Fetal Heart Rate Doppler Fun!

Chris and I have a new toy! At our 10 week appointment the Dr. located our baby's heart rate by using her own in office doppler. It was such a reassurance to hear our baby's heart just beating away that we left thinking, "I wonder if we can get one of those at home!?!". After we got back to the office I started looking around online, pricing various models, comparing renting vs. purchasing until we discovered the option that worked the best for us. We settled on the FDA approved, 3 Mhz Sonotrax Fetal Heart rate Doppler. It has been so nice to hear our baby's heart just beating away whenever we want! I get anxious about her health occasionally and hearing it's heartbeat makes me feel so much better. Practically makes my day!

MIA...

Well it's been over a month since my last post, but I have been busy. Mostly just sick, but being sick can really keep you busy! Around my last post I realized that I had lost far too much weight, was unable to eat or drink really anything and had begun to get depressed about my ability to meet the baby's needs and the long term effects that this could have on the baby. I had a mini-breakdown(pregnancy hormones!!) late one night and told Chris to call my Mom on his way to work the next morning and tell her I "needed her now". =)

Chris and I have very little help in the Birmingham area(other than my friends who work full-time) and since most of our family lives 2 hours away, I decided it would be best if I just went home to Florence with my Mother, Dad and Brothers. After my mother spoke to Chris and got my "desperation call" she took off work and was in Birmingham by the afternoon. The next two weeks are kind of a blur, so are the entire months of March and April for that matter=), but I know that I spent it in Florence with my sweet family taking really good care of me! Thanks a bunch Everyone!!! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hope that our sweet little baby hasn't suffered any long term effects as a result of my sickness!

One really exciting thing did come out of my Florence trip- Baby made it's first recorded appearance. We went and had an ultrasound and wow, did that make me feel better! Everything looked perfectly normal with the baby and it was busy as a bee! I was amazed by how much our little angel was moving around!!! It was kicking it's legs and waving it's arms like it knew we were watching- PRECIOUS!! Our favorite moment is when our little bean tried to "stand up" and just stretched waaaayy out. It was like it was saying "get me out of here!!!" Hopefully the baby isn't planning any escape routes and it will settle down some before each kick and elbow jab hurts mommy!! ;-)

We have a tape of the ultrasound to share and we plan to make copies to DVD and send them out to those of you that we've promised them to. We haven't forgotten about you, we just wanted to get THIS weeks ultrasound on the tape also. That's right, this weeks ultrasound. Chris and I are headed to Florence tomorrow night for an early Friday morning appointment with our friend Beki, the ultrasound tech. Mom is going with us and we're really excited to share with everyone what we are having!=)

I can't wait to know if we are having a little Mister Carter or a little Miss Carter! People say that you usually have "mom's intuition" and have a pretty good idea of what you are going to have. I can honestly say I am CLUELESS!! I have bounced around throughout my pregnancy- one week thinking it's a boy, the next I think it's a girl! I think I have no idea because I really don't care one way or the other. I just wanted a healthy baby, that was what I was praying for! Not a boy necessarily or a girl, just a baby. Well that wish has been granted so I'm fine with whatever our first born is!=)

I have several small updates that I hope to make over the next few days so check back if you're interested... and of course I will have a HUGE update this weekend once we find out what Baby Carter is!=) I hope everyone is doing well!!!

Baby Carter at 10 weeks

We are obviously very excited about our little one and can't get enough information about what is going on with our baby THIS week, every week! I decided that we will occasionally, perhaps monthly, give everyone an update of what is going on with our baby on individual weeks, just to keep you posted! If any of you would like a weekly update, email me and I'll put you on my "weekly" update list.

The following is from babycenter.com , a very informative website when you're pregnant!

Your Baby at 10 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

10 weeks Appointment

Yesterday Chris and I had our 10 weeks appointment to check on Baby Carter. Naturally, since I can't feel the baby dancing around yet, I was really looking forward to looking in on the little one and getting the reassurance that it was alive and thriving!

Everything checked out just fine so you all can breathe easily! I was 10w1d at my appointment and before the Dr. pulled out the Doppler, she warned me that we might not be able to find the heartbeat since 10 weeks is typically the earliest that they even try to find the heartbeat via Doppler. She quickly told me not to worry, that even if we couldn't find it she would send me over for an ultrasound to check Baby out.

Part of me was secretly hoping to get another ultrasound in, but I knew that if we weren't able to find the heartbeat I would probably panic until I saw it on the ultrasound screen! Fortunately, Dr. G was able to find the heartbeat fairly quickly with the Doppler... the most beautiful sound ever!

The appointment was at 2:00, so Chris and I had lunch together before we went to our appointment. Per the Dr., I am allowed to have 1 caffeinated drink a day. Some days I drink it, some days I don't. Yesterday was a day when I indulged. With lunch I had a sweet tea, my favorite. They didn't have decaf and I am getting pretty tired of Sprite all the time so I went for it!

Baby's heartbeat reflected the caffeine/sugar that I had recently consumed because it's heart was beating 190 beats per minute! That is really fast!! The typical heart rate for a baby at our gestation is 140-180 bpm. When Chris first heard it he said, "is it normal for it to be that fast?!", a bit concerned. My Dr. just laughed and said Baby was probably moving around a lot, "exercising", and just like all of us it's heart rate goes up when it does physical activity. This probably had something to do with the caffeine from lunch! ;-) Looks like we will have a busy baby on our hands, so I'm getting ready for all of the kicks and jabs that I will endure starting in the next few months!

We spent the rest of our appointment getting tips on how to better handle "the sickness" and then I had a bajillion vials of blood drawn... I thought they would never stop!! Don't worry, I sent my extremely squeamish husband to the reception area to wait for me, so he did just fine!;-)

What would we do without my Mom???

I truly have no idea what Chris and I would do without my Mother! I have been SO sick and really struggling just to get through the days. A good day for me in the past weeks has been successfully consuming a meal or maybe getting out of the house to pick up some food or goods for the house, and honestly these goals were rarely achieved. No ambitious agenda over here! It has just been impossible for me to even keep my housework up considering that walking, talking, or smelling strong odors(food or household cleaners) reduces me to a sick mess. Pitiful, I know! Now that I'm feeling somewhat better, I feel better about talking it!

I'm normally not much of a complainer so I've really kept just how truly sick I've been as quiet as possible. There is no need for other people to worry since there is nothing to be done. But of course, my mom knew better!!! Keeping it from my mother was impossible because she's been so wonderful since I've been pregnant. She calls all of the time to check on me, concerned about how I'm feeling. Other than taking medication, there is nothing that can be done about how I've felt so my mother just had to find another way to help.

My sweet mother, who works all week herself, spent her entire weekend at my house cleaning it from top to bottom, doing load after load of laundry, and cooking us some yummy food! How wonderful is she?? I am so lucky to have a mother that will sacrifice her time and energy to lighten my load! Just knowing that everything on my to-do list is caught up is such a relief!

***Thanks again Mother!! Chris and I appreciate your help more than you could ever know!! You have made this all so much easier on me and I am so grateful for that! You are the only one that really seems to understand... You will be a fabulous grandmother, just as you are a loving and supportive Mom. Come back soon;-)***

This morning when we woke up Mom pulled me aside and said she had something she wanted to show me. Mom is so excited about being a grandmother and sharing this with us she wrote a note that she wanted me to publish on my Blog to share with all of the people that are important in our lives. Read it below!

A Note from My Mom, aka GiGi

Hello Everyone,


Yesterday one of the most thrilling moments happened to me. I got to Trussville at about 6:30 p.m. to find my beautiful, bright-eyed daughter with a little hard bulge in her abdomen. It has been about 2 to 3 weeks since I have last been down to visit and Christina already has a small baby bump. Time seems to be flying by and our own Baby Carter will be here before we know it!

I just want to tell Sandy and Bill what a wonderful job they have done with their son. As all the female members of the Lawson family know, making babies does not come easy for us. If the saying that being sick makes healthy babies is true, Christina is going to have the healthiest baby in Trussville. She has lost 10 pounds, become very dehydrated and been so very sick over the past 2 to 3 months.

To this Mother-in-Law's great surprise, Chris called the Doctor's office to see how he could help Christina and what type of implications this could have on their baby. He has even been grocery shopping, searching so hard to find something she could just eat. I have been trying to help as often as possible, but being so far away has made it more difficult. Sometimes it seems that Chris has been burning the candle at both ends, bless his heart. He has job obligations, that are stressful enough, and then caring for Christina has been added stress, without question. He has taken it all in stride and even during all of these diversions, Chris has continued being an excellent provider for his Wife and Child.

Since the Doctor recently changed her nausea medication Christina can at least keep some food down. I wish I had the problem she has right now, that no food looks good. She struggles daily just to eat.

Mom, I want to make your day to tell you that we were looking at pictures of what their little angel looks like at ten weeks and it has already formed ten little juicy fingers. My mother cannot wait to see the Baby's sweet little fingers, it's what she is looking forward to the most. As all you grandparents know, my heart is overjoyed!

Since I have some medical connections Christina will come to Florence in a few short weeks for an ultrasound to try to determine the baby's sex. We just hope the Baby is turned the right way. No matter what sex the baby is, Pop(Jimmy) and GiGi(Renee) are both so excited and so looking forward to November.

Chris, we both want to give you a special thanks for taking such good care of our precious daughter in all of this. To both of you, thank you for welcoming me so openly and allowing me to come and share in this exciting experience with you. I have loved every minute of it. Everyone, be looking in a few weeks and maybe we will all know if we are going to have a little Mr. or a little Miss Carter.


Love you all,


GiGi(Renee)