all I wanted was a soda...

Val had a checkup in Ankeny yesterday. I arrived at the last minute - why can't i get the timing from my office to the clinic figured out??? I thought I'd have 5-10 minutes to spare but was lead straight back to the exam room when i walked in... Anyway, all was as it should be, as far as the checkup was concerned. Val had a bottle of orange-soda looking liquid with all of her stuff - I got excited and planned to get some of that. But it wasn't to be, as the bottle contained something for the next appointment, specifically to check for gestational diabetes. One of the possible complications that I don't fully understand (like most things medical, which is ironic, since I work for a hospital company...) I suppose I will go into study mode if that is something we have to deal with. Not something to really worry about (as I can be good at, worrying, that is...) Take it as it comes, right?

After the appointment, we stopped by a baby consignment shop. Val had been there before and got some maternity clothes. The selection in that part of the shop hadn't changed, so we really just looked around for a bit. We left, I gassed up the Harley, and headed for home. It was nice that we were both home around 5, which is really unusual at our house.

So you're probably wondering when we'll let the cat out on the gender... Well, it's a...

BABY! HA, probably didn't even get you on that, but I enjoyed the joke! Soon, probably, b/c neither of us is very good at keeping secrets. But it has been kinda fun having that between us :)

-b

pictures!

Yesterday afternoon was the ultrasound appt., all went well. And as promised, here are most of the pictures! Yeah, like I said before, you don't get to see the gender picture... but we know! I was really amazed with the machine and how the technician knew exactly how to find, view, and measure all the extremities and how she pointed things out to us. We had gone through a site a couple weeks ago on reading the ultrasound to determine gender (we both did pretty good on the quiz) and I kind of wanted to put in my guess when the technician got to that part, but she told us what she was seeing. That's an odd situation, deciding whether you want to know or not. I want a healthy baby, first and foremost! But at least the naming can commence in earnest and we can purchase clothes in colors other than green and yellow (the non-gender specific tones in the old days...) Of course I saw a guy at Target the other day wearing a t-shirt that said "real men wear pink" and Val's favorite color is blue, so, you, my dear reader can actually determine about nothing from our color choices... :P

Without further ado(sp?), here's the pictures:

baby!

face, 3D, color

face, 3D, black and white

face, 3D, mouth open!

face

face 2

feet

forearm and fingers

forearm and fist

profile

spine

lots of pictures

The ultra-sonic was good! Lots and lots of pictures, some in 3-D! Hopefully scanned and posted soon. And, yes, we know the baby's sex, but we're not telling... yet...

ultra-sonic!

Today is another check-up, featuring an ultra-sound. We get to go to Clive instead of Ankeny. A little further for Val, but a good excuse to blow-off work earlier, right? 4pm and I will be there early (I missed the first appointment in Ankeny b/c I couldn't find the clinic and it was over in less than five minutes...) This appointment is kind of exciting, we believe we will have the opportunity to find out Baby's sex.

I'm somewhat divided on that discovery - to know or not to know. To know is the current preference, but I can see the good in either. Naming duties and upcoming purchases will be easier knowing. But part of me likes the mystery of not knowing. We probably won't tell, even if we know, at least not right away (maybe get some future confirmation...) Less than three hours away!

-b