Samuel Dale Herrick

Well, everyone, we can officially say that we can't wait to meet Samuel Dale Herrick in May. We like Samuel because it is a family name on my side and the Biblical story of Hannah and Samuel seems fitting. Dale was Thomas's grandfather's name as well as his mother's middle name.

There is now no doubt that he his indeed a little boy; our 80% has become 100%. Sam is developing beautifully with no recognizable problems at this point. He's on target in respect to size, and his little heart is beating away at 140. Thomas and I both LOVE hearing and seeing his heartbeat. I can't get enough of it.

You can see from the picture above that our doctor routinely uses a 3D/4D ultrasound machine, so we have the luxury of seeing detail like this every time. At this stage babies haven't developed much fat yet, so his face doesn't look cute and pudgy, but it is still so amazing to be able to look at the features of our baby 20 weeks before he will be born! He likes to keep his hands up around his face, as every time we've had ultrasounds, that's where they've been. Can you see his little arm stretched across his forehead? At the end of the session, he put that arm over his face as if to say, "Show's over!"

We also learned that the placenta has an anterior placement, which, for all of you who have been asking, is why I haven't felt him moving as early or frequently as some moms do. The placenta becomes somewhat of a cushion, absorbing many those little kicks and turns for now so I don't feel them. In another couple of weeks I should be feeling him more regularly. It is still a fun surprise to feel little bumps and bubbles from time to time. I do look forward to feeling them every day, though; it's more reassurance that he is alive and well in there. If all goes well, and I'm feeling plenty of movement, I won't have another ultrasound until about 36 weeks - so no more pictures for a while. I'll have to take pictures of "the bump" and post those instead!