Week 21!

Wow, the weeks seem to be flying by!  I've decided to switch it up a bit and try something new with the blog. 

Baby's Size: The baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long - about the size of a carrot.

My Weight: So far I've gained about 4 lbs.  Supposedly here on out, I will gain about a 1/2 lb a week.

Maternity Clothes: I'm pretty much wearing out my maternity shorts & dresses.  It has been ungodly hot, so I am trying to stay cool but I have limited outfit choices!  I am still looking for a few tank tops to go with my shorts and I just bought some jean capris, but it's too hot for those!  A friend also just lent me her maternity swimsuit which suprisingly fits perfectly!  Colleen is way smaller than me, so I wasn't optimistic, but you can hardly see my love handles with the longer top!

Movement: I've been feeling baby girl every night when I lay down in bed.  Justin has felt her move twice, but she seems to get bored with moving around everytime I tell Justin to feel my tummy!

Sleep: I am still enjoying sleep alot.  I can't really ever make it past 9:30 pm, but some nights I do.  I'm pretty good at sleeping on my side, but find myself waking up on my back quite frequently which the docs tell you not to do.  Guess I will work on that! 

What I miss: Eating deli meat...I think I am finally starting to come around and might actually enjoy eating meat again.

Best Moment this week: We've just started to look into cribs.  When I was headed to the pool, I told Justin to look over some websites and see if he liked anything.  I came home to an actual list of cribs he likes!  I was so happy to see that he was interested in this aspect! 

Looking forward to: More & more movement from baby girl so Justin can feel her moving around.

Cravings: I have been craving a margarita for awhile now and with it being so hot, I want one more & more!!

Symptoms: My leg continues to have a numb feeling, but at least it isn't as painful as before.  I now have a lovely pain underneath my ribs on the right side of my body.  The doctor said this was normal because everything was moving around and shifting to accomodate the baby.  Other than that, I feel really good!

Pictures:

Ollie & Brinkley hanging out while Justin vacuums

20 Weeks - At the halfway mark!

The baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel - about the length of a banana! (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system.

I've been a complete slacker the last few days because I am still recouperating from this weekend's festivities.  Amanda & Ian got married on Saturday and everyone had a great time!!  I stayed up way later than and boy am I am paying for it now!  I didn't get a chance to take a picture on Sunday and have neglected to do so since...so I am posting a pic from Saturday at where we got our hair & makeup done.

I'm still feeling really good day to day.  My ribs on the right hand side of my body ache, I don't know if it's because other things are expanding, but it is not comfortable! 
Now that the wedding is over, Justin & I will finally start focusing on the nursery and other items that we need.  I can't wait to pick some things out and get things moving!  Sooner then later, we will have to move the dog's kennel, hanging rack & ironing board somewhere else so I can start to imagine where I'd like things to go.  I can't wait!!!

Week 19!

Another week down! 
The baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. The baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom (about the size of a mango).  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.

I continue to feel really good.  I still get tired easily, but I enjoy resting & sleeping so that isn't really a problem!  I am 99.9% sure that I felt the baby moving around on Saturday night.  I was up way too late because Justin was out and about hanging with some old friends and all of a sudden I felt it.  It was about 1 am and when I tried to poke her into doing something else she declined.  Almost every night when I am heading to bed I feel movement, but I never know if it's just my tummy or her moving around!!  I can't wait until I can actually decipher between the two!

Here's the 19 week pic...I changed it up a bit with a grey tank instead of black.  Basically I was too lazy to go upstairs and change!

I'm still crossing my fingers that my bridesmaid dress fits come Saturday!  The dress is a little tight, but I really don't want to have to look for another dress!  I guess time will tell.

Week 18!

Today, we started off the day with breakfast for my mom for Mother's Day!  Amanda went and got all the groceries needed to make breakfast so everything was in full swing by the time Justin & I got there.  Justin decided he needed to try and make Eggs Benedict because he had just watched Tyler Florence make them on his show in an easier way then he was use to.  So we had two pans of veggies cooking (my Dad didn't want his mushrooms touching our peppers & onions), bacon, water boiling for the poaching of Justin's eggs and then scrambled eggs.  Everyone of course wanted some different variation of what was being cooked.  To top it off I brought Raisin bread to toast, yummy!  I am really loving my carbs right now but have to be very very careful the next 2 weeks because I really need to fit into my bridesmaid dress for Amanda's wedding!! 
It was a good breakfast and after we all got to talk to my Grandma and wish her a happy Mother's Day!  I received a few texts messages from friends wishing me a happy mother's day, but the two text messages that stuck out were the ones from Justin's brothers, Adam & Gannon.  They both texted me something sweet and whether or not it was prompted by my mother-in-law (most likely!) it was still very nice of them.  We got to wish Justin's mom a happy mother's day before she went off to watch Justin's cousin dance in a competition basically all day long!  They have this competition every year and every year she is there to cheer his cousin on...she's a good mommy & aunt!
As for baby news...I am officially 18 weeks pregnant!

Apparently, the baby is getting ready to bust a move. She now may be large enough for me to feel her twisting, rolling, kicking, and punching her way around the womb. I have yet to feel anything as of yet, but I am excited for this!   

Head to rump, the baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and she officially weighs about 7 ounces. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. Since we now know we are having a girl, we know that her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place.

I'm still feeling really good.  I still get tired quickly, but what can you do!?  My precious little pup will always curl up and nap with me!

Have a great week!

~Steph~

Duke Appt.

So, I neglected to share all of our news with everyone after the appointment on Wednesday.  We spent about a half an hour with the Ultrasound Technician, then had to go into another room to meet with the Doctor where I would be weighed & measured and also get a chance to ask any questions I might have had.  I had a few questions, but nothing too exciting!  I was curious about all the things I had been reading about how I am not supposed to be sleeping on my back.  I usually start my night off on one of my sides, but almost always wake up and am on my back.  The doctor said, pick a side and don't lay on your back....Uhhh, ok??  She didn't give me any reason or anything, so I will probably be following up on this!  Then I asked if I could sit in the sun.  She said I could if I had sunscreen on and drank lots of water.  She said my body will respond to the heat much quicker then before I was pregnant, so make sure I don't overheat. 
That's when she dropped the bomb. 
Baby C supposedly had 2 little brain cysts on each side of her brain which the doctor called Choroid plexus cysts.  She said it wasn't something to be overly worried about, BUT who hears brain & cysts in the same sentence and doesn't panic!?!?!  The doctor said she was going to refer us to a specialist.  She gave us 2 options and we chose to go to Duke Perinatal Consultants.  I don't remember a whole lot of what other things she said because I was upset and trying to hold in the tears while still in the office.  I couldn't even look at Justin because I knew the tears would start running.  Thankfully, Duke was able to get us in quickly.  We left the office and I immediately threw the sunglasses on and started crying.  Justin & I had driven separate, so I knew I had to pull myself together long enough to drive home.  We left the parking lot and both of us called our moms to give them the good news (It's a Girl!) and the bad news (brain cysts).  Both mother's were very optimistic and said they would keep us in their prayer's.  I knew I didn't want to head onto google right when I got home because I knew I'd see some bad things.  Thankfully, my mom and good friend, Katie Fanelli, looked up this Choroid Plexus Cysts to see what it was all about.  I'm sure there were some horrible things they saw, but both filled me in on all the positive info they found...this helped me a TON!!  Justin later looked up just the definition and it wasn't too terrifying, but it still made for a long few days. 
After lots of tears, prayers, sleepless nights & a churning stomach we were headed to our appointment.
The Ultrasound tech at Duke was AMAZING!  She kept us in the loop the whole time and showed us all the things she was looking for to rule out any abnormalities.  It came up in conversation that I have anxiety so she was well aware of the person she was dealing with!  Soon, she came to the end of the exam and said that everything looked very very good.  Next, we just had to hear from the Duke doctor.  After waiting for a few minutes, the tech came back in and said I could see one of two doctors and the one that was coming into our room was ultra conservative.  She explained that this particular doctor liked to give you all options and likes to show a broad range of what could go right and what could go wrong.  (Great)  The tech reminded me again, that although she isn't a doctor, she sees this stuff all the time and she thought everything looked great.  So again we waited for the doctor to appear and when she did, we heard something wonderful....YOUR BABY LOOKS PERFECT.  I couldn't believe the ultra conservative doctor came in and said this!  It was music to our ears.  The doctor did go through all the things that could/might happen, but she wasn't recommending an amnio or blood work to pin point anything.  She said if we wanted to know the odds of something possibly being wrong with Baby C, we could do the amnio or blood work, but both Justin & I think it would just be another thing to worry about.  The doctor said the baby looked perfect, no other "soft" markers for abnormalities, so we were happy with that.  We have a checkup in a month or so just to make sure she is growing at the approximate rates and everything still looks good.  We left Duke feeling like a huge weight had been lifted and I was extremely tired.  I knew I'd sleep good that night!  Here are all the pictures from our Duke ultrasound...also THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO KEPT US IN THEIR PRAYERS!!  It means so much to Justin & I!!

Profile

Arrow pointing to her lady parts!

Profile

A picture of her little foot!

Close-up of her Profile

Ultrasound Appt.

IT'S A GIRL!!!


We went to the doctors today in hopes of finding out the sex of the baby.  The ultrasound tech was having a hard time getting a picture between the baby's legs because the baby was moving all over the place!! 
Finally, close to the end, she was able to capture the female body parts!!  Since I had been convinced we were having a boy I was a little shocked, but obviously very very happy!   I can't wait to see Justin with a little girl!!  He will be wrapped around her little finger!!


Here's a picture of the little one...


17 Weeks, 3 Days!



Week 17!

This week, the baby is about the size of a palm, weighs about five ounces, and is developing some body fat.  My only problem with the size "equation" is, do they mean Justin's palm or my palm!?  Another website said about the size of a turnip, so I think that's more helpful.  The heart is now regulated by the brain (no more random beats) to beat 140 to 150 times per minute.  She’s practicing the survival skills she’ll need at birth — like sucking and swallowing.
The baby is almost certainly listening up by now. In fact, loud noises — the dog barking, the doorbell ringing — will actually startle your baby (and also get him or her used to such noises; for instance, fetuses who regularly hear a dog barking will become babies who sleep right through Fido's outbursts).  Most of the survival reflexes that your baby will have at birth are being perfected in utero right now.

Within the next week or so, the pads on the baby's fingertips and toes will become adorned with completely individual swirls and creases (aka fingerprints).

I'm glad the baby is getting used to noises because I am having a hard time training Brinkley to not bark when she is playing.  Every night after dinner, she waits for Justin to be done and then starts in on him until he gets down to play with her.  He of course teases her, taunts her and messes with her which makes her very excited and in turn BARK loudly!  I don't know who I need to train more, Justin or Brinkley!  I've started to say to "Shhhh, the baby is sleeping", but she doesn't get it!

Here's the 17 week picture...

I'm feeling great at the moment!  I'm still pretty tired at the end of a day, but overall I feel really good.  The only thing that seems to bother me is my back if I am in a certain position too long.  If this happens, I just get a nice backrub from Justin and usually that helps...I even had a nice back rub from Shelly today! 
I've been having the most bizarre dreams lately...I think some of these "bad" dreams will go away once we have the ultrasound done and get to see that the baby is healthy.  We originally had the ultrasound scheduled for Friday May 6th, but I received a call last week saying the technician would be having foot surgery that day could we come in earlier on Wednesday May 4th.....Uhhhh, YES!  So we have our appointment scheduled for Wednesday at 2pm.  We can't wait!!

And last but not least.....

BRINKLEY!