It's a Girl!

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We had the 2nd trimester ultrasound yesterday and it's a girl! In this picture the arrow is pointing to the goods or lack thereof. That's the labia. She cooperated quite nicely with getting that picture. Not so much with getting one of the heart pictures the technician wanted and did eventually get. She was moving around quite a bit.

More importantly, the ultrasound showed everything to be normal. We got to see and hear her heart beating (146 bpm), which was really cool, and the different sections of her brain, head measurements, her kidneys, spine, arms, legs, and face. Her weight is "good enough" which I took to mean she's on the small side of normal. Since I'll be the one pushing her out, I'm totally fine if she wants to continue being on the small side of normal.

These next two pictures are 3D pictures. Tim and I think they look freaky and like an alien underwater. There is one he didn't scan that looks really creepy.

As far as how I'm doing - blood pressure, urine, etc, - all is well and the same as the last time. My next appointment is on May 26th and I'll have the glucose test done then.

The bookcase/bed combo is mostly finished. Tim stained it last weekend but wants to do some touch up staining where he added wood filler. We'll have it in the computer room by the time Nancy and Phil get here for a visit next week. We'll leave the spare bed in the baby room until the end of their stay to give them more room.

The Whippet National

The girls and I had a lot of fun on our trip to Atlanta for the 2009 Whippet National Specialty.  Tim only joined us for the last day.  We got to Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon and attended the Welcome Party that evening.  The Welcome Party had a costume contest with an Easter or Spring theme for the pups and an American Idol contest for the humans.  It was a lot fun seeing all the creative costumes people had for their dogs from a box of Peeps to Hugh Hefner with Miss April to southern belles in their Easter dresses.  So cute!  

 
The Parade of Rescues and the Parade of Honors was held on Wednesday.  Our friend Jonathan was there with Zoey for the Parade of Honors.  Zoey was a dynamo in the show ring and had to give up her show career early due to some complications.  After retiring from showing she moved to Florida to live out the rest of her life with Jonathan and his crew of whippets and greyhounds.  A few months ago Jonathan and Zoey's owners made the difficult decision to amputate one of her back legs.  Then a few weeks ago she received a specially made wheelchair and can now enjoy walks on the beach and hikes in Montana, where Jonathan spends his summers.  Jonathan said she is up to going 2 miles with him on walks now.  You can view video of Zoey on youtube - just type in 'Zoey whippet' into the youtube search.
The National also consisted of an art show, raffles to benefit both The American Whippet Club and Whippet Rescue and Placement, lure coursing and racing, rally and obedience, agility, and of course conformation shows and shopping.  The art show was phenomenal.  Lots of talented Whippet owners!  The Hilton Airport Hotel was the host for the event and the girls did really well living in a hotel for almost five days.  The hotel allowed the dogs to run in the basketball court off leash, and this was a big help to get Tacy to release some energy.  This was the first time they had been crated in a hotel and after the first time we left them, there wasn't a peep to be heard from either of them.  The woman I roomed with said they got to the point where they didn't even care when she came in to grab something or use the bathroom.  They just laid in their crates chillin'.  The same can't be said for some of the other dogs on our floor.  We heard barking and whining all day long from other rooms.  One of Hazel and Tacy's favorite things to do was jump onto Hazel's crate and check out the view from the window.  Of course we didn't leave without buying a few whippety items - sweaters and necklaces for the girls, a metal Whippet wall hanging, greeting cards, and t-shirts.  :)

The Monday after I returned from Atlanta, I went in for my 20 week prenatal appointment.  As usual, all is well.  Baby's heartbeat was around 145 bpm.  As I left the office, I made the appointment for the ultrasound.  Monday, April 27th.  We can't wait!  Fingers crossed the baby sticks his/her junk up to my belly so we can see the goods.  Of course, the most important thing will be ensuring the baby is healthy and his/her organs are developing normally.  But still, finding out the sex will be fun!  A few weeks ago I could feel the baby moving every now and then and not everyday.  Now I can feel it moving throughout the day, everyday.  So far, it has only moved once that was strong enough for Tim to feel.  

19 Weeks Beer Belly Pic & more

Here's the 19 weeks picture.  Don't mind the big red bump on my belly.  That's just where a mosquito had a nice snack.  Why it got my belly and not my exposed arms I don't know.  Looking at the picture from 17 weeks and this week, they pretty much look the same, but I can definitely tell the difference.  Anyway, all is well with me.  I can brush my teeth again for a decent amount of time and after eating, too!  I *think* I might have felt the baby move last night while I was trying to go to sleep.  I'm sure in the next week or two I'll feel him/her more and know that that is indeed what I'm feeling.

Last week we bought the Baby/Whippet-Mobile.  I already have two crate mats in the back for the dogs.  I've ordered custom made harnesses for them that will attach to rings on the side of the car.  The lady making them should be giving them to me when we are in Atlanta for the Whippet National.  All we need now is the partition to keep Tacy from jumping into the backseat.  Or at least attempting to once she has the harness holding her back.  Hazel doesn't seem to mind it back there, but she just lays down and goes to sleep in the car.  Hopefully Tacy will adjust quickly.

  

Here is the bookcase/bed combo Tim is making.  He has half of the shelves in now and just needs to finish the remaining shelves and attach the side and bottom pieces.  Then he can stain it and he'll be finished.  He'll need to disassemble it a little to get it into the computer room, but that shouldn't be too much trouble.  Once we have the spare bed and futon shuffled around then we can start putting together the nursery furniture.  The crib mattress is next on the list of nursery items to buy.

After doing a little more research and finding a really good website about cloth diapering I have decided to go the cloth diaper route rather than the flushable/biodegradeable disposables.  Unless we were to flush them, which we aren't due to last year's sewer line mess (and I do mean MESS), I'm not convinced they are all that much better for the environment than the regular disposables.  Once you put them in a plastic trash bag and throw them in the landfill, they really aren't going to biodegrade in the advertised 50-150 days.  I'm going to start with pre-folds and a diaper cover and then we'll go from there.  There are so many different types of cloth diapers to choose from these days, it can get a bit overwhelming trying to decide which ones are the way to go.