her moves. Doug and I called her Kung Fo Baby! I'd say she sleeps for about 14 hours a day. I started a new job about a month ago and I am loving the consistent schedule but when I get home, I am just drained. All I want to do when I get home is sleep. About 7pm I can barely keep my eyes open. It seems like all I've been doing lately is going to work, having dinner and going to bed. These details seem to make it so much more real. I still can't believe it's already been 6 months. Before we know it, she will be here...crazy! Overall, this journey has been rough at times but also the greatest experience I've ever had. This journey will continue to be like a winding road but I know God has a plan...for all of us.