Monday, December 31, 2012

20 weeks

HALFWAY!!! I can't believe we are halfway through this pregnancy. It has flown by and I am soooo excited for what's to come. T & R are on their babymoon and I can't wait to hear about their trip when they get home:) They did a good job of spoiling my family for Christmas. We also had a great Christmas, (actually 3 of them;o)

How am I feeling physically? Heartburn is my biggest complaint (which responds well to Tums, though seems to be increasing in frequency). The weird tongue thing I had with my daughter seems to be getting worse slowly, but it isn't too bad, yet. The eye twitch seems to have gone away. I finally feel like I look pregnant, which is fun.

Doctor's Appointment: My next appointment is January 7th. It will be a long one, with the comprehensive anatomy u/s followed by a regular OB appointment.

Weight Gain: IDK- About 2 pounds, I think (I don't remember what my starting weight was on my home scale, so I will have to do a comparison, next time I go to the Dr.)

Sleep: I am a tummy/side sleeper. So far, I can still sleep in my comfy position- on my tummy with one leg bent, so slightly off to the side. When I can no longer sleep on my tummy, it will take some time to adjust. The waking up to empty my bladder at night has started, but luckily it is 0-2 times per night and not too disruptive yet. I have also started remembering dreams, which is not so good because it means my deep sleep is being interrupted. Overall, not too bad.

Mood: This is a busy time of year. With me being pregnant and DH studying for his big engineer's test in April, I feel like I have been a little moodier than usual, but the spirit of the season helps:o) DH was able to take this past week off, so that has helped us get organized and be more relaxed.

Movement: Definitely feeling more movement the past week, or so. He seems to be most active after dinner until bedtime.

Exciting Moment(s): Feeling more movement:o) We discussed our birth plan which was fun because I got to learn some of the things that T & R would like to have happen when their baby is born. Things like who is going to cut the chord, what his last name will be, who will hold him first (I think this one may still be under discussion;o).

Milestones Achieved: 
Gummy Bear weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — 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.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).  (Source: thebump.com)

Next Milestones/What I am looking forward to: My next OB appointment and "20 week" u/s is January 7th, where we should get confirmation that all is well and confirm that Gummy Bear is a he! Hopefully, movements that I can feel will be increasing over the next few weeks.

Monday, December 17, 2012

18 Weeks

Sorry, this is a couple of days late. It was a fun and busy weekend!

How am I feeling physically? Heartburn is my biggest complaint (which responds well to Tums, though seems to be increasing in frequency). The weird tongue thing I had with my daughter seems to be getting worse slowly, but it isn't too bad, yet. The eye twitch seems to have gone away. I finally feel like I look pregnant, which is fun.

Doctor's Appointment: We got the results for the genetic testing and it came back negative:o) My next appointment is January 7th. It will be a long one, with the comprehensive anatomy u/s followed by a regular OB appointment.

Weight Gain: IDK- I haven't been on the scale recently.

Sleep: I am a tummy/side sleeper. So far, I can still sleep in my comfy position- on my tummy with one leg bent, so slightly off to the side. When I can no longer sleep on my tummy, it will take some time to adjust.

Mood: This is a busy time of year. With me being pregnant and DH studying for his big engineer's test in April, I feel like I have been a little moodier than usual, but the spirit of the season helps:o) 

Movement: Still feeling a few flutters here and there.

Exciting Moment(s): Finding out that GB is a BOY! 

Milestones Achieved: Head to rump, your GB is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that I'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born.  (Source: thebump.com)

Next Milestones/What I am looking forward to: My next OB appointment and "20 week" u/s is January 7th, where we should get confirmation that all is well and confirm that Gummy Bear is a he! Hopefully, movements that I can feel will be increasing over the next few weeks. We have also started the paperwork for the Pre-Birth Order that will put T and R's names on the birth certificate and legally confirm their parental rights.


18 Weeks


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Merry Christmas. . . A little early!

Ever since I scheduled the "20 wk u/s" for Jan 7th (which is 21 wks, by the way), I had been thinking about finding out the gender of the baby before then. I knew T and R wanted to know, but I wasn't sure how badly they wanted to know, so I slyly asked. On a 10 pt scale, I got a 10 and a 7:o) Then the wheels started turning. I called the place I went to when I was pregnant with DD, and scheduled the appointment for Monday, December 3rd:o) I wanted this to be a surprise, early Christmas present from us, so I wanted a clever way to tell them the news. My first idea involved shipping a gift, but after I found out how much shipping internationally is, I had to come up with a different idea. The best I could come up with was a mini slideshow. I think it did the trick! I sent it to them as a video, but have included it below as pics of each slide.






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Did you make your guess?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
No peeking!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I bet some of you could tell from the picture:)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are you dying to know for sure?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here it comes!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Drumroll, please!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Did you guess correctly? Well, I know 2 of my Aunties got it correct. Obviously, we all just want a healthy baby, but it is fun to know that Gummy Bear is a HE:-D And even more fun to not have to wait 5 more weeks to find out. Pretty soon, he may even have a name.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

16 Weeks


How am I feeling physically? Well! No real major symptoms. I have had some very mild round ligament pain (from my uterus growing), heartburn (which responds well to Tums) and my lower abdomen feels fuller. The weird tongue thing I had with my daughter seems to be starting, but it isn't too bad, yet. The eye twitch seems to have returned:(

Doctor's Appointment: I had my 16 week OB appointment on Tuesday. Now starts the ho hum appointments: weight, blood pressure, urine dip, GB's heartbeat on doppler, questions (which I rarely have any). They are pretty quick appointments and should be similar until we get near the end. This time I also had to do the blood draw for the 2nd tri genetic testing. Everything looked good and we should get the results from the genetic testing in a couple of weeks.

Weight Gain: 1 pound

Sleep: I am a tummy/side sleeper. So far, I can still sleep in my comfy position- on my tummy with one leg bent, so slightly off to the side. When I can no longer sleep on my tummy, it will take some time to adjust.

Mood: good, excited to see how excited T & R are about their baby.

Movement: Still feeling a few flutters here and there.

Exciting Moment(s): Nothing too exciting these past two weeks, but stay tuned!

Milestones Achieved: Now, s/he's about 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces. S/he's listening to your voice, thanks to tiny bones forming in the ears, growing hair, lashes and eyebrows and forming taste buds. (Source: thebump.com)

Next Milestones/What I am looking forward to: My next OB appointment and "20 week" u/s is January 7th, where we should get confirmation that all is well and find out if Gummy Bear is a he or a she! Hopefully, movements that I can feel will be increasing over the next few weeks.

I started out overweight, so I feel like I still just look fat, but my family swears I look pregnant, so, here you go- my first bump pic:)
16 weeks