Week 23

Week 23: January 7-January 14

I ordered our crib last week! I was looking at 3 different styles and read all the reviews, and finally decided on the perfect one. I was going to order it from Amazon, but when I was going to order it last week, it was out of stock and wouldn't ship for 1-2 months. So I ordered it from WalMart for the same price and it arrived at the store 2 days later. I'll be picking it up on Tuesday!

My favorite part is that it's a 4-in-1 conversion crib, which means that it converts from a crib, to a toddler bed, to a daybed, and to a full size bed. That means that I'll never have to buy another bed for this baby again! Pretty awesome deal for $200! :)

I've starting working on the nursery decor as well. I've chosen the bedding-Plum Dandy, and it'll also have bits and pieces of the Lion King, like this Lion King lamp, Lion King wall art, and Lion King mobile. I also ordered a couple vinyl wall clings with Disney quotes- "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes-Cinderella" and "All You Need is Faith, Trust, and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust". And this is the color inspiration for the nursery when we get our new house <3 Yarn strands I love the purple and pale pink shades.

Weekly Update
from www.babygaga.com

Your little womb hi-jacker is starting to kick their break dance party up a notch now that her ears are registering sounds from the outside world! The sound of a phone ringing (or that catchy ringtone), a thunderclap, or a car honking will actually jar their ears enough to elicit a kick or jab. More importantly, this means that her ears are picking up the sound of your voice and others around you. So, if you've been yelling a lot lately (and who doesn't get cranky when pregnant?), it's time to reign that in and practice a little self restraint now for the sake of your little eavesdropper, who is becoming exquisitely more sensitive to all of your behaviors every day.

The equation is simple: happy healthy mama=happy healthy baby.

Stress during pregnancy is quite literally BAD for your baby's developing brain.  It's time to clean out the toxic relationships in your life for your sake and your child's sake. Take the time to center and be quiet-to reflect on the growing life inside of you and the future you will share together.  Read up on infant development and attachment to start preparing yourself for the first time you will meet your little one.

from www.babycenter.com

Turn on the radio and sway to the music.  With her sense of movement well developed, your baby can feel you dance.  And now that she's well over 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about the size of a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes.

Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud sounds that become familiar now-such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner-probably won't faze her when she hears them outside of the womb.

What baby looks like this week:

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. :)