Child Birth Classes and Baby Shower

We completed our second of three child birth classes this week so I guess we are officially 2/3 of the way ready to have a baby! Actually, we both definitely feel more informed and prepared for child birth. We have our infant CPR class on Monday night and then our final child birth class on Tuesday. Emmalie had her 32 week appointment this past week on Wednesday, and everything continues to be right on track.

Today Emmalie had another AMAZING baby shower! We are so thankful to the wonderful hosts and all attendees for blessing us during this exciting time. We are going through our pictures from today and will post some soon.

First Baby Shower for Emmalie and Baby John

This past Sunday a group of my sweet, sweet friends hosted the most special baby shower for me and baby John.

When I walked in, I instantly started to tear up because the details were too much! The sign-in table had the cutest paper dogs that Jan had cut out for guests to leave us a message on. The dining room table was set like a vintage candy bar – complete with pretzels, dog shaped cookies that matched the invitation, a precious cake, and Coke. There were even Coke floats in the kitchen! Lanissa and Holly cut out the adorable “J” lettets that went on each glass. And above the mantel . . . my heart actually skipped a beat! Jennifer found an old Dick and Jane reader page with the words “See, see. Oh, see. See John.” that was framed for his nursery. I still can’t believe it! The “John William” banner below the print was made by Jan. I was still taking all of this in when the guests started to arrive.

I was definitely overwhelmed and feeling very loved! So to Mary Liz, Holly, Jennifer, Jan, Lanissa, and Kristi – I am so honored and grateful to have had a shower so unbelievably cute and special that I will forever treasure.

Test Results Come Back Clear!

Emmalie had blood drawn at her doctor's visit this week to test for gestational diabetes, low iron levels, and some other items. Everything came back healthy which is great news!

I have also added two more pictures from the ultrasound this week. On the first one, you can barely make out John's thumb and hand up by his eye on the right. On the second one, you can clearly see his fingers on the left by his face.

Ultrasound Picture & Update

We had our latest ultrasound today, and a picture of John is below. You can see his face pretty clearly, and that is his elbow on the left side of the picture. He had his arm up by his head sleeping most of the time today, but we did also get to see him have a big yawn and move around some.

The ultrasound technician said that the placenta had raised even further out of the way, and John is now head down and no longer in a breach position. She said based on these factors that she doesn't foresee any reason why Emmalie would need a C-section at this time.

The nursery is also coming along. We have determined the colors of the furniture and begun painting. The bedding is decided and setup on the crib, and we have our first coat of paint on the nursery walls. Things are moving along which is great because the technician also said his predicted delivery date looked more like May 28th.

2nd Ultrasound Appointment

Emmalie had her second ultrasound appointment today, and everything looks healthy. The placenta has risen out of harm's way according to the radiologist. John is still in a breech position, but he is only 24 weeks so there is plenty of time for him to change position.

During the ultrasound, John was active early on and then sleeping at the end. He is 1 pound and 10 ounces which is exactly normal for 24 weeks. The technician predicted the due date was around May 31st according to the latest measurements. She also confirmed that it was definitely still a boy! We were able to look at John some in the 4D ultrasound as well and could see his five fingers on his right hand as he was waving at us. We will be going back around 28 weeks for the actual 4D pictures.

The attached picture is 4D. John is sleeping in the picture. You can see one arm and fingers resting against his face and covering one eye. The other arm is raised so you can only see the elbow and is against the side of his head.

Pictures from Telling Our Parents

We told our parents on Friday, January 8th that we were having a boy ... John William. We had them over for dessert, and they learned it was a boy when they got their piece of blue cake. Then, we told them all about the ultrasound, but we made them wait a little longer to find out the name. Needless to say, they were getting a little antsy! Once we had all finished dessert, we gave our dads Scrabble tiles with all the letters of his name to unscramble.

Everyone had a great time, and we have posted some pictures below from that night.

It's a . . . BOY!

We are officially having a son named . . . John William Welstead.

We were at our appointment and looking around taking measurements and then it became rather obvious. The ultrasound technician asked me if I wanted to tell Emmalie what we were having which was obvious to her that we were having a boy since I could even tell!

He currently weighs around 10 ounces. He is a little over 7.5 inches long from head to his heels or 6 inches or so from head to his bottom. The doctor said that within the next couple weeks Emmalie should begin feeling him move around. His heart beat was 150 bpm.

Speaking of moving around, the ultrasound technician kept talking about how active he was. At one point, he was basically waving his arms to us. Halfway through, she had to change where she was looking because he had flipped himself upside down.

Here's one of the pictures (not the one identifying him as a boy).

16 Week Appointment & Heartbeat

Emmalie had her 16 week appointment today and everything was great! All the blood work and tests from last visit came back normal as well as her blood pressure. The doctor is scheduling our "gender ultrasound" for the first week of January. We should have the exact date next week.

At this visit, we were able to hear the heartbeat again. The baby's pulse was in the 150's. We were able to record a clip of the heartbeat for you to enjoy before baby Welstead started moving around. Click on the link below to listen!

Heartbeat on 12.18.09

We have a heartbeat . . .

Emmalie had her second visit to the doctor today, and she is 11 weeks and 1 day along. The doctor told us everything is looking great so far, and that the baby is around 2 inches. The most exciting part was hearing the heartbeat for the first time! The doctor said the average heart rate is generally around 120 - 160 bpm and slows down closer to delivery. Baby Welstead's heart was racing at 170 bpm! We determined that he/she was getting a head start on training for a marathon.

Thanks for all your prayers for the health of Emmalie and the baby during this exciting time!

Surprising Our Parents!

On Halloween night, we had both of our parents over for dinner and to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. At the dinner table, Emmalie told our mothers that she had made them something fun for the holidays. Once they opened it, both moms quickly realized that this was something much better than a holiday decoration.

Pictures of the book that we gave both parents are below, and the back of their books had a picture of the sonogram. If you see one of them around town, they will both proudly show you their book!