...........Life With the Chappells..........: 17, 18, 19 weeks....take your pick!

Well...today was a good day! Snow is finally melting, we have had three "snow" days in the county and I haven't had to work, it's my sister's birthday, and we got to see our SON for the last time before he is born. Yes, that's right, today we confirmed that we have external piping, a hot dog, turtle in a shell, male genitalia, whatever you want to call it. Here is a break down of what we found out from the ultrasound:

- His bladder was full, good sign that swallowing reflexes are working (although it's gross to think that right now he's actually drinking his own urine.)

- He was turned upside down and facing my spine. Halfway through, he turned sideways toward my right hip but still faced the back of me (we never got to see his face during this ultrasound. He was being shy. That's my little man. I was hoping to see those plump Chappell/Ames lips of his.)

- 4 clear chambers to his heart, all sized correctly

- 2 clear hemispheres to his head, clear bone structure in the middle, and hemispheres are evenly distributed

- Weight is 11 oz. currently (read between the lines.....big baby on the way!)

- has a large swimming pool to do the backstroke, sidestroke, go diving in... (aka amniotic sac and fluid are looking good!)

- placenta is attached to the back of the wall of my uterus (good positioning) and not covering my cervix or in the front of my uterus

- good blood flow in the cord

- wonderful, strong heartbeat

- He makes himself at home and chills.....Aaron will love this if it continues :) See "beach bum" picture below.

We are still a little unclear on the due date and exactly how far along we are. Let's break it down:

Ovulation Calculations: July 11 (making me 17 weeks and some change)

First Ultrasound: July 4 (18 weeks and 2 days)

Second Ultrasound: July 6 (18 weeks)

Today's Ultrasound: didn't give a due date but said by baby's calculations I was 19 weeks

So after talking with the doctor, she said that we can't go by size of the baby at the ultrasound because we might just have a larger baby. A nice way of saying, you have a hefty on your hands! She told us to stick with the original due date of....well we are still trying to figure that one out. So here goes people...I am predicting my due date to be July 4th (just because it's easy to remember and we can't get a clear date any other way).

I am going to register this weekend with my mommy and my sister. I am so excited to share this with them and to get the ball rolling on some baby things. Type A personality kicks in: I will be bringing along my legal pad of pages of notes on baby items that I have so rigorously slaved over for a month. Gotta be prepared for my little man...( I am really liking the way that is beginning to roll off of my tongue...)

Here are a few new pictures of Lil Chapps/My Little Man for you to enjoy:

View from his back. You can see his knee and leg curled up to his chest.

Still being shy and looking away. You can see his leg out in front of him.

He decided to peek at us in this picture, but only for a second. Notice his head turned and his right eye peeking. At this point, he was curled up with his knees bent to his chest.

My Favorite two pictures from today: Beach Bum Pictures. The pictures are from his toes to his neck. His legs are spread out, his arms go straight down the side of him and end at his knees, with his fists in a ball. Top picture shows his arms better (his fists are curled up) and the bottom picture shows his legs better. I have long legs like my mommy does. "I'm just chilling mommy and daddy...I'm growing like crazy and it makes me tired!"