I Hear the Freight Train Coming....

Well folks, I thought it was about time to dust off my keyboard and get back to updating this blog. After all, I left a cliffhanger a couple of posts ago. What is under the little yellow dot? Well, by now a good portion of you all know the answer to that mystery , so it's not much of an unveiling. But for those who do not yet know, and for sake of embarrasing my unborn child for the first time, and most certainly not the last, here it is.


Ultrasound 101...always look at for the little arrow or words that tell you what you are looking at. Otherwise, its easy to think you're looking at a Rorschach inkblot test.

Got it? No, it's not a nose! Okay, for those that still need a little help...IT'S A BOY! Mystery solved.

Yes sir, a little boy! Now Heather has two trouble makers to deal with, and I have a little partner in crime.

So far the pregnancy has been really quiet and at the same time, exciting. Aside from the testing last November, there really has not been much to report until recently. Heather has been a real champ through everything and taken to pregnancy very well. It has been really enjoyable to watch her enjoy the pregnancy so much and it makes me very proud of her.

As for the excitement over the last few months, I am referring to those little moments of discovery as the baby moves and reacts as he continues to grow and develop in the womb. To anyone other than an expecting parent, this must seem like a pretty lame concept. But is is not. To feel him move and react to the stimulus of my voice, or feel him get the hiccups, or when he gives Mommy a swift kick to the ribs if she's been sitting too long...these are the beginnings of a little personality which we are anxiously waiting to meet soon.

Now you are probably wondering what I meant by the title of this entry "I Hear the Freight Train Coming..." Well, the clock is ticking with less than six weeks to go. The "Freight Train" is our little guy. Heather has started her weekly visits to the OB. Each consists of an ultrasound, a non-stress test (NST), and then the consult with the OB. At our first visit, the ultrasound revealed how big the freight train is with six weeks left to go. Have a guess? Try 6lbs on for size. The average pregancy will see the baby gain about one-half pound a week until delivery. Do the math. 6 + .5(6) = 9 lbs. Hence our little (not so little) Freight Train.

As for hearing the freight train coming...at our last appointment (yesterday), Heather had contractions during the NST (the test measures uterine activity and the baby's heart rate response). I think she had four to be exact, in about twenty minutes. They were subtle contractions, nothing painful, but rather just her uterus doing a light workout. BUT, they were not there before, at least nothing that she noticed.

So things are moving along. The contractions have my mind spinning on all that yet needs to be done before the little guy arrives. We are in pretty good shape, as long as he waits to show up until March. Otherwise, it could be a race. But no matter, we will take him when he comes (he's the boss) always hoping he will be healthy, and the rest, well, the rest will just fall into place.

Chris