It's a BOY!!!

On Friday, April 17th, Matthew, Mimi (Cheryl), Gram (Sabrina) and I made a trip to Focused Within, 3D/4D Ultrasound Imaging Center to hopefully learn the sex of the little baby I've been making for the last 4 months. Although he isn't fully developed, what we saw was a little miracle!


At first he was squirming all over the place and we weren't sure we could figure out the sex. When he settled down, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his legs and we STILL couldn't tell what was down there. After much re-positioning and a little pushing on my belly, we FINALLY got him to show us "the goods"!!


The next picture is a view from the bottom, looking up. I know it's hard to tell what everything is, but trust those of us who were at the appointment, it's certainly a boy.

He started to stretch his arms and then let out a little yawn.



Satisfied with our pictures and thrilled with the news of a baby boy, we told him bye bye for now. See you May 18th at the next ultrasound!

For those of you wondering, the name we have chosen is Jackson! Mr. Jackson David Slayden.

Here is what Baby Center has to say about how Jackson is developing:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Oh, I almost forgot! I also had another regular check up with my OB on Friday. Other than the usual nausea and stomach problems that accompany most pregnancies, I seem to be doing GREAT. His heart was beating 140 BPM at 1:30 PM at the doctor's office and 142 at 5:15 PM at the ultrasound appointment. All of my blood work continues to come back normal. Keep us in your prayers that Jackson continues his healthy development.

Love,
The Slaydens
Matthew, Natalie and Jackson

15 week update

Happy Easter weekend everyone! I'm 15 weeks today and I'm noticing some definite improvements in my nausea. Instead of feeling sick everyday, it's eased up to every few days and the episodes are less severe. I'm so thankful to be over the first trimester hurdle and excited to finally enjoy my pregnancy! Here is an update from the Baby Gaga website.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 15:fetus in fourth month

Your nearly four-inch long gymnast is happily mobile inside your womb and if you're really lucky, you’ll notice a point when your sneezing, coughing or laughing results in a little kick here or a poke there. Still, many women don't feel anything until the 17th week or later. Although the poking and kicking isn't very charming during sleeping hours, it’s a good sign as it means your baby is actually reacting to outside events. Yay! You’ve got yourself one active healthy baby! Their little elbows and knees are bending more freely this week and their little legs are finally growing longer than their arms and getting pumped up for prenatal Richard Simmons. Many of their major organ systems are increasing in capacity—particularly that amazing tiny heart and complex circulation system, which is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood per day, and will increase to a very impressive 200 quarts per day by the end of the pregnancy. As far as hair goes, we’ve got some new scalp patterns beginning to develop on the head, although actual head hair is not yet present.

Our healthy little one

The ultrasound tech called earlier this week with some very good news. The early detection screening came back negative for chromosomal diseases such as Down syndrome, Trisomy 18 and 13. It gives us such piece of mind to know that our little baby is developing normally!

Speaking of developing, I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow, so I thought I would include this update.

Week 13: Farewell First Trimester...

Fetal development in pregnancy week 13:fetus in third month

This is your final week in the first trimester and your little weed continues to grow and grow and grow. Of the three trimesters, this one has been the most important for your little one’s development. Assuming you’ve carefully adopted a healthy diet, continue to exercise and get ample rest, your little one is set up perfectly for even more growth and development in tri-two! Way to go! He or she now weighs about 2.5 ounces and is roughly 3.5 inches in length. Little hairs, known as lanugo, will start to cover their body this week, as their sense of taste and smell are further refined. Their cozy little amniotic sac is also increasing in size and mass as it continues to fill with more fluid.

Our little wiggle worm

What an exciting doctor's visit! I got an opportunity to see baby Slayden today and my goodness he/she loves to wiggle! Moving it's arms and legs and even rolling over, you would think it was dancing to music. At 2.5 inches and just under an ounce, Mommy isn't feeling the movements yet, but it's great to know I have an active little baby growing inside my belly. The heart rate was 162 pbm. We even got to hear 4 precious beats before the little wiggle worm moved again. In the picture above you can see two little legs and the left hand. Baby's right hand is up next to it's face. The blood work from my last visit came back normal and now we are just waiting on the test results from this visit to learn more about the health of the baby.

I'm still experiencing nausea about once a day, but I can tell it's not as severe as before. I will be 12 weeks along this Friday so hopefully it will continue to ease up as I start into my second trimester. I will keep everyone up to date as the baby and I continue to grow.

The beach and my bump!

This weekend some friends and I took a girls trip to West Palm beach for a Bachelorette Party. We had an opportunity to spend some time relaxing on the beach and took some pictures of my baby bump. I've attached a picture below so you can see how much I've already grown. It's unbelievable to think that I'm almost 3 months along! Thankfully the nausea has eased up and when I do get sick, I take the medicine my doctor prescribed and it's gone in a matter of minutes. I'm incredibly tired, but I find afternoon walks help a lot. Overall, things are still going great. Looking forward to Monday when I get another ultrasound! I'll post the pictures as soon as I can.

9 Weeks

Today I had my 9 week check up. All went well, they just took blood and ran a few tests. As far as we can tell, everything is progressing properly. One sure sign I'm healthy is the terrible nausea! I'm sick every morning and sometimes at night. Matthew has been really supportive making grocery runs when I need something and even cleaning the toilets so I have a nice place to get sick (thank you sweetie!). Hopefully this lovely part of pregnancy should pass in the next few weeks. While I don't have much of an appetite (nothing sounds good), I've somehow managed to gain 4.5 pounds! Amazing considering I'm eating less than I did before I was pregnant. I'm trying to stay active, but my workouts have dwindled to walking a couple miles when I'm not feeling dizzy or nauseous.



Here is my 9 week update from Baby Gaga:

Fetal development in pregnancy week 9:fetus in third month Congratulations! Your amazing growing baby has been accepted into to the fetus-club, a very exclusive and exciting new stage in their prenatal development. Basically, this means the little sweet pea has graduated from swimming embryo creature to a recognizable human being! This week in particular, the irises of their little eyes can function, but (frustratingly for them?) their eyelids remain fused shut for a while yet. Their external ears are formed and their inner ears are now filled with fluid—so your little one is already developing their sense of balance. Your baby's little swimmer legs are still relatively, although other bodily developments are going forward at a nice pace: their kidney is actually functioning now, which means they’ve started urinating (this might seem charming now but wait till you have to start buying diapers!).



Thank you all for your prayers, love and support. I have my next doctor's visit March 16. I'll keep you posted!

Expecting!!

Hello All!
We have started this blog to keep everyone up to date on our newest adventure, starting a family! We found out we were pregnant January 21st and had our first doctor's visit February 9th. We had an ultrasound and got to see our little peanut! What a miracle! As I learn to work this blog, I will add pictures and more fun info.