It's a GIRL!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

Baby was doing all sorts of acrobatics, kicking and moving and was being really active. The tech was having a hard time getting good pictures of the lower body because baby's feet were always kicking-which was super cool to see-but she's 95% sure that it's a girl even though she didn't get a good look, but she didn't see anything that would indicate a boy. Jon was a bit disappointed because he really wanted a boy. He just didn't want to admit to himself that a daughter will have him wrapped around her finger the moment she's born, and will be his little princess.  We're going to name our daughter Brinley Ida Renee.

Her face, she's looking at the screen.

Another view of her face.

Her profile.

Little baby foot!

Right arm

We did the gender reveal on my 25th birthday-December 16. My parents were going crazy, having to wait 2 days to find out! I got a dozen sugar cookies and had them write "Girl" on them, and hot pink and light pink balloons and spread them throughout the kitchen and living room. It was a surprise when everyone came over. My mom was the most surprised because she just "knew" it was a boy. Everyone is very excited and happy. 

Weekly Update-Twenty Weeks
from www.babygaga.com
Whoohoo! I'm FINALLY halfway through my pregnancy! This week I'm carrying 10.5 inches and 10oz of growing baby-goodness! My perfect little baby now has tiny eyelashes, tiny eyebrows and her tiny teeth buds are sprouting beneath the gum line.


from www.babycenter.com

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces She's also about 6 1/2 inches from head to rump and about 10 1/2 inches from head to heel-about the length of a banana. She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a sticky black by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first soiled diaper.

Week 19

Week 19: December 10-December 16

We had our 18 week appointment on Wednesday, December 7th. Heartbeat was great at 160 beats/minute.  According to all the old wives' tales, a heartbeat above 150 is a girl.  I've always thought this baby was a girl :)  Biggest excitement of the day: We have our GENDER ULTRASOUND on  Wednesday, December 14 at 8:30am! We'll find out if Peanut is a little Brinley or a little Cameron.

Friday, December 16 is my 25th birthday and we are going to do the gender reveal for our parents! J and I had planned to wait until Christmas to do it, but we will both jump out of our skins if we have to wait a week and a half to announce the news. Plus it will make for a very memorable birthday :)  I haven't decided yet how I exactly want to announce the news, but I have a couple ideas in mind.  I either want to get a boy or girl outfit and wrap it up, or I want to get a whole bunch of balloons (pinks or blues) in a box and have our parents open it up. 

                                                           

To do either of these, I think it would be the most fun to NOT have the technician tell us what the gender is and write it down on a card instead.  Then we could go to The Children's Place or Herberger's and pick out 2 boy and 2 girl outfits, have the cashier ring up the correct outfits, box them up and wrap it right away. Or if we do the balloon reveal, go to Party City, hand the card to the balloon attendant, and have them fill the box with the correct balloons.  It will be more fun that way. I  don't know if I'll be able to not peak at the card once I have it, but I'll do my best :)  

Week 19
www.babygaga.com

TMI time:  My adorable baby is working on their not-so-adorable first poo! As they drink and digest amniotic fluid, the solid bits will accumulate in the "large" intestines as a tar-like substance (aka meconium), which will become their first historical post-birth poop in a depressingly long line of poopy diapers.

www.babycenter.com

Your baby's sensory development is exploding!  Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch.  Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches head to bottom-about the size of a large heirloom tomato.  Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now.  Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting.  A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Baby at Week 19: 

Week 16

Week 16-November 19-November 25


From www.babygaga.com

Over the past three weeks your magical-gro baby has managed to add on yet another 2 full inches of length (totaling about 4.5 inches) and now weighs a whopping 3.5 ounces!

Guess what? Your little lollipop is not so bobble-headed anymore!

Yep, your baby's head-to-body ratio is starting to even out, as the rest of their body - including their arms and legs (the better to kick you with!) plays catch-up.

One of the most anticipated moments in pregnancy is the "quickening" or the first time you undeniably feel your child move inside of you.

In some cultures a woman is not even considered pregnant until she experiences the quickening!

Women claim to feel it as early as 14 weeks. That said, other women laugh at the thought of that woman cherishing a fart that's rumbling in her small intestines.

In general, it's safe to say that after 18 - 20 weeks, all women will experience the quickening as a definitive non-fart poke or prod from within their womb.

Those sweet little flutters will evolve into pokes, prods, and even outright painful kicking as your break-dancing baby-cakes grow in size and seek ways to straighten out in their increasingly cramped quarters.

If you had that gender ultrasound right now, which most doctors recommend at about this time, you might see your little one sucking their thumb, not to mention the necessary signifiers to let you know whether you've got a wee lad or lassie.

Awww...

From www.babycenter.com, 

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.

Baby thoughts

I'm almost 16 weeks pregnant today. Still can't believe it, seems so surreal to me :)  Even though I've had an ultrasound and have seen the baby and heard it's heartbeat, it's still so hard to believe this little baby is all ours.

I think I may have felt the baby kick this afternoon. I can't be positive if that's what it was, but it sure seemed like it. I was at lunch with my bestie and I was sitting at the table and I felt this tiny little pain just below my naval. I'm going to say it was the baby :)

I bought the cutest little sleeper today at Herberger's. It's a little boyish but it's okay since it's super cute. It's light blue with polar bears and penguins, and the feet look like the face of a polar bear. Aww, I love it <3

Our rent is going up again. :( Another $40. We've been in our apartment for 2 years and our rent has only increased $40 total. So this really upsets me. I'm so thankful for my parents though. We have discussed them purchasing a doublewide mobile home or a modular home for us and we will do a rent to own through them. I know this makes me seem like I'm taking advantage of my parents and that my husband and I can't take care of ourselves, much less ready to be parents. This isn't the case. This is something they brought up and while I feel guilty accepting this gift, it's better for us as a family since we've been in an apartment for nearly 5 years. We've wasted so much money on renting with nothing to show for it. Doing this means that it'll be ours someday, plus we'd stop wasting our money. As an added bonus, I'll get to have my cat back! I miss my kitty so much. He's living at my parents right now and has been there for about 3 years. But he still knows me and J and still loves us. He's a cuddlebug and I love him so much, can't wait to get him back! This probably won't happen until summer though, so we still have some time to think it over and discuss it. Either way, I'm so thankful for my parents and so grateful that they want to do this for us. I love them so much.

My baby's progress: Week 15

MY BABY'S PROGRESS: WEEK 15. November 12-November 18


From www.babygaga.com

Only 25 more weeks to go! 

My 4 inch bald gymnast-baby is super-mobile inside my womb as their organ systems are kicking it into high gear, particularly their amazing tiny heart and complex circulation system, which is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood per day, and will be pumping up to 200 quarts per day at birth!

From www.babycenter.com,

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and  
weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces-about the size of an apple. She's busy moving 
amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the 
primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop.  Her legs are growing longer 
than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs.  Although her 
eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light.  If you shine a flashlight at 
your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam.  There's 
not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds.  
Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out 
whether your baby's a boy or a girl! Don't be too disappointed if it remains a 
mystery, though.  Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the 
picture and on your baby's position.  He or she may be modestly curled up or 
turned in such a way as to "hide the goods."

Second Trimester!

So I made it to my second trimester already! 14 weeks on November 5th.


I had another OPOP appointment on Nov 3 and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat! It was at 158 bpm and sounds like everything is healthy! Yay!  I'm finally letting myself get really excited about this baby too. I mean, I was surprised and happy and everything, but I never let myself get really attached either. My mom had a miscarriage at 10 weeks before she got pregnant with me, so I guess in the back of my mind I thought the same thing would happen to me. But now my risk is pretty much nil and I'm very thankful for that and very happy and blessed that peanut was a sticky baby!


One thing that the nurse was a little concerned about was that I've been loosing weight rather than gaining. Since I first went to the doctor, I've lost about 5 lbs. Right now we're chalking it up to cutting down on sugar intake (I've cut WAY back on the amount of pop that I drink), but it's something to watch.


I was transferred to a different doctor to keep an eye on my blood pressure. Prehypertension and hypertension run in both sides of my family, so it's no surprise that it's a bit on the high side. My previous doctor wasn't an OB/GYN; rather, she was still in medical school and doing her rotations. She transferred me to an OB/GYN for better care. 


My first appointment with Dr. Bedell was on Wednesday Nov 9. She's amazing and so easy to talk to, and she explains exactly what she's doing and why. Got to listen to the heartbeat again today, it's at 155 which is perfectly normal. We have our anatomy and gender scan in December; I'm going to request that it be right before Christmas because we want to announce the gender on Christmas Eve/Day. I have a big plan in store for the announcement. I'm going to ask not to know the gender and rather have the dr or tech write it down on a note card and seal it in an envelope. I'll take the card to The Children's Place or Herberger's, pick out two outfits of each gender (2boy and 2girl), have the cashier look at the card and ring up the correct outfits and place them in gift box without me knowing. On Christmas, I'll give the gifts for to our parents and we'll all find out the gender at the same time! 


I really want a girl. :)

Due Date!

I had my first prenatal appointment on Sept. 8. Things went very well. I had all of the normal tests done-Pap Smear, bloodwork, urine sample. An ultrasound tech tried to do an u/s, but I had just given a urine sample so he wasn't able to see anything. I was scheduled for a follow up ultrasound on Sept. 13.

At the ultrasound on the 13th, the tech took all kinds of measurements and showed me the baby! It was such an incredible and surreal moment. This tiny little thing growing inside of me is my baby. MY BABY! :D :D :D :D

Turns out I was no where near as far along as I thought. At my appointment on the 8th, I thought I was probably about 7 or 8 weeks along. I got a call from my doctor a few days later and from the measurements of the ultrasound, I was 6 weeks and 3 days pregnant. That would make my due date May 5th, 2012.

I'm incredibly excited and thrilled about this whole baby business. I honestly thought it would take for-ev-er to get pregnant. We weren't even trying to conceive a baby, and poof! A little miracle is baking.

I also learned that I am Rh-. It means that I'm O- blood type. (I knew I was type O before baby, but not if I was positive or negative.) I was a little worried about this and read a few articles online that scared the bejeezus out of me. I asked about it yesterday at our OPOP (Optimal Pregnancy Outcome Program), and the nurse did a very good job explaining it to me. Basically, since I'm Rh-, my body could possibly see my baby's blood as 'foreign' and attack it. I'll get a couple of shots for it, around 28 weeks or so, and then a couple of weeks before delivery. So it's not a very big deal, unlike I feared by reading online. YAY!

Yay for May babies!

First Prenatal Appointment soon!

We have a date for our first prenatal appointment! Thursday September 8 at 1:30pm. I am beyond ecstatic! Hopefully we'll get an ultrasound and figure out a real due date!

[TMI alert!]
For the past year or so, my periods have been a little irregular. I was late in December, right on time in January and February, missed my March and April (due to an enormous amount of stress), was back on track in May and June, and missed July. I took a hpt around July 18 and it was negative. I missed my August one and thought nothing of it since my periods usually worked themselves out. After my sister's pregnancy announcement on my dad's birthday and a couple days of my stomach feeling "different", I decided that I should probably take another test. So Monday evening, August 29th, I took another test. This one immediately showed a positive result!! We found out we were expecting a child on our 6 year dating anniversary. :)

I went to the First District Health Unit on September 1 to get a confirmation. I knew they'd base my due date on my last menstrual period, which was in June. That would make me due March 23rd. I know there is NO WAY I'm 10 weeks along! I think I'm about 7 weeks, making me due about April 18.

I'm kind of hoping that I'll have this baby April 22. It was my grandma's birthday :) We are planning on finding out the sex when we can too. I really really REALLY want a girl! If we have a girl on the 22nd, her middle name will be my grandma's middle, Ida. J isn't fond of that name, but it'd be a great way to honor my grandma.

So we will hopefully receive a real due date in just a few days!

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

I know I started this blog as a way to vent my frustrations with my marriage, and I admit I did not keep up a good job with it. It was a epic fail on my part. So I have deleted those posts.

Things have settled down in our marriage, and we're at a good place right now. I'm going to spare all of the dirty details, but suffice to say, things are definitely looking up and we've had some serious adult conversations and hopefully we've worked things out so we can look forward to the next adventure in our marriage.

We're PREGNANT!!

It wasn't a planned pregnancy, but definitely not an unwanted one. We have talked about having children in the future, but we were going to wait at least another year before we would start trying.  I was going to student teach this spring, graduate college, and move to Minneapolis. I guess that old quote from Woody Allen is true. "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."  It changes all of our plans, but when Lil Peanut arrives, it'll all be worth it. I'll still walk at graduation in May and student teach in the fall. Maybe we'll move the following summer, maybe not. Our families are all here, minus J's sister, so we'll have plenty of help and babysitters for Peanut.  J was looking for new jobs even before we found out about the pregnancy, and I was a little worried about him getting a job and then having to leave it a year later. So hopefully he gets at least a couple offers at the places he's put in for so he can leave the drama fest that is his work right now, and start being happy again.

We were thisclose to splitting up, but it seems that God has other plans for our futures. He knew we needed something else to focus on and put the past behind us. He wants us together and to raise a child for Him. And we feel so blessed that God has given us this miracle. We will cherish this pregnancy and Baby when he/she arrives in April.

Thanks be to God!