Kicks, Punches, Headbutts

About three weeks ago Melissa had the pleasure of feeling the first "real movement". Up until then there had been some "possible movements", but as a first time mother there is never a way of knowing if the movement is baby or body function. At 19 weeks Lil'P let it be known that she was moving with a definite kick, punch, or headbutt that was easily felt. Since then she has been active and letting her presence be known on a regular basis throughout the day. This weekend on Friday night Lil'P let Dave in on the fun by using enough force that he was also able to feel it. Since then he has been around to feel a few more movements. On Sunday evening we were hanging out after a fun weekend with Jen and Bill and Lil'P moved enough that you could actually see the movement from the outside. It was an amazing and slightly freakish thing to watch. The movement has helped to ease some of Melissa's worries as movement in utero is a good sign that things are progressing and that there is not a significant muscle or neurological problem.

Maybe at some of the upcoming weddings Lil'P will offer up some of her own dance moves at the reception.

The 21 week appointment

Today we had an appointment with our NP Joan. It was supposed to be a quick check of the heartbeat, but it was decided that I also needed to have an early glucose test. For those of you without the pregnancy knowledge, they have you drink "Glucola" which is basically orange soda with a large amount of sugar in it. They then have you wait an hour and get your blood drawn. It is a screen for gestational diabetes that normally occurs a little later in pregnancy. Since I was a borderline diabetic before pregnancy I get the pleasure of having this test a few times throughout this trimester. The drink was not as bad as people have described, I took Shannon's advice and did it in shots, that did make it go down a lot easier. While we were waiting we did get the treat of listening to Lil' P's heartbeat once again. Since I had just downed sugar I had little hopes of her holding still long enough for us to get to hear it, but she did. Dave was allowed to tape the sound, but not the picture so the video is of the floor, but listen carefully and you can hear the strong heartbeat .
If all goes well with the glucose test we are not due back to the doctor's office until October when I will repeat the test, get my RhoGAM shot (because I am A negative) and we will have the pleasure of watching the preterm labor and postpartum depression videos.

Where in the World is Lil'P

Lil'P has had quite a few adventures recently, starting with a trip to Atlanta in June. While Melissa and Lil'P were there they attended a great conference, took in a Red Sox Game and had dinner with Andy and Lisa.

More recently Lil'P attended a bridal shower and a wild and crazy bachelorette party (sober of course) for Jessica and the wedding celebration of Heather and Cory.

This weekend she was a "very junior bridesmaid" in Jessica and James' wedding. We had a great time celebrating the long-awaited wedding of our good friends. Dave was the best man and Melissa was a bridesmaid (and yes, the dress fit). We like to think that Lil'P had a great time hitting the dance floor and learning her future moves at a very young age. Some say that you should play the baby music, not sure they meant Baby Got Back and YMCA, but she seemed to enjoy it. For Melissa it was a different experience being pregnant and dancing.

Over the next month Lil'P will be heading to Napa for a few days before attending Colin and Lynne's wedding in Oakland. Two weeks later we will be heading to Chicago for Steve and Raegan's wedding and a visit to Allison and Ross. Finally, we will round out our jetsetting with a trip back home to the Deb-Tone Farm and the wedding of Shane and Erin on Nantucket in October.

Men at Work

We have had a very productive and exciting weekend in the Gibbons House. This weekend we were able to completely finish painting the nursery. We had decided on colors and bought the paint last weekend with the goal of getting everything but the chair rail in place this weekend. Lucky for us Dave's Dad, Byron, came over to help out for most of the weekend. We would never have finished without him, especially since we decided that the bathroom could not be a proper kids bathroom if it was white, and so we added on a 2nd room to complete. We picked a very bright blue to go along with the frog theme we already had. But one small room sure added a lot of work for Dave and Byron. I helped out where I could by taping both rooms and cooking the BBQ, but for the most part I was sidelined to prevent Lil'P from being overwhelmed by paint fumes. We hope that you enjoy the pictures of the Men at Work and the final product!

It's a....

This week we had the anticipation and pleasure of an ultrasound at the Franklin Kaiser Office Downtown, right next to Saint Joseph's Hospital (where we will be delivering). At almost the half-way point we would be having our most exciting Doctor's visit remaining in the entire pregnancy. Everything went great, though we were amazed at what the Perinatologist can see in the grainy black and white images. We are still on track for a December 29th delivery of a beautiful baby... girl! Melissa made strawberry cupcakes with pink frosting, we bought pink onesies at the store, and celebrated with Briden, Amy and their one-year old daughter Olivia who provided a preview of what we have to look forward to. However, the Perinatologist said, "Probably a girl" and when I pressed said he had 95% confidence in that, so there's always a chance for a surprise in December.