Friday, July 29, 2005

heartbeat, Rh factor

I heard Gilhooly's heart beating at 140 bpm today. The nurse says that my blood pressure, weight gain, and girth are all on track. Also told me that my blood type is A- and that if the baby has a positive blood type there could be issues later in the pregnancy - "the Rh factor." It means that at week 28 I'll be given a shot of Rh immunoglobulin (RhIg) to make sure my body doesn't have an "allergic reaction" to the baby. Then, after the baby's born they'll determine his or her blood type and if it is positive then I'll have another shot. Hopefully this will all be fairly routine. Let's hope that either the baby also has a negative blood type or that our blood doesn't mix until after I get the shot.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

belly

blurry image of me in the mirror from the neck to my knees
I have a belly and it needs big clothes...today was my first shopping trip for maternity clothes. Best find: JCPenney Junior Girls' size 12 pants ($13).

First maternity photo

J, me, and a stranger running
Just before running the Vancouver 1/2 marathon, we discovered that I was pregnant! So, this is my first maternity photo. Goodbye abs...I hope we meet again...maybe autumn 2006?

week 16

I finally began leaking the news to co-workers this week. Being the geeks that they are, they created an online survey to guess if the baby will be a boy or girl and to suggest names. One person said that their guess for "girl" was based on the statement, "I asked the computer:
expr $RANDOM % 2 && echo girl || echo boy" and another suggested the name, "Jaretyn Napaldyie Norwatgary" from a list of random names generated at a web site.

Thankfully, friends brought hand-me-down maternity clothes to J's bday party on Sunday because I needed them on Monday. I've now gained 7 pounds and have been gaining the recommended 1 pound per week.

Saturday I walked 3 miles, then gardened afternoon, then went to dinner and movie. Walking out of the movie it hurt to laugh. Maybe all that bending over wasn't such a good idea....or maybe that's just my muscles expanding to make room for Gilhooly.

We have our 3rd appointment this Friday. Probably too early to tell if Gilhooly is a boy or girl, but I hope to be reassured that everything is still looking healthy.

Co-workers are asking for photos, but I'm going to wait for a month until my belly looks more like a pod and less like the remnants of a big meal.