13 weeks!

So, fast forward to 13 weeks pregnant...things are going well. The baby is healthy, we have been to three doctors appointments and all is well.

Flash back -- We could hear the baby's heartbeat at six weeks, which was nuts! We could also see it on the sonogram, just beating away....a little flash of light on the monitor was really neat to see.

Earlier in the appointment, the nurse was asking us all sorts of personal questions...the one that stands out the most was after she was done asking Nicole some questions, she turned to me and said, "You're the father?" Immediately, I thought, 'No, do I look old enough to be Nicole's father' and then it dawned on me...she meant, the father of Baby Z. HA! We all got a good laugh out of that one. That is when it hit home...I am going to be a father. Wow!

Fast forward -- We are now at the 13 week sonogram to test for abnormalities which might lead to some birth defects. All seems to be going well and the tech has the wand on Nicole's stomach and then starts to prod her belly HARD. It took us both by surprise and he didn't warn Nicole or myself as to what he was about to do. When the tech saw the surprised/pained/about to jump out my chair and tackle him face, he immediately asked if Nicole was okay and explained that he was just trying to get the baby to move around so he could take measurements. I could then exhale....

So, our baby is stubborn. The baby just wouldn't move for the tech and so he kept 'pounding' on Nicole's tummy. I could tell it was uncomfortable for her, but she sure is a trooper. I imagined the baby just kicking it in this nice warm room, sleeping, and then all of a sudden a huge *thwap, thwap, thwap* and over and over and over and over. Well, sure enough, our baby wasn't having any of that. Baby Z just kept sleeping and sleeping.

Then finally....movement! It was quite the site to see our baby moving around on the big screen. While the tech took measurements, I was just in awe and then started asking questions. I have no idea what I asked, but I asked whatever came to mind. This is what we saw:

Then, all of a sudden, the tech flipped a switch and we saw this:

Now, I think this is an AWESOME shot of Baby Z. Nicole thinks that it is kind of creepy. It is amazing how far 3D technology has come that at the flip of a switch, it can give us this image of what Baby Z looks like at 13 weeks. A head is being developed, legs and arms. Just amazing!

All in all, after the testing, they docs said that Baby Z was healthy and didn't have any signs of any abnormalities. Yay!

Only 29 more weeks to go.