Sixteenth Week

At sixteen weeks, our baby's third ultrasound premier was quite impressive. We saw and a heard a strong heart beat, saw little arms and legs in motion, and even saw our little one suck on its thumb, which we both thought to be adorable. Although I'm sure there will be a day that is less "adorable" and "impressive". For now, anything baby Larson does is most certainly cute!

We are wondering if perhaps our baby is already aware that their daddy holds a Seminary degree, as the baby was quite cautious not to move in any way that might be immodest, keeping anything that might indicate gender carefully tucked behind the placenta:) We will get around the modesties soon enough with a more detailed ultrasound on January fifteenth. We'll be happy to share the gender when we find out.

In the top picture below, you can see the entire side profile from the top of the head down to the feet (my dad remarked that it looks a bit like our baby is wearing slippers:). The baby is in a sitting position. The baby's left hand is in a fist in front of its face and the thumb is the little dot between the face and the fist. The open space in the chest area is the heart, which the doctor confirmed has all four chambers. In the bottom picture, our baby's legs are drawn up in fetal position, but you can get a good look at the toes. You can see Baby Larson sucking its thumb.

Baby Larson Announcement

So our big announcement has already been heard by many, but I officially want to kick off the baby Larson updates on my blog.

Joel and I found out our good news on October first. The first photo to the left was our first ultrasound when our baby was 8 weeks. We could see the baby's heart flickering and everything seemed to become real. We found out our baby's due date of June 8th at the appointment too. It was nice to finally have a due date, since we weren't sure how far we were.

This second ultrasound pic is hard to make out because the picture didn't turn out so well, but in person we had no problem distinguishing little arms and legs kicking and moving. Our baby was so wiggly that it was hard for the doctor to follow the heart beat, but we did get to see AND hear it this time. We could have watched the screen all day long, as I'm sure most parents feel that way:)

When we found out I was pregnant, I had been trying to refrain from taking an excessive number of home tests as not to blow our entire budget on them, and to keep Joel from thinking I was obsessed with wondering all the time (even though I was sort of obsessed:). I had managed to refrain for about a month, then I got thinking as I made the bed one morning how cool it would be to share our news in person with Joel's family if I were pregnant. We were taking a trip to Leah and Steve's in Oklahoma the next day to see our Larson family. I didn't expect anything to show up on the test and was a bit confused with the faint line. Surely such a faint line didn't mean "positive"?

Poor Joel, he was in the middle of teaching third grade and I called him out of the blue trying to figure out what a faint line means. I didn't really mean to tell him in such a confusing manner, but I didn't know who else to call. Who else can put up with hearing me talk through my confusion? So, Joel had to go on teaching third grade, getting back to the subjects of reading and multiplication while half wondering if he was going to be a dad. Soon we had a blood test and we knew we were parents!

From weeks six to fifteen, I was quite sick! Staying hydrated became the goal, but now at nearly 16 weeks, I'm turning the corner and feeling much better. I have to try and remember how to cook again, there have been some really lame meals in the Larson house as of late. Joel makes a great chicken salad and some pretty good spaghetti, but I think he completely burned out on chicken and pasta.

It's all been an adventure as any new experience is, and we have had good check ups so far. The baby is developing fast! All the organs have been there for a bit now and our baby's bones are starting to get hard. Our baby might even be sucking on it's little thumb.

Our next ultrasound is Monday and we are excited to capture the moment better with a new video camera, especially since there is a chance we will find out the gender. If not on Monday we will find out at our more detailed ultrasound in the middle of January.

Joel has been so supportive and loving. He went with me for my first adventures in maternity clothes shopping. We actually had fun and laughed a-lot at how weird of a world it all is. You can actually strap pillows around you when trying on clothes to add three months. Hilarious!
He has also done all the housework that might include odors, such as dishes and taking out the trash, without a single complaint. We are really blessed to be sharing in all this together.

We'll keep the updates coming.