18 Week Update

Hello blog friends! I am a blogger fail, and apologize to the people who have complained ::cough::Mom and TJ::cough:: about my lack of posting. It's fair to say that all is great in the McG household though. You know, no news is good news??? Yep, that's us.

So this week I believe I've started to feel Herme moving around. From the way s/he kicked around like a frog during the ultrasound Aunt Donna did I have a feeling that I'm going to be kept awake at night with movement. I'm feeling things every once in a while just below my belly button, barely to the right of the center of my tummy. It's pretty cool, and I can't wait until TJ can feel it from the outside too.

Since I last posted I had my regular 16 week check up and everything is good with baby. I did the quad screen (a blood test which tests for the heightened possibility of Down syndrome, Spina Bifida, etc.), and the results came back negative. So by blood tests, which obviously aren't 100%, I'm at a very low risk. Woo-hoo!! Annnnd, I scheduled the anatomy scan! At 7:00 next Friday the 7th (a week from today, EEEKKK!!) we will know if Herme is a He or a She!!!

You may have noticed a new poll to the right (-----> up top!), you have until mid-day next Friday to cast your votes and decide if you think Herme is a boy or a girl! A little background to help with your decision; I am positive it is a girl and TJ is positive it is a boy with mixed results from people we know. The heartbeat has been steadily around 160 beats a minute. I didn't have any morning sickness. All of the Chinese gender charts say it's a girl. The only thing I've really been craving consistently is cucumbers (yum!!). Good luck! :)

On the naming of the human front we have pretty much settled the score. If you remember we decided on our boy name pretty early on, but were struggling with what to name Herme if it turns out Herme is a girl. So, drum roll please, if we are having a girl her name will be (and we are 98% sure on this): Madeline Rey! We'll pronounce it Mad-a-lynn, and I'm still toying with the idea of an alternate spelling of the name so she isn't called Mad-a-line (but it's not a big deal). And again, if Herme is a boy his name will be Porter James. The middle names are my middle name (Rey) and TJ's middle name (James). Madeline isn't a name with family meaning, but Porter is TJ's dad's last name.

So, there you have it! An update! I hope you (momandtj) are happy now. ;) Don't forget to vote if you believe we're having a boy or a girl! And now, I leave you with some recent photos. The first two I took this morning before heading out to work, and the last was a few weeks ago at the Tulip Festival (with Aunt Alicia). As you might see by the last photo Herme is starting to get in the way when I bend over.

Introducing. . .Herme!

It is amazing how a baby can grow so quickly. Just a few short weeks ago Herme was just a blob on the screen. It's hard to believe that was only 6 weeks ago! Today though, Herme is looking like a real little person (hold your horses, picture to follow my ramblings).

Today was my day off of work, so I decided to drive over to Bremerton and see my Grandma and one of my aunts for a little while. My Aunt Donna is an ultrasound technician, she did the ultrasounds on my mom when my mom was pregnant with me (and Alicia). A while ago she told me that any time I wanted to come over during the week she would do an ultrasound for me and we'd video tape it. Who says no to an offer like that? Not this girl!

So, like I was saying, today I spent the morning and afternoon in Bremerton. My mom, Grandma and I all went to Aunt Donna's work, she whipped out her wand and did her magic. I was amazed at two things, one: Herme looks like a baby and not a blob anymore! Two: S/he is a mover and a shaker! S/he looked like a little frog kicking his/her legs around and rolling around. It was amazing. No, amazing doesn't even begin to describe how it felt.

While my mom and I were sitting in the car waiting to get on the ferry home she and I were talking about how I feel so relieved. Not that I'm complaining, but I've had almost no symptoms. I felt like I was going to go into the hospital in October and they'd tell me I wasn't really pregnant. I also worried that maybe there was something wrong. Today all of those fears have been lifted. Herme is measuring ahead at about 14 weeks 2 days, which would put my due date September 29th. I'm still sticking with October 3rd for consistency, lol, and because I'm stubborn. Herme's heartbeat was still a steady 162bpm. We saw the heart and the bladder (full, Aunt Donna said that means the kidneys are working, which is very good).

So now, we get to the good stuff. Aunt Donna printed out four different pictures for us. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! I can't wait to go over and see her again for more! :)