Second Ultrasound Appt - Week 18

Michael and I met Grandi Candi and G-pa Mike at St. Luke's in The Woodlands for our second ultrasound visit on Wednesday, July 28th. Unfortunately, we found out once we got there that this appointment was going to be just to check Baby Michael's heart. His heart looks great! But we were expecting an appointment like last time. We got ten more photos of our little guy, but he was pretty sleepy. (That may be because he and Mommy were up late the night before at Bunco.) Needless to say, Baby Michael was very still and trying to sleep. Most of the pictures we got were of his back and they don't show much.

Here is one where you can see Baby Michael's nose and his hand. My sweetheart!


Michael and I had on our Astros' gear since we were going to the game that afternoon. Dr. S thought she should make sure Baby Michael was showing his team spirit, so she changed the coloring. Here is Baby Michael, the Astros' fan.


I have another appt with Dr. B, my OB, tomorrow morning. My mom and her sister, Jan, will be coming with me to the appointment. My parents are taking a quick trip to Nebraska this weekend and I'm hoping to go with them if Dr. B says it's okay. I'll try to update after that appt, but I'm not sure there will be much to report. Thanks for following along!

Weeks 18 & 19

-Week 18 (Large Mango): Baby Michael weighs about eight ounces and is about six inches long. His arms and legs are finally in proportion, neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles, and cartilage throughout his body is turning to bone. All of these things combine to give him more control over his limb movements. Baby Michael is also being covered by a cheesy varnish called vernix caseosa. This protective substance is greasy, white, and made up of lanugo, oil from his glands, and dead skin cells. Vernix caseosa protects Baby Michael's sensitive skin from the surrounding amniotic fluid. Without this protection, he would look very wrinkled at birth.

-Week 19 (Small Cantaloupe): Baby Michael is about ten ounces and six and a half inches long. Most women are getting ready to find out what they are having during this week, but we found out during week 16 due to the need to check out his heart every two weeks until week 26. Baby Michael's testicles have begun their descent this week, though they are still located in the abdomen, waiting for the scrotum to finish growing so they'll have a place to drop into in a few weeks.

Week 17 Development & More

I am now 17 weeks pregnant with a sweet baby boy. According to my weekly emails and app, our baby is the size of a sweet potato, weighing 5 ounces and 5.5 inches long. We know that according to our ultrasound appointment from Wednesday that our baby boy is 7 ounces, so our baby boy is a little bigger that the average fetus at this time. {Basically, Michael and I are both tall, so our baby will also be a little bigger than average. I suppose we could start a poll for baby boy's birth weight, but I'll wait until we get further along.} Our baby boy's skill of the week is yawning! We were lucky enough to see this at our ultrasound this past week. Our ultrasound also showed his fetal movements that he has been busy practicing - twists, rolls, kicks and punches. I think I have already begun to feel some of his movements now that I know how active our little guy really is. Most women can feel movements as early as 16 weeks, but it's uncommon for someone with their first pregnancy. {I could be wishfully thinking!} Baby boy's nervous system is maturing rapidly. His nerves, now covered by a substance called myelin (which speeds messages from nerve cell to nerve cell), are forming more complex connections. The nerves in his brain are further specializing into the ones that serve the five senses. Baby boy's hearing is growing more acute, making him more conscious of sounds that come from inside my body. I guess he is bothered by my grumbling tummy just as much as I am now! :)

Michael and I are continuing to have daily conversations about the perfect name for our little guy. We had talks before, but now we know that we can focus on just the boy names. This helps out a lot! Nothing is definite yet, but we have quite a few family names that are really sticking with us. I learned from my mother-in-law to ALWAYS check the initials. When she was pregnant with Michael, my father-in-law tried to name him "Michael Vincent Patterson" or "Michael Victor Patterson," the initials - MVP. Perfect for my father-in-law, the baseball player!

We are preparing for our yearly week-long vacation to the Frio River. This year, it will be just the Pattersons and it will be the last time it is just Michael and I. Next year, our little family will include a 7 month old! What change! I have already begun to wonder what our little boy will look like. What color eyes will he have? Blue like his mommy or brown like his daddy? What color will his hair be? Blond like Mommy when she was little, or brown like Daddy's? Will he have Daddy's wonderful smile or Mommy's cute nose? What foods will he like? Will he want to play sports? Will he want to play a musical instrument? What will he want to be when he grows up? I'm sure these are all questions that every parent asks as they prepare for the birth of their child as well, so we aren't any different.

On a side note: As I have typed this post, Michael and his mom have been working on one of our baby boy's Winnie the Pooh blankets. I love how eager Michael was to just jump into this project while I typed about our little guy's development. He continues to talk about how excited he is and how ready he is to be a father. I know that he will be a fantastic father and that he truly is ready, even though neither one of us will really "be ready." Thanks for following!

It's a...!

Baby Patterson's First Profile Picture. Can you tell if it's a he or she? Neither can we!


As the picture says, Baby Patterson is a BOY! Again, I can't explain how this picture shows me the "boy parts", but I trust Marcia M, our technician. She said that she was almost 100% sure that our Baby is a boy. If he's not, she's going to buy me a Big Mac.


Here is a 4D picture of our Baby Boy's first smile!


Our Baby Boy's feet! How precious!


And here's how I know our Baby Boy is definitely a Patterson. He's sticking his tongue out at us!

Michael was very excited to find out finally what our little Baby was going to be. He is very happy to not be waiting anymore, as am I. I think we are all pleased to finally be able to use a gender-specific pronoun to talk about our little guy instead of constantly saying "the baby" as well. Thank you for your votes, but it seems as though only 9 of you were in the correct group! Oh well. Thanks for helping us pass the time until we finally found out. As I said in the previous post, we have 18 images, so if you would like more pictures to look at, email me. Thanks for checking in! (Time to figure out how to change the background to blue. Wish me luck!)

Our First Ultrasound

Grandma Carol and Great Grandma Pat arrived at our house around 7:15 on the morning of Wednesday, July 14 and we soon piled into my car for the 45 minute drive to Texas Children's Maternal Fetal Specialist in The Woodlands. We arrived a little before our 8:30 appointment, but were quickly called back to the ultrasound room by Technician Marcia M. {I'm giving her last initial because she said that both technicians are named Marcia and we may have either one of them at our future appointments.} Marcia M. got to work right away, squirting the cool tummy goo before moving the wand around to find our little Baby Patterson. I had had a pain near my right leg for about two days that Michael and I had decided was a pulled muscle. Marcia quickly found our Baby hiding in the area where I had been having pain. She was soon focused on her job, which was to take our baby's measurements and all sorts of data. The main reason I was called in at 16 weeks is because my Sjogren's Syndrome can cause heartblock in a fetus, so Marcia was soon snapping image after image of our Baby's heart. It was so fascinating to see the four chambers of our little one's heart working right there in front of us! Grandma Carol, Great Grandma Pat, Daddy Michael and Mommy Laura were busy watching the images of our baby move across the monitor and we were quickly asking "what's that?" many times. Marcia told us she was busy looking at the forest and didn't always see the trees as she worked, so she didn't know what we saw. She asked us if we were interested in finding out what we were having and she soon took a picture and moved the label to the image. We were all excited and speechless as Marcia continued to snap pictures of our baby. Marcia soon finished chasing our baby all over and went to get Dr. S.

Dr. S entered our room very soon after Marcia's departure and she quickly introduced herself and began to explain things. She talked about Sjorgren's and the heartblock that can occur in fetuses. She told us that this occurs in about 2% of pregnancies in women with Sjorgren's and went on to explain all sorts of scenarios that could happen and what we could do to help the baby. Grandma Carol, my mom, finally piped up and asked how our baby's heart was. Dr. S looked shocked for a moment and then said our baby's heart was completely fine! She proceeded to apologize. She thought that she had said that first off before telling us the worst-case scenarios, but I think we had thrown her off with the number of people in the room and all of the introductions and how each were connected to Baby Patterson. We soon moved on to what was going to happen next. I will be going to visit Dr. S every other week for an ultrasound to check on Baby's heart until we reach week 26. Research has shown that heartblock affects the fetus as early as 16 weeks, (which is why she had me come in now), and doesn't do anything after week 26. We were given a CD of 18 images, both the traditional 3D ultrasound as well as the new 4D and we will continue to add images at each appointment, so I guess we will have plenty of pictures of our baby before he or she is even born! :)

Oh, I suppose you were thinking that you would find out what we are having, huh? Guess you'll have to check the next post! :) Don't worry! It will be up in a little while and it will include PICTURES!

P.S. Baby Patterson weighs 7 ounces at this time!

The Daddy Perspective Episode 1

So I've been meaning to post an update sometime here but just haven't quite gathered my thoughts enough to do so. I've traveled a great many emotions since the morning Laura first told me. My immediate reaction was to shut down and try to process. This led to an instant overload and about 4 days of not sleeping. Once I finally settled down and realized it was going to be OK, I've gone from terrified to excited to confused to reassured and any manor of emotion in between. The bottom line is I am as ready as I think a person can be. Friends who have kids have told me there is no such thing as ready. My favorite quote so far is "The difference in thinking your ready and actually having a child is the same as the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing one." I'm sure I have no idea what I'm getting into, but I'm ready to find out. I've been overwhelmed at times and at other times it doesn't seem quite real yet. Two things have changed my mind on this whole process and they're quite different.

Firstly, hearing the heartbeat was one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced. There was nothing extraordinary about it. I was just sitting in a small room with my wife looking as regular as she always does and a doctor with what looks like an over sized game boy with a strange attachment. Life was just life until all of a sudden this strange swooshing sound turned me from some regular guy into a dad. All of a sudden my wife wasn't a girl I met in college, not just a cute girl I'd married, but the mother of my child. It was incredible. It's not often I tear up over things, I don't consider myself an overly emotional person, but I was absolutely overcome by what I was hearing. It was, so far, the most powerful moment of my life.

The second event wasn't quite so profound. The other event that brought me around to being ok with the idea of fatherhood was the World Cup. Stay with me here, I know that seems strange. I was watching the opening rounds of the World Cup and reading an article on the internet about the USA's bid to host the world cup in either 2018 or 2022. Innocuous enough, but a thought crossed my mind. If the States were to host in either of those years, then this child who was barely beginning to be formed would be 8 or 12 years old respectively. The thought of taking my own child hoisted up on my shoulders cheering on the red white and blue here on our own soil was the final nail. I am going to be a dad and it is going to be awesome. Sure there will be tough times. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but I have such an incredible support system around me and such great examples of amazing parents that I'm about as optimistic as i can be.

I want to thank you all for reading and supporting Laura and I through all of this. It's a strange and scary and amazing ride. I'll update more as time goes on. Love you all.

Week 16 Development

-Week 16 (Turnip): Baby Patterson is now 5 inches long and weighs around 5 ounces. Open your hand and that might give you an idea of Baby P's size. He or she is beginning to form and accumulate baby fat. By the time Baby is born, body fat will make up about two-thirds of his or her weight. Baby P's ears are almost certainly working as any dog barking or doorbell ringing now startles Baby P, but also gets him or her used to these noises. Baby P's eyes are making small side-to-side movements and can even perceive some light, though his or her eyelids are still sealed. Baby P is continuing to practice sucking and swallowing in order to be ready for feeding times after birth. Also, in the next week or so, the pads on Baby P's fingertips and toes will be covered with completely individual swirls and creases, Baby's fingerprints. Wow!

I think that the next time I blog will be about what this little turnip is going to be and I wouldn't have to keep writing "he or she" and the other tenses of those as well. Thank you for continuing to vote. I am surprised to see that we are almost tied in votes. I know we will all be happy just to have a healthy Baby Patterson and I hope that is what Dr. S will be able to tell us, in addition, of course, to the gender. :) Have a great weekend!

Ultrasound Update

As stated in my previous post, we will have blood work done on Monday. Today, I was also called to schedule my appointment with Dr. S, the Maternal Fetal Specialist. Because of my syndrome, Dr. S wants to see me sooner that Dr. B had stated. After three phone calls and some time on hold, we have our appointment for Wednesday morning. Folks, this is in 5 days. And in case you're not sure what is so important about Dr. S's appointment, it's when we GET TO FIND OUT WHAT WE ARE HAVING!!! I am 16 weeks pregnant, so this is 4 weeks earlier than we thought! Michael and I are ecstatic! Grandma Carol, and Great-Grandma Pat will definitely be joining us for our early trip to The Woodlands on Wednesday morning. Grandma Candi is trying to work it out to be there as well. It's about a 45 minute drive and the appointment is at 8:30, so this may be the earliest that I have gotten up all summer! And did I mention that it is TOTALLY WORTH IT! We have been told that we can have 3 people in addition to myself in the room during the ultrasound, so Michael graciously offered to not go in. To which his mom (Grandma Candi) said, "well, then we just won't tell you what it is!" He, of course, changed his mind. Great-Grandma Pat said she wouldn't mind waiting outside and switching in long enough to get a brief peek. Now the big worry is "will Baby Patterson cooperate and let Dr. S see what needs to be seen to find out what we are having?" We will get a CD of the ultrasound at the end of our appointment, so I have to figure out how to share those pictures Wednesday. That's all for now. Just wanted to share our exciting update. Don't forget to vote your choice on our poll since we only have a few days left! :)

15 Week Doctor's Visit

Michael and I invited our moms, Carol and Candi, as well as my grandma, Grandma Pat to join us for our 2 o'clock appointment with Dr. B. We had a great lunch at Bootsie's Heritage Cafe in Tomball and then headed to Dr. B's office. The receptionist told me that it wouldn't be a problem to have five of us in the room, but when the nurse called for me, she said only 2 people could be in the room. ARGH! Needless to say, Michael and I went to the back where we found out I have gained one pound since my last visit. After waiting for about 30 minutes, Dr. B came in. We let her know that we had two anxious grandmas-to-be and one great-grandma-to-be waiting in the waiting room, hoping to hear the heartbeat. She said that we would bring them in when it was time for checking Baby Patterson's heartbeat. :) Just what we had hoped to hear!

Dr. B went over my blood work from my previous visit and everything looked pretty good. I will begin taking a Vitamin D in addition to my prenatal vitamin in order to boost my vitamin D count. I also need to increase my iron intake in order to not become anemic during my pregnancy. My count is "low normal", but she would like to see if I can increase the count by eating more red meat and greens. I will need to get a Rubella vaccine while at the hospital after Baby Patterson is born as well since my Rubella test came up "equivocal".

Dr. B checked on Baby Patterson's heartbeat and then had our entourage come in while she was still sonogram-ing (that's a word, right?). As Carol walked in, Grandma Pat could be heard asking, "Is that the heartbeat?" and then everyone was in the room. Everyone was grinning and giggling, even me, which caused Baby P's heartbeat to get gargled by the laughing mommy (me!). I settled down and we were all amazed as Baby P's heartbeat continued to lub-dub in the room. It was about 155, which was in a good place. Hehehe! I also asked Dr. B about the one pound increase since our last appointment. She said not to worry as we are still early in the pregnancy and I don't have much weight to gain overall.

We will be having some blood work done next week, this time to check on Baby Patterson. We found out that my blood actually has Baby Patterson's DNA in it, so we are going to have some tests run just to check on him or her. Then we will have an appointment with Dr. S, a Maternal Fetal Specialist, in two more weeks. Because I have Sjogren's Syndrome, my pregnancy is considered high-risk. The Maternal Fetal Specialist is going to be able to look more closely at Baby P and make sure that my syndrome is not causing Baby P problems. Also, Dr. S will be able to tell us WHAT WE ARE HAVING!!!! The next week, we will meet with Dr. B again and go over our blood work. Exciting stuff!!! :)

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Weeks 14 & 15

I have begun the second trimester! This usually means 3 months of almost normalcy for most pregnant women. I haven't had any morning sickness and I haven't been as tired as I was in the first trimester. This does not mean that my afternoon naps have stopped! :)

-Week 14 (Naval Orange): Baby P is about 4 and a half inches long and weighs a little over 2 ounces. Baby P busily spends his or her days practicing - practicing breathing, practicing sucking, and practicing swallowing in order to survive after birth. Baby P has a daily aerobics class in which he or she kicks, curls toes, and moves his or her little arms and legs. {Of course, Baby P is so tiny that I can't feel any of these exercises!} Baby's ears are now on the sides of the head and not the neck where they used to be. The eyes have also moved from the side of the head to the front of the face.

-Week 15 (Avocado): Baby P is between 4 and 5 inches in length and weighs around 3 to 5 ounces. Tiny bones in Baby Patterson's ears are in place this week. We are encouraged to sing and play music for Baby P. In fact, Baby P will recognize the same tunes when sung to him or her after birth. Baby P's backbone is now strong enough to straighten his or her head and neck. Baby P has both eyebrows and eyelashes, but a very skinny look since there is no baby fat yet.

We have an OB appointment on Thursday and I will update after that. Thanks for reading!

First Trimester

Ok. I couldn't decide what I wanted to blog about next, so now I'm going to attempt to give weekly updates. I have an app on my phone that gives me weekly and daily updates as well as an email or two that shares weekly things.

Here are the highlights of what Baby Patterson has already accomplished during the first trimester:
-Week 3: (Baby Patterson is the size of a poppy seed) Amniotic sac forms
-Week 4: (Orange seed) Circulatory system and heart form
-Week 5: (Sweet Pea) Jaws, cheeks, and chin as well as ear canals develop
-Week 6: (Blueberry) Head continues to develop with new brain cells. Arm and leg buds begin to sprout into hand, arm and shoulder as well as leg, knee, and foot segments. Baby's mouth and tongue have formed. Also on the 3rd (and permanent) set of kidneys.

-Week 7: (Raspberry) Upper lip, tip of nose, and thin, tiny eyelids form.
-Week 8: (Medium Green Olive) Now considered a fetus. Head has straightened out, ears more prominent, and the liver, spleen and gallbladder are forming.

-Week 9: (Prune) Bones and cartilage are forming. Knees and ankles are developing. Tooth buds are forming under the gums, but won't actually appear until Baby Patterson is about 6 months old. Stomach is producing digestive juices, Kidneys produce urine, and if Baby Patterson is a boy, he is already producing testosterone. {This is obviously what Michael is hoping for!!}

-Week 10: (Lime) Hair follicles are forming. Fingernail and toenail beds begin to develop. Baby Patterson can do stretches, somersaults, and forward rolls. Depending on Baby Patterson's gender, either testes or ovaries are developing.

-Week 11: (Large Plum) Most of Baby Patterson's systems are fully formed and now he or she will work on maintenance. Bone marrow is making white blood cells, digestive tract is practicing contraction movements, and pituitary gland is producing hormones. Fingernails and toenails are growing. {We also heard the heartbeat for the first time at our first OB appointment. See our first post for that update.}

-Week 12: (Peach) At this point, each fetus begins to grow at different paces, but all follow the same developmental path. Up until this point, Baby Patterson's intestines have been growing in a cavity inside the umbilical cord, but they now move to their permanent location: Baby P's abdomen. Also, the vocal chords are developing. {Luckily, we can't hear Baby Patterson crying yet!}

-Week 13: (Nectarine) Some hair may be sprouting from the top of Baby Patterson's head. He or she is also covered with a downy coating of hair called lanugo, which is there for Baby P's warmth. As he or she accumulates fat, the lanugo will shed, though Baby P may still be born with some lanugo that will shed shortly after delivery.

The First trimester included a couple weeks of nausea for me (but I never threw up!) until I realized that I had to make sure that my stomach wasn't empty. Michael helped to make sure that I had crackers next to my side of the bed as well as next to my favorite spot in the living room at all times. I also felt very run down and ended up taking some afternoon naps. I also chalk that up to it being the end of the school year, so I was also running out of steam for the year. In fact, I ended up getting sent home early on the second to last day of school with a low grade fever. Because I hadn't been to the OB yet, I made an appointment with Dr. P, my PA who officially informed us that we were pregnant. By the time I got to that appointment, my fever had gone away, but I definitely had laryngitis. I was negative for strep throat, but Dr. P said that if my secretary had already arranged for a sub for the next day (the last day of school!), then I shouldn't go to work. Well, those of you who know me should not be surprised when I did decide to go in for part of the day. I spent a few hours with my class (I had planned a surprise pizza party!) and got their summer homework folders packed as well as their supplies gathered to send home. My sub, Mrs. R, was amazing and helped me by getting some things off the wall and packed for the summer. I can't believe I have finished my third year of teaching and have sent yet another class off to first grade!

Each year, Michael has helped me to evaluate my teaching and each year, I have decided to give Kindergarten another try. This year, I thought about perhaps putting my name in the proverbial hat for a grade level change, but before I did, we found out about Baby Patterson. I will continue in Kindergarten again next year and look forward to another great year. I hope to make it to Friday, December 17, which would be the last day before my school district's Winter Break. "You hear me, Baby Patterson! You have to wait until after 3 pm on December 17!" I can't imagine giving my classroom and students to someone else while I am away, but I know that I have an amazing team that will help my sub in any way he or she needs it. I have been told that I won't care what happens in my classroom once I'm holding Baby Patterson, which I'm sure will be true, but I love being in control of things. Surprise, surprise, I know!

We are actually 15 weeks pregnant right now, so I will share the 14 and 15 week updates in a little while. Time to take a break from blogging! Thanks for checking on Baby Patterson's progress. Until next time!

We're Having a Baby!

We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. We got to meet Dr. B and she seems to be exactly what I was hoping for in my baby doctor. She's friendly, personable and has two children of her own, so she will be able to understand better what I'm going through.

Dr. B says that everything looks good and on track. She mentioned a couple times that I was so tall and how good this was for me during my pregnancy. Because of my height, I will need to gain about 20 pounds to help our baby grow and develop. I hope this isn't too much of a challenge. As many of you know, I've been (and still am) skinny for most of my life no matter what I eat, so I hope I can gain what is needed! I had a few weeks of nausea, but I have been much better at monitoring myself and having more smaller meals, so this has subsided.

At Dr. B's office, we confirmed that I am in fact 11 weeks along and we have a due date of December 24th. I will not be playing with Trinity Lutheran's orchestra as I usually do for Christmas and Easter. Dr. B said that I could have Baby Patterson before Christmas Eve and obviously then need to care for our little one. OR I could deliver after Christmas Eve and then just be extremely uncomfortable for 2 or 3 Christmas Eve services. WE'll see what Mom ends up doing since she usually plays with me as well. Michael, of course, is hoping the baby comes after Christmas Eve so that he can be at our church for service since he has been taking over worship.

Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, WE HEARD THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT! Dr. B said that it was a very strong and normal heartbeat. We will continue to have appointments each month until we reach month 8, I believe. Then we will begin having appointments every other week until we get closer to our due date.

Dr. B mentioned at the hospital we will deliver at has tours every Tuesday at 5 pm, so even though it's early, we went to check things out. We got to see 2 new babies in their nurseries and one of them had just been born a few hours ago. :)

We have been blessed to receive a bassinet, bouncer and summer boy's clothes from our old neighbors, Rachel and Jimmy. Rachel's son, Colton, was born over a year ago and she wanted to pass on her stuff WAY before we had even thought about having a baby. Then, after we found out we were expecting, my in-laws mentioned to their car people they were going to be grandparents and Buffy, the owner, said she had a crib, changing table, swing, and other baby goodies just being stored in her garage. We have since assembled the crib and changing table and have begun to organize the room where our little Patterson will begin to live next year. Don't worry! Baby Patterson will be in the bassinet until he or she weighs 15 pounds (bassinet limit) and will be in our room as long as it's okay to be in that bassinet.

For those of you wondering, yes, we plan on finding out what we are having. We're too excited to not know before baby Patterson arrives. Our blog template has a blue background and a pink background, so we will change from green when we know what we are having.

Sorry to make this so long and random. I am not much of a blogger, so I don't really know what I'm doing. Michael has access to the blog as well, so we will attempt to update as things progress. Thanks for checking in on us.