Pop goes the belly! (Week 19)

Well, please excuse me for missing week 18 (baby was a green pepper last week). Hubby and I have been tirelessly working on house plans, and we got to celebrate hubby's birthday(which was saturday) with my sister and BIL in her town. (We had a great time, thanks Zarah!) Saturday we went to a town close by that has outlet malls. Yeah, they have a Motherhood Maternity Outlet! I scored some really cute dresses, and a few shirts! Anyways...
Since last post....my belly has "popped". Unless I'm really hiding it with big shirts, most everyone can now tell I'm growing a baby. My most undesirable pregnancy side effect to this date has been my uncontrolled rosacea (b/c I can't use the medication), which gives me very red splotchy cheeks. argh. (but really, nothing to complain about considering some women puke for weeks on end).



Baby update week 19 (I'm now in my 5th month)

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! The brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that baby may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to baby, 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. Baby's arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of body now. The kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on the scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on baby's skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

(from babycenter.com)

We do get to go for our "big" ultrasound tomorrow morning. If we were going to find out the sex of baby, we would do it tomorrow. (but we aren't) We do, however, get to see baby for about 1 hour!

To peek or not to peek... that is the question!

Well, as most of you know. I am still struggling with the decision of whether or not to find out the sex of the child. Everyone has their own opinion, mostly based off of what they have done with their own pregnancies. Either a woman "had to know" and couldn't fathom not knowing, or she "wanted to wait for one of the only surprises left in this world". When I can across this article I really had to chuckle. It is about a mother who "peeked" at each of her children's ultrasounds. She compares it to peeking at her Christmas presents before X-mas when she was 10 years old. As my immediate family knows, I'm infamous for "needing" to open one present on Christmas eve (which, I believe is a trait I inherited from my father, who went to far as to do what the author in the article did, slit open his presents, check out what's inside, then retape them)...so... if I follow my Christmas tradition...I'll have to peek the day before my delivery! I'm not good with surprises, inotherwords, I'm still undecided : )

17 weeks

Scott and I went to my appointment yesterday. Bad new: it's time for another blood test (blah). Good news: everything else. Babies heartbeat is strong, my weight gain is normal (no thanks to me: last week consisted of a Tim Tam cookie feeding frenzy, as well as a chip eating extravaganza), and I'm still feeling great.
In two weeks we are having the "anatomy" ultrasound. It takes about 1 hour for them to take all the views of the baby, and if we wanted to find out the sex of the child, that is when we would do it. Scott is still for not finding out, and I am still on the fence.

Baby Update: Turnip

The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — it's lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. The baby weighs 5 ounces now, and it's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. Baby can move her joints, and sweat glands are starting to develop. Baby is now about the size of a turnip (one of my sister's favorite new winter vegetables... well maybe not favorite, but it is in circulation quite a bit these days due to their winter farm share.)
And finally what some of you have been waiting on... Baby bump at 17 weeks. It is certainly bigger in the evenings ( I just ate dinner).

What's not to love about....

the cutest diaper ever!

Actually, there are a lot cuter diapers out there, but this is the first one that I've bought. I got my first "lot" in the mail today. They are adorable and I can't believe that babies are really that tiny (well, my nephew excluded b/c he was super chubby). I only need about 6-12 more to round out my newborn stash! I got most of these at least half off, I'm so proud of myself.

Mr. Bear however, is not so happy about my purchase. Sorry Bear, you're the closest thing I have to little baby right now.

In other news, we have another Dr. appt. tomorrow, so I'll let everyone know how that goes. I'll be almost 17 weeks. I may or may not be feeling the baby move. Hard to tell whether or not it is my intestines, or a baby, I'll let you know in a few weeks when I'm more sure.

Good night everyone, this mama's tired.

Happy Birthday Elvis

Yes, it is Elvis's birthday today. In honor of this special day, we listened to the all-Elvis, all the time Sirus satellite radio for 4 hrs this morning!

In other news this week ( Week 16):
*I received two pair of maternity pants in the mail! I can still fit into some of my pre-preg pants, but most of my work pants don't fit without the use of the bella band. These maternity pants with elastic waistbands are so incredibly comfy. It's going to be hard to go back to regular jeans! (yes, that sentence makes me sound 95 years old).
*While I want to shop for an entire new wardrobe, my fellow pharmacist at work is going to lend me her maternity clothes, complete with some cute summer dresses I can wear when I'm enormous this spring!
*I bought my first cloth diapers off of Diaper Swappers . I can't wait for them to arrive.
*I've developed chip-itis. I can't resist buying chips, and once I buy them, I can't resist eating the whole bag.


What hasn't happened:
*We don't know the sex of the baby
*I haven't felt any kicks
*I haven't picked out anything for the baby, but I have been researching cribs

Cribs:
Here are some of my favorites :
a.

b.c.(feel free to let me know what you think)

From 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.

Happy New Year

The New Year is going to be especially wonderful for many reasons.
*Well, because we are having our first baby, of course!
*We are going to start building our house.
*No self-induced guilt trip to "flatten my abs" or "lose that 15 lbs"!

I am especially psyched about the last one. Not that I ever actually set strict resolutions for myself, but I have felt like it would be a good idea....and guilt-tripped myself about it. I do however have a seemingly endless "To Do" list for this next year, which I am not necessarily looking forward to.
*Finish house plans and pick out every material
*Move bed and extra clothes out of our spare bedroom (AKA, my "closet room")
*Get carpets cleaned
*Find another pharmacist to cover for me when baby arrives
*Try to keep my house clean (yes, I can dream big)
*Research and decide on which baby things we need
and the list goes on!

Now for Baby update:
(abbreviated from Babycenter.com:)

Baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces . Baby is:
-Busy moving amniotic fluid through nose and upper respiratory tract.
-Changing shape, legs are growing longer than arms now.
-Moving all of his/her joints and limbs.
-Forming taste buds.

We do not know the sex of the baby for all of you wanting to know. We are still deciding whether or not to find out. We may have to have a Thumb Wrestling tournament (yeah for my double jointed thumbs) or coin flip to decide for us!