Detailed Ultrasound at 19 Weeks - May 8th

I had my detailed fetal survey at 19 weeks. One of my friends at work did my ultrasound for me which was super nice. My parents came over from Poulsbo to watch the ultrasound with Steve and I, then we all went out for dinner afterwards. I think my parents really enjoyed seeing little Nathan. They also got to see what I do every day at work. Nathan wasn't the most cooperative little one, but Jen worked hard and was able to get a great look at everything. I think he might turn out to be a stubborn little guy...we'll see!

Nathan's profile with his chin tucked toward his chest

Nathan's little footprint

I started feeling Nathan kick sometime around 18 weeks. At first I wasn't sure if I was feeling it or not...it just felt like tiny little flutters in my belly. I soon figured out that I was feeling him though, and I was very excited. I think it is one of the neatest things about being pregnant so far. It's so amazing to be able to feel your baby kick inside of you. It's a reassuring feeling and never ceases to amaze me. It is a continuous reminder that I have a little person growing inside of me, and I am so thankful that I am experiencing this miracle of life.

Girl's Weekend in Arizona

At the end of April, my friend, Danielle, and I went down to Arizona to visit our friends, Michelle and Paul. We hadn't seen Michelle in a long time, so it was so great to catch up with her. We had an awesome weekend. We did a little hike right outside of Mesa and just spent a lot of time hanging out, going out to dinner, shopping, and having some great girl time. We also got to meet Michelle and Paul's little pug, Momo. She is a very entertaining little dog, and I think she really liked Danielle and I.

On our hike in the desert

Out to dinner at a cute little bar

Michelle and Momo

Baby Bump

I thought I would try to update the blog a bit. Time is flying by and little Nathan will be here before we know it. Here is a picture of the first signs of my baby bump. It was taken at 17 weeks down at Alki with Seattle in the background. I can't believe how much bigger I am now! I'll try to post an updated picture soon!

It's a BOY!!!

On our ultrasound at 11 weeks, it was a little too early to accurately guess on the sex of baby. The ultrasound lab was split on what they thought I was having. I was pretty convinced that I was going to have a boy (mother's intuition?), but I knew I would have to wait a few more weeks to know for sure. We peeked again between 12 and 13 weeks at which point it definitely looked boyish! I was so convinced that I started telling people it was a boy and a few weeks later, we saw that there was no doubt about it....we're having a little boy!!!

In some ways the fact that it is a boy is a major blessing, because Steve and I couldn't come anywhere close agreeing on a girl's name. If we ever have a little girl in the future, it is going to be a challenge to agree on that. For now, we get to be thankful that we agree on the boy's name, so we will be naming our first born son Nathan Powell. Having a name picked out for him makes everything seem a little more real. There are days when I still just can't believe we are going to be parents. I can't wait to see the little face that goes with the name.

1st Official Ultrasound

We had our first official ultrasound around 11 weeks. My best friend, Rachel, was home for spring break and so I invited her to come with Steve and I to the ultrasound. It was the first real ultrasound she had seen, and I was really excited to have her there with us. I think she really enjoyed it. We had an awesome sonographer scan me, and our little baby was quite the little show off. He gave us some great views and was an active little one for us too.

Only about 47 mm from the top of the head down to the little bottom, but you can already see the tiniest little hand.

I know I see this all day every day, but it is so amazing to see that little heart going inside of me! A heart beat that is visible to us on ultrasound at about 6 weeks gestation, and God-willing, will keep on beating for years and years to come. A sign to us that God, our creator, is an awesome God!

This is one of the first ultrasound pictures taken of little Baby Powell. It was taken around 8 weeks. It's so great to be able to peek at the little one when I get a chance. It's so amazing to see how fast they grow and how quickly they change. Even after doing ultrasound for over five years, I am still blown away by what a little miracle it is to have a life growing inside of me.

Telling the Grandparents - Part 2

Steve's parents were flying up from Oklahoma to visit, part for business and part for fun. Seeing that we don't get to see Steve's parents very often, it was perfect timing for them to come up. We wanted to be able to tell them the good news in person and the timing couldn't be better. We were not too far along in the pregnancy, but knew we had to get the news out to them while they were here.

I had an idea in my head of how we would tell them. A friend had used wine charms that said "Grandma" and "Grandpa" on them to tell their parents their good news, and I thought this would be a great idea. We thought it would be a perfect thing to toast, and we know how Steve's parents can enjoy a good bottle of wine or champagne. My mom and I searched long and hard for wine charms with the appropriate descriptions on them and finally made some make-shift wine charms. They turned out really well, so I was excited.

Steve and I went to the airport to pick them up and tried hard not to spoil the news until we got home. Steve went into the kitchen and popped open a bottle of champagne and handed the glasses to his parents. Janet's birthday had recently passed, so Steve started in with his speech on how we wanted to give her a special birthday present this year, but wanted to wait until they were here in person to give her this gift. He continued on with his speech without them really noticing what their wine charms said on them. Finally, we told them they had to read their wine charms and when they did they were so excited. I think that the news of a grandchild for a birthday gift was just perfect. Dan claimed that he suspected that we might have some news for them because of some conversation he had had with Steve on the phone the week before, but I don't know how he guessed...intuition, I suppose. Hugs and congratulations went around the room, and then we went on to have an amazing weekend with the new grandparents-to-be up at Whistler. It was a great weekend to remember!