Photos of Madeleine!

Here are our 20 week photos of Madeleine! In the first one, she is looking right at us, with her head on the right and her body on the left. About half way down her head, you can see dark areas on either side that are here eyes and the bright white area in the middle of her face is her nose. In this photo, it looks like she doesn't have a neck connecting her face and abdomen, but it's there somewhere! The two smaller round circles on either side of her abdomen are her arms. Isn't she beautiful?!


In the second one, you can see her profile. Up near her face, there are five little white dots that form a line and those are her fingers (she had one hand up in the air for this photo!). Just beneath her fingers are the outlines of her nose and mouth. On the far left of the photo, you can see her thigh coming up. The very top of that is her knee and then her calf was pointing out from there, but is cut off by the photo. Also, you can see a white line along the bottom contour of her abdomen and that's her spine.


We are so in love!
Nile & David

Madeleine's Heartbeat

During our 20 week appointment we were able to record Madeleine's heartbeat. Just click on the arrow button beneath the photo if you want to listen to it! Her heartbeat was measuring right on track in the 150s (per minute).

Enjoy!
Nile & David

Drum Roll Please!

We had our 20 week appointment today and found out that we're having a girl!! Wahoo!! We are so excited! I didn't think I'd feel shocked because I had been anticipating this day for so long, but I do feel this sense of disbelief and that it's all sort of surreal actually knowing what's in there!

The ultrasound tech was able to get all the needed measurements and everything was right on track. We were able to see just about everything on the baby which was so cool...spine, ribs, hands, arms, legs, feet, stomach, kidneys, heart (and its four chambers!), head, brain, eyes...you name it! I love modern technology!! I am on vacation this week from work, so I'm not able to scan in our ultrasound photos, but I promise to post them as soon as possible! She is already adorable!

My blood pressure and all my stats were on track too. I made up for lost time last month, and gained 7 lbs this month! They weren't worried by it at all and I'm right on track with where my weight gain should be.

So...in about 4 more months, we'll be welcoming Madeleine Louise West to the world! Madeleine ("Maddie") is a name that both David and I really liked before we even started talking about our favorite names. So that one was an easy pick for us! We are using the French spelling of it too which gives a nod to David's French Canadian/Cajun heritage. Madeleine is also the spelling for the French butter cookies, and this Madeleine will definitely be the sweet cookie in our lives! Her middle name is going to be Louise, after David's grandma. Louise is just such a wonderful, caring, loving and incredibly sweet woman! We will be lucky to have a daughter that grows up like Louise!

My next appointment is on Tuesday, December 2nd. This appointment is with the OB (no ultrasound) and I'll do the one hour glucose test at that appointment too. For that I have to drink an incredibly sugary substance and then wait and hour and have a blood test done. The test will tell them how well my body is processing sugar and my likelihood for developing gestational diabetes. At this appointment, they'll also test my iron levels to see if I need to start taking any iron supplements.

So, that is our news for now! Yahoo for a healthy and growing baby!

Love you all,
Nile & David