A Christmas Swap and a Thank You . . .

On Friday, my husband and I went to our first baby doc appointment. Everything went very well. We were told that we could come back for a sonogram next week (now this week) just to double check my due date and to see that everything was going well and to make sure that there was just one baby in there. Twins run on both sides of our family. My Grandmother was pregnant with five sets of twins. Yes, five. Not a typo!! Two and a half survived. When my doctor checked to see when the sonogram tech would be available she ended up having an open appointment right then so of course we jumped at the chance.

There is one baby in there (she types with a sigh of relief!!) and the baby is due on May 22, 2010. Our calculations were perfect. Everything looks great and the baby has a very strong heartbeat. 176 beats per minute. My husband works with a bunch of men and they all have either had babies recently or are expecting so they all told him that he's having a girl because the heartbeat is so fast. That would certainly be something different in this house!! We shall see. Pink or blue, we'll love you. : )

I go back in three weeks for another sonogram that they do in the first trimester to screen for any problems, along with a blood test. This is something different from the last time I had a baby, almost eight years ago. I was told it's as accurate as the AFP test but much less incidence of false positives which has caused many people undue stress. I have several friends that had a false positive result with this test. You go for days or even weeks thinking your baby has Down's Syndrome or I believe the other thing it tests for is Spina Bifida. Only to find out that it isn't the case. Thankfully, it never happened to me but it did happen to my cousin recently. Thank God she delivered a very healthy baby.

On a different note altogether, I have discovered a wonderful new blog called The Three R's . Go pay her a visit and sign up for her Christmas Swap. I've never done a swap before and I am really looking forward to it. I'm a little nervous because it's my first one but I've always loved to see the pictures of what people receive in their swaps and I love to give gifts so I think this will be awesome!!! You have until October 31st to sign up so HURRY HURRY HURRY!!! All you have to do is leave a comment saying you'd like to participate. It should be lots of fun!! : )

Finally, I'd like to thank all of you who have left me such heartfelt comments and well wishes regarding our new baby. I wasn't sure if I was ready to put it out into blog land yet because it's still very early in the pregnancy but I truly believe that if it's meant to be it will happen. I'm pretty tight with The Big Man Upstairs and I know He has a plan in all that happens in our life. There is not a doubt in my mind about that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, everyone. : )

Many blessings ~ Wendy

All photos are courtesy of the incredibly wonderful Anne Geddes.