Baby's first pic- 19 weeks!

Well, it's not actually the first picture, since this baby has had its picture taken almost every week with the weirdo bleeding. But, it's really the first picture where you can tell that we are having a baby! :) This is the one the dr.'s gave us and then one a little closer- sorry about the quality- scanning isn't always the best, but thought everyone might like to see the little one nonetheless!






Today was our big 19 wk. appt. and Dr. Morrison said everything is going very well! Yea! The baby is doing well and all the measurements are perfect- nice! Movement is good and we could see the heart beating, but not the sex, which is good since we want to be surprised.

The really, really good news is I haven't had any spotting at all since last Wed. and the dr. said if I make it to Monday with no bleeding then I can begin looking for a job. This made me very happy!!! He still wants me to watch my activity and such, but said things are looking really, really good. He isn't sure if the progesterone has stopped the bleeding or if time itself has really made a greater impact, but as long as we aren't having any more bleeding life can resume a bit more normally.

He still is watching my placenta- it is just a bit close to the opening of my cervix, but he feels pretty confident this will take care of itself as the pregnancy progresses and the uterus expands. So--- needless to say we are thrilled!! and so very thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers- please keep praying!!!!

We also talked about the kind of labor and delivery we want- surprisingly here in CA they don't have many practices with both dr's and midwives, which is what we had in Morgantown. Midwives here mainly do home births, which I am not comfortable with in our 566 sq. ft. apt. :) Maggie is so relieved!!

He seems very open to what we want- I can move around during labor as much as I like and we can really direct the way this goes as long as there aren't any life threatening complications for me or the baby, of course. So, all in all very good news- we are getting excited and it is beginning to settle in that we are in fact having a baby- who will be here in March (or Feb- I was 3 wks. early, but the left coast Shope's are notoriously late, so we're banking on this baby being late- perhaps just in time for Brian's birthday on March 17th) or maybe early like its mama- maybe March 2nd on Sarka's birthday! Who knows?

We apologize for the lack of activity here lately- our internet at the apt. is having problems and makes it difficult to post pics from a public computer. I will try and get some up of the apt. as we progress- it looks much different from the first pics posted here. Thank God! ;)

All in all we are very well- Brian is enjoying classes and started his personal training job this week. Very exciting! I have an interview for an HIV/AIDS education/advocacy/case management position with the Pasadena Health Dept. on the 23rd and am looking forward to applying for other positions as well.

We love to hear from you- pls. feel free to post a comment or let us know how you're doing!!
Much love...
Megan for the Shope's