20 week appointment delayed, but other good news updates

Well, we were supposed to have our 20 week ultrasound today, May 24th.  Apparently McFarland clinic doesn't have anyone on call for ultrasound technicians, because she called in sick.  They had to reschedule us for next Thursday, which is pretty irritating.  Here's to hoping she's not sick again next Thursday. :-/

In other news, we felt the baby move and kick for the first time last night, May 23rd.  It was pretty awesome to feel.  It felt like fluttering muscle spasms from the inside, from the outside Doug says it felt like a twitch.  Every now and then if monkey isn't kicking, there is a swimming sort of feeling, and you can feel it moving around, maybe decorating and setting up some decor.  :)

The Monkey's Registry

After a long visit at Babies 'R' Us, we completed our monkey's registry...thankfully they allow you to also register for items online, or we'd have been in that store for literal days.  Registering is absolutely insane.  We did a lot of research on which items we feel the monkey would need, which items we would need, or would help alleviate some stress or give us some convenience and comfort while taking care of monkey.  After we researched the necessary items, we then did some pretty intense research on which brands were best, and the reasoning behind the reviews.  We used Target, Babies 'R' Us, Consumer Reports, and various "mom" blogs to see which items were good, and which were not so good.  We feel very confident that our monkey's registry is a good combination meeting safety, convenience, health, and development needs of both monkey and its parents...us!

We've pasted a direct link to the registry for your browsing and perusing desires.  As the time gets closer, we'll announce the baby shower.
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index.jsp?_flowExecutionKey=_cBB961E5E-1B55-C306-1CED-26EFE03BB2D0_k1356CE4D-DDAC-4366-C136-C533AE2A363E&overrideStore=TRUS

16 week appointment-April 26th

The 16 week appointment was last week.  It was just a routine appointment, nothing critical nor any milestones that occured.  However, the first time we went in to see her, the midwife was unable to detect a heartbeat using the doppler tool because the uterus was sitting too far back, and Monkey was not yet developed enough for the doppler to pick up anything.  This time however, Krisdeena was measuring nicely and Monkey developing along quite well.  The midwife used the doppler this time, and was able to pick up the heartbeat, thumping along at 152 bpm. 

At first she was unable to detect the heartbeat at this appointment as well because Monkey was moving around, apparently it doesn't like the sound the doppler reflects into the uterus, so it was kicking at the sound, making rather loud, "thump" sounds.  After a few minutes she picked up the heartbeat, and was able to keep it on the location for just long enough to get a reading, then Monkey ran away, kicking again.  The midwife continued to track Monkey, and was able to find the heartbeat one more time until it started kicking again, so the midwife stopped, saying, "ok ok, we'll let you sleep." 

Our next appointment is the infamous 20 week appointment, where we'll be able to see the sex of the baby.  However, at this point, I think we have decided to keep it a surprise, and not worry about the sex or gender of our little monkey.  We're just happy to have a happy, healthy, and nicely developing baby. 

First Ultrasound- March 29

The doctor ordered an early ultrasound for dating reasons.  We showed up, Krisdeena with a very full bladder, and the put the warm gel on the belly.  Right away you could see the baby on the big screen TV they had in the room, the baby was sleeping most the time.  After a minute or so of looking at the baby, she turned on the sound and you could hear the heartbeat throughout the entire room, she measured the heartbeat and it was racing along at 164 bpm.  It was pretty awesome to hear that sound.  Monkey was sleeping the entire time, but then toward the end it woke up and wiggled around a bit, and turned over to the other side to back to sleep.  The Ultrasound technician dated monkey only 1 day after the midwife did, so everything is measuring normal and doing fine. 

The next appointment was scheduled for April 26, the 16 week check up.  So far, so good.