Everything's Peachy

We made a very difficult decision and decided not to do the amniocentesis. No matter what the result, we were not going to terminate the pregnancy anyway, so there was no use in taking the risk and hurting Baby Koehl. Instead, we took a blood test called the Triple Screen Test. It tests for the levels of three substances in the blood that can help doctors identify a fetus at risk for certain birth defects such as neural tube defects like spina bifida or chromosomal abnormalities like Down syndrome. We got the results and everything is NORMAL! Woo hoo! YEEHAA! We are looking up and looking forward to our super-duper ultrasound in two weeks where we will find out if it's a boy or a girl. Any bets?!?!

Hearing the Heart, Part 2

Another doctor's appointment today! It was great to finally meet the OB/GYN that will deliver the baby. Dr. Sunoo works very closely with the NP that usually gives me yearly check-ups, so I feel very comfortable with everyone on Team Baby Koehl. Charlie happened to get a recording of the baby's heart this time on his Treo 650. Check out the "Baby's Heartbeat" link at the end of this paragraph. More good news, I'm finally gaining weight, 3 pounds since last week's check-up. Here is a bikini pic of me at 15 weeks. Hopefully at the end of the pregnancy we will make a fun morphing movie showing my belly grow and grow and GROW!

Baby's Heartbeat!

Hearing the Heart

Another amazing day. Today we visited the doctor and heard the baby's heartbeat with a doppler device. The nurse said that the heartbeat sounded very strong at 152 beats per minute. Again, our little bundle was trying to avoid the rolling ball every time it passed over him! I guess the little guy really doesn't like to be poked! So cute. She sided with us on our feeling that it's a boy. We'll see in about three weeks when we receive the results from the amniocentesis. We definitely want to know and plan for our little arrival!

Bigger than Life

Nothing can explain the feeling when you see a living being inside you. I cried for the first 5 minutes of the ultrasound, while Charlie excitedly watched the monitor. I think I almost squeezed his hand off. It was amazing! Baby Koehl did 6 complete rotations and flips within a matter of seconds! The big surprise of the day was that Baby was bigger than we all had thought! I was over 13 weeks pregnant, not 9. Seems I ran the marathon pregnant! We better get some sleep now, I have a feeling we're going to have a spunky little one.

You can see her/his complete profile with little button nose, the leg curled up, and the umbilical cord. The little arm is up against the head.