Originally, Rhodri's Due date was March 21st of next year. At my 12 1/2 week ultrasound, my doctor found that our baby was measuring at 14 weeks, so the due date was changed to March 11th. Being 14 weeks along also meant that it was time to do some more blood work, one of which is the quad screening test which helps to determine if there is a risk for Down Syndrome. This particular test came back positive, so 1 out of 73 chance that he could have Down Syndrome, and since then there have been a lot of Ultra Sounds to monitor his growth and check for any physical signs.
After our first Ultrasound with the Specialist Doctor, Rhodri was measuring behind in growth by 10 days. The doctor was concerned that this was a sign of Down Syndrome and recommended that we do an amniocentesis to know for sure, but we decided that the risks for miscarriage were too high and we did not get the test done. We came back a month later for another ultrasound and Rhodri was now measuring only 4 days behind, which the doctor was much happier about. So, now we are just doing monthly ultrasounds to monitor his growth, but things are looking much better right now.
One of the benefits of these ultrasounds is being able to see Rhodri and take home some awesome pictures like these:
And this one is my favorite:
For the last 2 Ultrasounds, Rhodri has had both arms behind his head and ankles crossed. The last time the nurse laughed and said, "He's just Chillin' in there." You can see his arms up in this picture, which is why I like it. I think it's pretty funny.
It's weird how you can start to know your baby even before he is born. Rhodri has a tendancy to try and push things off of him if he feels something on him. Like yesterday, at church, I was folding my arms for the prayer and Rhodri kept kicking me until I moved them off of him. He did the same thing when I was visiting my parents and one of the dogs came to sit on me. And he tends to do the same thing during ultrasounds, always pushing or kicking the equipment away. His favorite place to kick me lately is my diaphram, and his kicks just keep getting stronger. He makes me laugh and I can't wait to meet him.
As many of you know, Tyson and I are now expecting. We are 24 weeks and 3 days as of today and we are having a boy! When trying to agree on names we stumbled on a name that was slightly unusual, but we both loved it. It was my way of compramising with Tyson since he didn't like the names I have had picked out since childhood, and I could not name my child after the parts of a dirt bike. So, I went to a baby names website, searched under anything I could find with a meaning that had something to do with motorcycles, and found the name "Rhodri" which means: Circle ruler or King of Wheels. At first it was just a name I threw at him, but then we both decided we really liked it. After doing a little more research I found that the name comes from a Welsh King, which I thought was great since I am part Welsh.
When I was telling my mom about this story she said, "Make sure it's not a bad king!" which I hadn't even thought to look up before. Slightly panicked that this name could potentially be no good, I went straight to wikipedia to find out what I could. I was relieved to find that King Rhodri was in fact a well beloved king of the Welsh people. You can find more information on him at these lovely websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodri_the_Great
http://www.castlewales.com/rhodri.html
Rhodri's Castle:
Later, when visiting with my mom and dad just a few weeks ago, my mom and I were doing some family research and found that we are descendants of Rhodri "Mawr" (Welsh for Great) not just once, but several times over. In fact we are related to all 3 of his sons. So, I can formally say "It's a family name." Ha ha.
I'm so excited to back to the land of the living! I have internet now and you can bet I'll be posting a lot more stuff. I am so happy :) that's all.
