Welcome to Chicago, Simon Emory Basque

Less than 5 minutes old... he's just been wiped off and been checked out.  9 out of 10 on his Apgar test, even after all he went through this week!

First time ever I saw your face

We had another round of ultrasound on Tuesday to check on the growth of the baby.  Once again, it was all good news - he's the right size and shape, and he's even flipped to be head down since the last ultrasound (which is how he should be at this point).  In some of the previous ultrasounds, the tech had a little trouble tracking him down inside Emily's belly.  Not this time though - it's ALL baby in there!

Profile view using 2D ultrasound... it's tough to get a good view of him this way anymore now that he's so big

The regular ultrasounds are nice, but next was the really cool part.  Since the tech was able to get through her checklist pretty quickly and the baby was lying in a cooperative position for a change, she decided to take a few minutes to use the 3D probe to try and get a real picture of the baby's face.  It turned out way better than I expected it to... so incredible to see his little face for the first time.

Check after the jump to get a sneak preview of Baby Boy Basque's handsome face!

More Baby Facts

One of my favorite things about being pregnant is all the amazing things that are happening to my body and to the baby in such a short period of time. It just is astounding that there is a whole little person living inside me right now! He's about five pounds and is developed enough that he could be on the outside kicking his dad instead of on the inside kicking my bladder. It's better for him to stay tucked in my belly for the next 5 and a half weeks, but he's just putting the finishing touches on right now.

The Chicago Museum of Science has an interactive online exhibit where you can watch a video called Make Room for Baby that shows how the organs move and adjust in a mother's body for the baby. Definitely take a look - it's crazy how small the liver gets!

After the jump some cool facts about babies.

2.6 lbs strong (and growing)

As Emily said in her last post, we had another ultrasound last Thursday to check up on the baby's growth progress.  Everything was very positive, he's pretty much exactly in the range we want him to be.  The ultrasound tech said "this is one time it's good for him to be average."  He's actually a little bigger than we expected - 2.6 pounds already!

Ultrasound pics after the jump...

Our Little Soccer Player

Just a couple days before we officially got to 24 weeks, our future Soccer Star started to make himself felt regularly and this week he has been going like the Energizer bunny. I'm not sure if he's just gotten big enough so I can tell when he's making smaller moves or if he's stronger or some combination of both, but now I can regularly feel him moving around.

I always wondered, "These are just little movements, how could someone be distracted the baby?" Now at 25 weeks it no longer feels like fluttery light touches, but more like when you've got your hands in the water and have caught a little tadpole or something and it's trying to get out of your hands and poking between your fingers with it's little nose. It is really distracting and surprisingly strong. When he turns and starts touching someplace new inside, it's the strangest feeling. Not painful yet (though I've been told that'll happen), but just really different. Like there's someone inside me!

I do think he's getting awake patterns and a little personality. He is always awake at 8:30. Just when I've settled into do something focused at work, he usually pokes my bladder and suggests that I instead go to the bathroom to give him some more room to play. When we get home from work, as soon as Alan starts talking the little one will start kicking up a storm. I think he likes to hear Alan's voice. Or maybe he's already been trained that hanging out with dad is happy, relaxing time.

Note: We hit 24 weeks on March 13, 2011

More Ultrasound Pics

And just to see how much he's grown already, these are the ultrasound pics from 8 weeks and 12 weeks:

8 weeks

12 weeks

Super-Mega-Ultrasound

First post!

Last week Emily and I went for our 20 week checkup with the doctor, where we had a chance to spend almost two hours checking out our baby with the ultrasound technician.  The tech found and measured all of the limbs and organs on her scavenger hunt list, and everything is present, in the correct place, and the expected size and proportions for 20 weeks.  During the other two ultrasounds we could see that *something* living was in there but it wasn't anything recognizable.  But this time it was very obviously a (human) baby, moving and wiggling around just like you'd expect a baby to do... it was really pretty incredible. 

Here are a couple of side views.  In the first one his knees are up by his chest (he's not stepping on Emily's bladder for a change) and you can see a little bit of his hand.  In the second one he has his mouth open and his hand up by his face.  Not long after the second picture was taken, he punched himself in the face and elbowed Emily in the side... I think he gets his coordination from his mom. :)
These two show a straight on view of his mouth and nose, with the rest of his head hidden in a pointy shadow.  He looks like a little hip-hop kid wearing a big hooded sweatshirt.  In the second one he's chewing on his hand, though the view is a little distorted so it's tough to make it out.

 Check after the jump for arms, legs and feet...