Elora... any time now?

39 weeks. Elora, I know you're comfortable in there, but don't you think it's about time you came out to play? Mom and I can't wait to meet you.

It's easy enough for me to be calm and patient. To talk about enjoying our last few free days. That lasts right up until that first set of false labor contractions (conveniently starting the evening of July 3rd). Once the realization hits that things could start at any time, any illusion of patience and calm goes out the window, and nothing seems more important than the event starting.

Oh, and I think Amber may be a bit uncomfortable too. You know, from the anticipation... oh and probably from the 6lb+ baby and all those contractions too.

Energized Amber will be back later. 

Now that's a baby bump!

Thirty-Six Week Ultrasound

Progressing along nicely, we got another ultrasound. This time, the focus was on Amber's fluid. Well the fluid was fine, and we got a few great ultrasound shots in the process!

Profile

Elora has all five toes

Another 3D shot. As usual, her arm is blocking the shot.

Baby Measuring

Our 28 week ultrasound was quite thorough - many lengths and circumferences were measured, then compared against the average for 28-week babies. These are then fed into a formula which ultimately determined the Fetal Weight to be 2lb15oz.

Don't ask what all these acronyms mean... but Elora's dots are in the middle, so we win.

Twenty-Eight Week Ultrasound

Normally there would not be another ultrasound for another few months, but our OB was concerned that Amber did not look big enough.

Well, turns out Amber just carries Elora well! Elora is in the 67th percentile, at a healthy 2lb15oz, above average but within the 'normal' range. At this point, they can also measure all the major limbs and digits, and thus confirmed that everything is in the right proportions to each other.

Baby head profile.

This particular facility is also capable of taking 3D images. Here is 28 week baby face!

Introducing Elora!

With the completion of our 20-week ultrasound, we now know the sex of our baby! Thus we no longer have to deal with the awkwardness of referring to "it" or "the spawning" or simply "baby", but can proudly say "her".

Or, more specifically, Elora Rose Jarrett.

Even before this pregnancy, debating baby names was a common dinnertime hobby between Amber and myself. Common ground was a rarity (more on this later), but Elora (yes, like from the movie Willow) was one of the few that we both immediately loved, and has been on our shortlist for awhile now. Rose is an homage to Amber's (maternal) grandmother, who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time last Thanksgiving when we first told our families about the pregnancy.

Thankfully, Amber and I were in perfect agreement - we wanted to know the sex as soon as possible. Not only does it solve the naming/reference problem, but also allows us to shop for gender-specific gear (read: Amber can buy pink stuff now).


Administrative note: Now knowing Elora's name, I've moved the blog to http://elora.knottypoodle.com/, and with Amber's help significantly upped the pink in the theme.

Healthy Baby!

An examination of the images from the 12 week ultrasound, combined with blood tests, have shown no signs of birth defects! Hooray!

While this is by far the most probable outcome in our situation (particularly with how young Amber is), it is still comforting to know that everything is going well so far.

Twelve Week Ultrasound

Baby is still going strong! Not only does baby look like a baby, but baby also moves around! Baby does not approve of being probed, responding with an Amber trademark armwave "Wah!", then turning away from the probe.

Ultrasound: Baby Bean

Baby's first ultrasound, 5 weeks. Mike: whew, there's only one in there.

Ultrasound at 8 weeks. We saw a tiny flicker of a heartbeat, at a healthy 160 BPM. Something is alive in there!