Ultrasound Update

This morning we had another ultrasound at a Doctor's office. Before we left I had a little pep talk with Michael hoping he would be a team player. When we got to Savannah they used a more in depth machine to take another look at Michael's kidneys. They took the measurements and the fluid has gone down a little (on Tuesday it was 7 and 9 mm) today it was at 5 and 6 mm. They said that anything under 4mm is normal so it is still a little high. I do feel a little better knowing that is has gone down a little; I just wish it was in the normal range.

The Doctor said that he is not super worried at the moment. He suspects that it is coming from some urine reflux backing into his kidneys from the bladder. It is a soft marker for downs but all the other measurements are normal. The doctor does not see a problem in us using the birth center with Michael so that makes me feel good. I would prefer to stay away from the high risk doctors if I can help it! We will have another ultrasound in 10 weeks when we are 34 weeks along. We will reassess then. He asked if I wanted to do an amnio; I chose not to. He agreed with my decision since there would be a high risk of my water breaking early and having Mickey at 24 weeks is not the best option. If the fluid in the kidneys continues to be a problem after birth, surgery may be needed but we are trying not to jump to conclusions at the moment. We will tackle any problems head on if the arise but for now we are trying not to worry. We will just have to inform the pediatrician once we start the interview process. So keep us in your thoughts :)

24 Weeks

Merry Christmas!

It has been a busy week with the Holidays upon us. Joe's parents came down from New Jersey to be with Joe and I through the Holidays. It has been so nice having them here. We have done a lot of cooking, shopping and house work! The garage had been organized, a book shelf was assembled, pictures, curtains, and mirrors hung. Joe and his dad put up a chair rail for the baby's room and primed the dinning room.  Now I can't wait to start the daunting paint job! They have been so helpful being here and Joe and I really appreciate it! The house is coming together one nail and paint brush at a time!

Today we had another ultrasound at the Birth Center. It is a follow up to the Ultrasound from 3 weeks ago. The Tech found urine in Michael's kidneys so she wanted to see if this was a continuing problem. We scheduled the ultrasound so that Joe's parents were able to come and watch. I really think they enjoyed watching Michael kick and move around. They also enjoyed their mini tour through the Birth Center.

The ultrasound, as much fun as it is to watch him on the screen, did show high levels of urine in his kidneys again.  Yes he was upside-down again so gravity could be working against him but they decided that this matter needed a closer look. I was told not to worry but how can I not? They are sending me to a high risk center for another ultrasound. Apparently, this machine is the best out there (one of the only ones in the state of GA). Lucky for us it's not too far of a drive for us. Originally Joe was not able to go with me so I had asked my mom to come down for it. Joes parents were supposed to head back up to NJ Wednesday. I am a little nervous about the ultrasound so I wanted someone to come with me. As it turns out we may have quite the entourage headed to Sav on Thursday. As it turns out, Joe was able to get a few hours off on Thursday. Marian and Russ turned around on 95 to head south once again back to us and my mom decided to still make the trip down here. As it turns out, after calling the center, their policy is that they only allow 1 person to come back into the room with me. I wish we could have everyone in there to see it of course.

Check back tomorrow as I will hopefully have an update on what we saw and learned in this next ultrasound.

I have attached some photos of Baby Jacob Hamilton below. I think he is excited to meet Michael... Bridget and I are hoping that they have a great friendship similar to ours!

Jacob loving on Michael!

Jacob is just so darn cute!

Bridget, Jacob and I :)

As for what is going on this week... here is the update:

Michael is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. Michael’s brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Oh and one more thing... at the ultrasound on Tuesday, Michael is weighing at 1lb 8oz... that puts him in the 57%. Nice a normal :)

23 Weeks... It's a Boy!

Well here we are at week 23. A lot has happened. The biggest news being that we learned that the baby that has been kicking, punching and living inside me for 23 weeks is a boy.  It is so fabulous to be able to call him by his name; Michael Adam James!  

Joe and I went up to Raleigh for a long weekend. It was Dad’s 50^th Birthday and we wanted to celebrate with everyone. We also welcomed the Wesley and Hamilton families. It was a long drive for them but I am so glad that they decided to make the trip! I love visiting with everyone. And not to mention we got to visit with Baby Jacob. Oh and how he has grown. I had a great time learning the ins and outs of motherhood through Bridget. She is a fabulous Mama and if I am half of what she is to Michael, he will be a luck boy.

We had a surprise birthday part for Dad on Sunday. I can’t believe he turned 50! We had a good crowd there and He was quite surprised I think!. For his birthday we had the cake dyed blue or pink inside. It was a secret and no one knew the sex except for the technician and the baker. We were all anxiously awaiting the first cut. I have never had that much excitement brewing around a cake cutting! We also had a cake delivered to Joe’s parents in New Jersey. They skyped in and cut their cake at the same time. As Dad cut, he of course tried to peak before revealing! As he lifted the piece of cake cheers rang out and we all learned that it was a BOY! Hugs and congratulations all around! It was very exciting!

Here is the Cake!

Surprise

Singing Happy Birthday!

Skyping with Joe's Parents

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Cutting the cake and its BLUE!

Happy Grandparents to Be :)

Here is the Blue

Dad's Scrapbook from the three of us

We are back home now and Joe and I have had fun feeling and talking to Michael. In fact, yesterday, Joe and I pulled into the Grocery store parking lot. There are 2 spots right at the front for new and expectant mothers. Joe pulled right in and parked the car in the spot (I was oblivious) and he reached over to my belly and rubs it saying “Thanks Mikey!”  It was quite funny!

Here it what is going on with Michael this week!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, Michael can feel me dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), we may be able to see him squirm underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that Michael's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as our dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

IT'S A BOY!

IT'S A BOY!! MICHAEL ADAM JAMES DITZEL!!!

22 Weeks

It is not a aurprise to start off this blog post in saying that it has been quite busy. What else is new in the Ditzel Household really?!?! I went up to Raleigh last weekend for my Dad’s Work Party. It was quite a lot of work but I had a good time meeting everyone he worked with. I drove back home on Sunday afternoon because Joe and I had our first Birth Center class on Monday. I am not a fan of making that 5 hour drive by myself. But I managed and made it home just in time to snuggle into bed with Joe. (oh I forgot to mention that Joe surprised me by starting the priming in the kitchen… what a great husband!)

Monday morning Joe and I drove to Savannah for our class. We got there early due to the fact that I knew ahead of time that I needed to chart myself. We had missed the 1^st class (due to the transfer to the Center).  But I was give some inside information of what I was supposed to do so I wanted to make sure I got there in time and not be too overwhelmed (since that seems to me by middle name lately). So the routine when we arrive is for me to sign in, collect urine sample, weigh myself, and take my blood pressure. So right off the bat I was quite beside myself. Of course Joe was little to no help so it was up to me to navigate my way through this strange ritual. I did manage but I couldn’t figure out why my blood pressure was so high (probably due to my stress level…) After we mark all this down in out chart we go in to see the midwife. We go over any questions or concerns and then she does a uterus measurement and then we listen to the baby… heart beat was in the 150s.  I mentioned to Nancy (the midwife) that my blood pressure was abnormally high so she took the measurement herself. We learned that its best for me to have the midwife take the blood pressure and not the wrist thing because it just does not agree with me apparently. My BP was normal so that makes me feel good.

So after all that we go into the class and wait for the rest of the class to arrive. This class was on Parenting and Newborn Care.  Joe and I really enjoyed it. We learned quite a few things in this 2 hour period! I have a list of what the baby/newborn will need and I am happy to announce that we don’t need as much as we thought. Most of the stuff it stuff we already have… here is the list:

• Clothing
• Undershirts or Onsies
• Gowns and/or Footed Coveralls
• Receiving Blankets (only a few really… she said we don’t need dozens. 100% cotton is the best)
• Diapers (but not too many newborn because they grow out of them so fast; if they even fit at birth weight)
• Hygiene and Health
• Baby Shampoo
• Soft Washcloths and Towels (the washcloths that we own are perfect and soft so we don’t need new ones; bonus)
• Rubbing Alcohol and Cotton Balls (for cord care)
• Thermometer
• Blunt-tip nail clippers, file or scissor.
• Furnishings
• A safe place to sleep (we got the crib already but its not up yet!!)
• Bedding
• A car seat

Everything else past this is just extra… at least for the first few weeks/months. So this was good to hear. We had a lot of fun listening and learning from all the class members. Next class is Breastfeeding so you know Joe will be quite attentive hehehe!

We have also learned that we should plan ahead to help ease Joe and I into parenthood. We will be happy to accept some extra hands to help us out once the baby is born. Over the next few months I am sure we will be working out a schedule for visitors. Since ‘overwhelmed’ seems to be the word of the trimester it is no big shock that we will plan out some visitors. Lucky for us we still have plenty of time to work this all out.

So here is what is going on with the baby this week:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, our baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If we could see inside my womb, we'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Don't forget, we find out the baby's gender on Sunday!!

Any last guesses?

Midnight Panic

So I am having a mini panic attack right now... I tried calling Joe and I always hound him to keep his phone off or silent when he is sleeping because people call him and wake us both up at crazy hours in the morning... and of course I am calling at 1:30 like a crazed pregnant woman and need to talk to my husband and he is not answering. I am not mad of course... if we didn't get non-emergency phone calls waking us up on days off this wouldn't even be a problem in the first place... so of course that's not helping the situation... I doubt writing in this stupid blog is even going to help. I can't talk about what’s bothering me in fear of upsetting people. The only person who can calm me down at this point is going to be Joe or even Ash and they are both sleeping... oh the joys of hormones. I am sure this is something silly to worry about since I have already talked to Ash about it but I just can't seem to sleep. My breath is heavy and my eyes are filled with tears of anxiety. I have just been a ball of vent this whole day. Who am I kidding; I have been a venting machine for weeks now. I just can’t understand it. All I want to do is go to bed; it is going to be a long day tomorrow with Dad’s party and all and I just can’t shut my mind off long enough to fall asleep. I know that eventually I will just get so tired that I will pass out but that moment can not come soon enough.

21 Weeks

The past week has been pretty uneventful considering the craziness the past few weeks. Joe and I have been battling car issues, the cold, and catch-up chores all week so I won’t bore you with the details.

Mom came into town Monday (yesterday) night for the ultrasound we had today. It is such a fun experience and I wanted her to enjoy it as well! She also got to see the Birth Center and got a tour, so I hope it will help her ease into this idea.

The Technician was very nice and once we got into the room we got right to business. I told her right off the bat that we didn’t want to know the sex right away… I asked her to please put the results into the envelope to reveal at a later date. She measured the brain, heart, spine, femur, the pinky finger and a bunch of other things but I don’t remember them.

She did a bunch of measurements and it was a lot of fun looking at the baby…  The baby is weighing in a 15oz! We got to see the face a little as well and it had some more definition has less of a resemblance to  an alien.

Can you see the little face ?!?! Too cute right!?!?

We got to see the baby suck its thumb and that was really neat! It’s just so interesting to get a little sneak peek at what’s going on inside my belly!

All the measurements were normal except the kidneys. One of the kidneys has a more than normal amount of urine in it. She first said not to worry; everything should be fine. The excess urine has been know to indicate down syndrome in babies before. But the baby was also positioned upside down and the gravity could be keeping the urine in there and once the baby moves around a little it could expel to a normal amount. All the other indicators of downs (some of the measurements she took in the ultrasound) are normal therefore the risk is still low. We have another ultrasound scheduled for Dec 28^th to check the kidneys again so lets just hope that everything proves normal.

The Tech was able to determine the gender but the answer is sealed and not even Joe and I know :) We still plan to cut the cake on my Dad’s Birthday. It is going to be a lot of fun all learning the gender together!

So the week 21 update with the baby is:

Our baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long – the length of a carrot. We may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. We may also discover a pattern to her activity as we get to know her better. In other developments, our baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if we're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

Pictures at 20 Weeks

So as my sister Ashley said...

"Now your belly matches your butt!!"

I suppose that is true... lets just hope its just my stomach that grows from here on out!

*** Joe is also enjoying the fact that my shelf is starting to appear hehe ***