AND IT' S A...

SURPRISE!!!

Yep, that's right, we will be waiting until this baby is born to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. Troy and I made the decision last night. We had both come to the conclusion that we were willing to do what the other wanted but in the end decided not to find out today. I will have one more ultrasound at 30 weeks so if we change our minds we have one more chance to find out but I don't think we will.

I will say that during the ultrasound I asked Troy more than a couple of times whether or not he was sure about our decision. I can see how it would have been so easy to change our minds while we were watching the baby move and kick but Troy said he was good so we did not find out. I also have to say that I'm surprised this was the final decision and very excited about it.

Okay, so on to my appointment--it went well. The baby's heartbeat is 150 bpm and it measured right at 18 weeks and 2 days (just as expected). The other major relief from the ultrasound today was that my placenta is not low at all. I was really concerned about this and was so thankful when the ultrasound tech said it looked great. All of the baby's organs looked good and measured as they should. Luke was not as interested in watching the screen as Troy and I were but he did talk about the neat baby we saw while we were eating lunch.

Other information from the appointment:

I still have not gained any weight. This completely amazes me but the doctor was not concerned so I'll go with it. She did tell me that I can eat more if I wanted to which is great but I'm not sure I could. I feel like I eat a bunch already.

We also scheduled the date of the c-section today because the baby measures the most accurately during the beginning of the second trimester. So unless something changes I will be having this baby Monday morning December 12. 12/12/11! A very easy date to remember I think. The doctor said I can expect to be in the hospital between two to four days after the surgery so I should be home no later than Friday of that week.

Other tidbits about pregnancy at 18 weeks:

I am really starting to feel a bunch of movement now. It is not consistent but the past few days I have definitely noticed an increase. I love feeling the baby move. I remember with Luke that feeling the baby really helped me connect and let it sink in completely that I was pregnant.

I have had tons of round ligament pain the past week or so. It's concentrated pretty consistently on my right side and it is definitely getting my attention.

I have also been very light-headed the past 5-6 days. The doctor told me this morning that it's completely normal because your blood pressure is at it's lowest point during the second trimester--mine was 110 over 70 this morning. I really have to be careful about standing up to fast or just standing too long in general. Getting up and ready in the morning is the hardest. Thankfully Luke and I don't have a lot of places we have to be too early in the morning.

Up until now I haven't really had many cravings. I find this odd too because with Luke I had a bunch of them. Thankfully I can eat almost anything I want and I am hungry almost all the time. My current favorites include: Rice Chex with a peach for breakfast, sugar free Kool-Aid and jello. I also try to have a bowl of cereal every night before I go to bed but that doesn't always happen.

Okay, now it's time for some more fun ultrasound pictures. The one below is the baby's leg extended straight out along with the rest of the body. The tech told us it was rare to see that happen and even gave us a bigger than normal picture of it because she said it was such a good picture--way to go baby!