Baby Blog 29

We had a 4D ultrasound today at 17 weeks + 1 day and we found out we are having a...

BOY!!!

Here are some of our pictures from today's ultrasound.

Baby Blog 28

I'm sure that everyone reading this blog is under the impression that my unborn child looks EXACTLY like an avocado (green skin and all).  However, I'm sorry to burst your bubble.  That he or she actually looks like a small human being. :) This is an image I came across while looking up what my baby looks like at 16 weeks pregnant.

This picture is supposed to represent what baby looks like, and it's pretty exciting for me.  

Last night, I felt my "stomach" "flip" out of nowhere.  I'm wondering if baby did a flip.

As of today, my stomach has become very hard, risen up higher, and sort of "popped" out.  I'm getting pretty excited! 

I cut off my head because I have to take a picture of my stomach with my computer and the only way to get it in without standing a mile away from it is just to get an up-close shot.  

There isn't a whole lot else to report.  Sometimes, I worry because I don't seem to be feeling anything.  But then I remind myself that it's still early to be feeling any regular movements.  It's very easy for baby to change positions.  So, the position of the baby will probably dictate how much I feel. 

I consider Tuesdays to be my 1/2 week point.  Since there are obviously an odd number of days in a week, I'd say 4 days into it is as close to halfway as I can get.  

Big ultrasound in T minus 9 days! 

Baby Blog 27

Guacamole anyone?

This week, the baby is the size of a large avocado! Neither of my tickers actually gives me a size in inches for baby this week.  So, I'm going to guess that the baby is 5 and 1/2 inches long.  

Here are a couple of other odd little facts from my Pregnancy Countdown book and my tickers.  Right now baby weighs a whopping 5 ounces! Yup! Still so tiny!  He or she has taste buds, and what I eat at this point will actually impact a lot.  The amniotic fluid will start to smell like the different things I eat.  What a wonderful thought gag.  But I can actually have an impact on the foods that my baby will like/tolerate based on what I eat now.  That's a really neat development to me.  

Baby is also now probably able to hear my voice as the bones in his or her ears are in place! My pregnancy countdown book suggested I start talking to baby.  I have tried it; yet, I'll admit that it feels kind of weird at this point.  It makes me feel more bonded to the baby, but it makes me wonder what the baby hears.  I imagine the baby being on Charlie Brown and only hearing "WA Waa Wa WA wa Wa."

I am 90% positive I started feeling quickening this past week! It's a pretty cool feeling.  It feels like a tickling or like little butterflies.  I think it is quickening because it is coming from the same place every time.  It lasts for a short while and then stops.  I have to be paying pretty close attention to notice it, though.  And other things such as feeling hungry or feeling like I need to go to the bathroom grab my attention so that I probably wouldn't notice if baby was moving then.

I'll be ready to feel regular obvious movements, but I'm going to have to have some patience for that one. :)

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This week, baby is the size of two fruits! WOOHOO! One of these fruits happens to be my favorite...the pear! Basically, my countdown pregnancy book said that baby is 4 1/2 inches this week making him or her about the size of a pear.  However, my fruit ticker says baby is 5 inches and the size of a navel orange.  Either way, baby is somewhere in between there.

I actually got some fruit today, which included navel oranges and pears, and i found that they are honestly roughly the same size.  It all depends on the length of the stem of the pear! Ha!

I also think I'd much rather envision my child as a pear than an orange.  Imagine sticking a head, arms, and legs on that orange..I'd have a rather rotund child.

On another note, I had a funny dream last night.  I dreamt I gave birth to a boy.  He weighed 8 lbs and 11 oz. he was born at 11 o'clock (don't know if it was am or pm), and he had a full head of hair.  In my dream, I had apparently been so "drugged up" from the delivery, that I was knocked out for several days.  And I didn't see my child until he was a few days old.  Lee couldn't remember any of the details from the baby's birth.  So, I asked the baby and he told me how much he weighed and when he was born. lol It was pretty funny.  I also asked the baby "Do you recognize mommy's voice?" He responded, "Well, kind of, but it's not so muffled now." That dream made me laugh so much.  Oh the crazy dreams I've had during pregnancy!

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I wasn't going to write on this because I'd be very embarrassed if it turned out to be nothing.  However, if it does turn out to be something, then I want it to be noted that I have "felt things" this week.  I'm not sure what the feeling is. It could be the baby moving.  It could be the uterus stretching.  I know only time will tell.  But I have been noticing that when I'm sitting pretty still, I feel pressure from inside pushing outwards.  I have been trying to research what it is.  Of course, the results are inconclusive.


Based on what I found, it could be braxton hicks contractions.  The only thing is that I really don't think that's it because the more I read about those, the less they sound like pressure.  The description is more of a mild cramping.  Another thing is that the feeling could be stretching and hardening of the uterus.  Also, the feeling could be the uterus moving up.  However, I have found that the feeling could also be the baby.  Many women have reported not ever getting the "butterflies" feeling.  Instead, they felt a pressure that turned into obvious kicks.  So, that's what it could be.  And yes I hope that's what it is.


One thing that I found in my research was women talking about the baby becoming "visible" at around 24 weeks.  I have no idea what this means.  I assume it means the baby being visible from the outside?  I have not been close enough to a pregnant stomach to know.  However, I can't help but laugh at the whole visible statement because I think "What? The baby was invisible before this?" Oh the terms of pregnancy land. ;)


On another note, I think that when my stomach gets big enough, I might want to turn it into a decorative artform.

Like this

No, that is not my stomach.  It is just a decorative bowl....

Or this

I just decided to stat carrying a fishbowl around in front of me...all of the time...

Baby Blog 24

It seems like people love giving advice when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood.  I'm not sure whether it is the fact that it brings them joy to share things they've learned, or if they really think I'm so clueless I won't make it without advice.


Either way, sometimes I go into advice overload.  There's just too much of it sometimes!  Everyone means well, and I don't get upset with anyone for giving advice.  I just don't always "listen" because sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it.  


I actually know a lot more about babies and what it's going to be like than it might seem.  I have a couple of reasons (in no particular order).   I watched a plethora of educational baby shows for years.  I watched "Bringing Home Baby" and saw what it was like for people to go through having a newborn at home the first days/weeks after the hospital.  Granted, yes, the show is edited and doesn't show everything.  However, once you watch show after show, you start to build knowledge.  Another thing is the fact that I have cared for infants myself.  I have been a nanny.  I took care of three babies all by myself with no help or advice on what I was supposed to be doing or how to do it.  I had to figure it out as I went along and ask a lot of questions.  I worked in a daycare with infants.  There, I learned how to effectively bundle a baby.  I saw babies in all stages of development.  


I hear things from what I should eat and shouldn't eat to whether I should nap or shouldn't nap.  What things I need to get for my baby and what things I don't need to get...Whether I should nurse solely or have a pump...how much I should lift or not lift during pregnancy or how active/inactive I need to be...people saying that it's okay to drink wine to people criticizing my choice of not drinking any caffeine...and basically it all boils down to everyone says something different.  I have had so much different advice, I don't even know what to do with it sometimes.  Maybe I'll nap with one eye open while twitching a leg so I can nap and be active at the same time.   I say all of this lightheartedly and in good humor because it's nothing I'm annoyed by.  It's just funny how everyone has advice and if I listened to it all, I would be stuck in neutral.


I still have a lot to learn, but I have learned more than a lot of people know.  And I'm sure that sharing advice is more or less done out of personal excitement that they have information and they want to share it with someone.  I'm not really saying that I don't want advice because I do.  I just sometimes feel like putting people on mute every now and then.... ;)

Baby Blog 23

When life hands you lemons...

Compare them to the size of a baby! Today, I'm 14 weeks, and baby is around the size of a lemon now.  In other terms, that's 4 inches.  I actually bought some lemons and limes last week for cooking.  And I noticed my lemons and limes are around the same.  So, I'd guess the baby is the size of a large lemon now. :)

I had an appointment with my doctor today.  So far, everything is going normal with the pregnancy! We heard baby's heartbeat loud and strong at 149 bpm today! We listened to it for about 3 minutes; she said it sounded great.  I wish I had some way of bringing a recording device with me to the appointment.  I'd love to record the sound of baby's heartbeat to post it on here.  I don't even have a tape recorder.  I may need to purchase one.

Our BIG ultrasound is set up for February 17th at 1:15.  So, that's when we should know if baby is a boy or a girl.  I can't wait! Let's hope the baby cooperates.