27 Weeks

This is my last week being in my 2nd trimester and I'm still feeling great!  Three more months until my due date!  I've only had a day or two of mild heartburn, a day here and there where I had a really achy stomach and sore back, but for the most part, I can't complain!  I've started taking the dog out for walks again on a regular basis.  Soon, I hope to start walking again with my mom.  Walking is the only exercise I get nowadays.

My mom and I made a trip this past Sunday down to the Buy Buy Baby store, which is in Bethesda.  And, can I say, I fell in love!!!  The store is pretty big and the customer service is exceptional!!  I had a personal consultant walk around the store with us and everyone was so friendly and helpful.  They all seemed very knowledgeable too.  They had a much wider selection I felt on a lot of their items than what Babies R Us carries and I didn't think I would end up registering there, but once there, I couldn't resist.  And I realized they had stuff that Babies R Us didn't have that I wanted.  What I really like also is that you can use your Bed Bath and Beyond coupons at the store too!  They also take competitors coupons I believe too as long as the same product is available at both stores.  I told my mom, that we'll have to make some trips down there when the baby comes!

Tuesday night, I picked Briana up and took her out to dinner at Sascha's in Baltimore for her upcoming birthday!  It was so nice having one on one time with her.  The food was great.  Afterward, we went back to her place to have "birthday cake".  Well, not exactly.  I ordered the Birthday Cake Remix icecream from Coldstone along with another cake batter ice cream and cookie dough...they were sooo good!  We were good though and saved some for later.  I know, I broke my lenten promise, but it was for a very special person and a very special occassion!

I had my 5th prenatal appointment today.  This was the "big appointment" where they check for Gestational Diabetes.  I had to drink a bottle of a fizzy orange drink.  I didn't think it was bad at all.  It sorta reminded me of a Sunkist going flat.  I drank that within a few minutes.  My blood pressure read 107/71 and as far as my weight goes, I was up 3 pounds since my last appointment 4 weeks ago.  My total weight gain so far this pregnancy has been 21 pounds.  I saw my OB for the first time this pregnancy.  Typically, I've been seeing the nurse.  The doctor measured my fundal height (length from the top of my pubic bone to the top of my uterus) which is the first appointment they have done this.  It measured about 26 centimeters which the doctor said is right on track.  The ultrasound from earlier this month checked out great and they can eliminate any cardio problems at 80-85%.  After I saw the doctor, I had to finish waiting until a full hour went by from the time I drank the orange drink and then they took my blood which will be tested for the gestational diabetes and also my TSH levels for my thyroid.  I should have my results back sometime next week.  My next appointment is in three weeks.

Yesterday was a busy day, hence why my blog post is a day late.  I had my hair done, attended Drew's 2nd birthday, and then went up to Frederick for my niece's baptism.
This week, our baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with legs extended. He/she's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing the eyes, and perhaps even sucking on those tiny little fingers. With more brain tissue developing, our baby's brain is very active now. While the lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he/she were to be born now. Any rythmetic sensation I may be feeling, may be the baby having hiccups, which is common. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother the baby.
Below are a few pictures of me at 27 weeks, including pictures of Briana and I (26 1/2 weeks) and a picture of me when I returned home from Ava's baptismal celebration.  I wish I had a picture of Craig dressed up because he looked so good that night!  He was dressed in lenten colors which is one of my favorite colors - Purple!

27 Weeks

\

26 Weeks

Less than 100 days to go!  We are about 2/3 of the way there!  This may be the week our baby opens their eyes for the first time since the first trimester, which is when their eyelids aren't fully developed yet.  The eyes remained closed until about this time.  Also, if we had to unfortunately go into premature labor, our baby has a good chance at surviving even though it will require a lot of medical intervention since its lungs are not yet prepared for the outside world yet. 

We once again dog sat Saber, our friend Jo and Tim's dog.  This time, it was for 10 days.  I can't believe he gets picked up within the next day or so.  Time flies when Saber's here!  I was roommates with Jo back in 2003 when she brought Saber home for the first time as a puppy.  Raised by two females, this dog is the most LOVEABLE, CUDDLY dog!!!  I love when we have him stay with us, because then Bailey has a playmate and when Bailey lays with Craig on the couch, I have a dog of my own to just wrap over my tummy to keep me warm and cozy.  He's such a wonderful dog!  And the cat no longer hides from him.  The cat used to stay in our sink for 3 days and we would have to bring his food to the sink.  He now actually teases Saber and tries to corner him until Saber barks for one of us to rescue him or the cat tries to get in Saber's way so he can't come back inside from being outside when I open the door.  Mean cat!  But Saber doesn't pay him much mind and the cat doesn't ever try to hurt him.  Saber acts how Bailey the dog used to act with Bailey the cat when they first started living together.  A matter of time, and I think Saber will own up and show the cat who really is the boss!

Briana and her boyfriend Buddy came over for dinner Tuesday night.  I was complimented by the empty plates everyone had.  We had Mango Curried Pork Chops with Arkansas Beans, and my homemade mashed potatoes.  I was quite impressed myself with how everything turned out.  It was a great time seeing them and Craig really enjoyed Buddy's Political Intellect; they could go on for hours!  I'm so happy my best friend has found someone that truly makes her happy.  But it is sad to realize that she may soon move away.

Our home improvements have been completed and we should get our refrigerator today.  We had a ceiling fan installed in the nursery, had new tile floor installed in the soon-to-be baby's bathroom which we then needed a plumber to come in and raise the flang for the toilet and extend the piping in the sink since the tile floor made the bathroom floor slightly raised.  We also had recessed lighting installed in our kitchen (what a difference the lighting makes!!!), had a water line installed for the ice maker, and then had the cabinets above our refrigerator raised so we can fit a larger refrigerator there which we are to have delivered today.  My mom keeps stealing our contractors too.  She now wants them to paint for her as well as refinish their banister.  We were really happy with Troy and Eric.  They were extremely friendly and easy to work with.  If anyone needs someone for bathroom, kitchen, or basement remodeling, they are the ones to hire!  And they are friends with the plumber we used too which has been our plumber for the past two years now as well (that's who referred us to these contractors).

Since our kitchen was "occupied" for most of the day/evening, Craig and I, along with Craig's friend Mark, all went to Greene Turtle by Arundel Mills to have dinner and watch some basketball.  I like the personal TVs each table had!!

Craig is enjoying his time off of work.  He took off of work Thursday to play golf and enjoy the nice weather getting stuff done outside.  Then he went golfing again yesterday with Mark, and Sunday he will be golfing with his friend Neil.  He loves his golf GPS that I got him for Christmas and he's been matching his best game scores.  Since this is the first time he's been out this season, and the first times he's used the device, he may be shooting in the 70's by the end of the season!  His best score yet has been an 86 which he shot yesterday while playing with Mark.

The network of nerves in our baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He/she may now be able to hear both my voice and Craig's voice as we chat with each other.  I started reading Goodnight Moon to the baby (the only baby book I think we have in the house right now).  The baby is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of their lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when they are born and takes their first gulp of air. The baby is continuing to put on baby fat. The baby now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If we're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

Below is a picture of me at 26 weeks.

26 Weeks

25 Weeks

There are 15 weeks left, which is equivalent to 3 1/2 more months, before we are expected to meet Baby Long.  Can you believe how far we've made it?  It sure is hard for me to believe.

On Thursday, I went to lunch with my brother Chris and my friend, Mel.  Other than the lunch, it's been a pretty uneventful week, which I can't really complain about.  I need to cherish weeks like this, since soon, all of our days will be eventful.

Next week, we are putting some of our tax refund toward some home improvements.  We are getting a larger refrigerator which requires the contractor to change out part of our cabinets in order to allow the new fridge to fit.  A growing family requires a larger refrigerator!  2nd we plan on putting tile in the bathroom that will be the baby's bathroom.  3rd, we are having a ceiling fan with a light fixture installed in the nursery, and 4th, we are changing out our kitchen light and having recess lightting installed as well as a pendant light installed above the sink.  I can't wait to see the results!  We have done so much to this house and are so proud to see all we've done in the last 2 years of living here.  I just wish we took a lot of before pictures when we first moved in!

Head to heels, our baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. The weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he/she is beginning to exchange the long, lean look for some baby fat. As the baby does this, the wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he/she will start to look more and more like a newborn. The baby is also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

I can tell when the baby is more in a head down position versus feet down.  I say this because typically I will receive the kicks in either the top of my uterus above my belly button or down on my cervix and bladder.  It's like the baby is doing somersaults in there because he/she changes position throughout the day!

Below are a couple of pictures of me at 25 weeks.

25 Weeks

24 Weeks

Thank goodness the Olympics are over.  I finally get to go to bed at my decent hour.  Craig and I were able to enjoy a movie out Sunday evening (we saw Shutter Island) and then grabbed subs at Potbellies afterward.  I didn't want anything too heavy since it was already 8 at night.  Then we went out to dinner Friday night at Timbuktu.  Originally, we were going to go to the movies after dinner, but decided to buy a movie and watch it at home instead.  We ended up buying the movie 2012.  We figured it was the same price anyway and we get to keep the movie.  I wish date night happened more often.  Hopefully it won't be nonexistent once the little one comes along.  That's what grandparents that live close by are for, right?

I had an ultrasound on Thursday, March 4th in order for the doctors to have a closer look at the baby's heart since one of my brothers was born with Transposition of the Great Vessels.  According to more recent studies, if a sibling has this type of heart defect, it will increase my chance of passing it on to my children, but the chance is still very small.  The doctors are just taking precautions.  Based on the previous U/S, everything was pointing toward a positive outlook, but they wanted a more indepth look and needed to wait until the baby's heart got a little bigger.  Everything checked out great and they do not see any sign of any major heart defect.  The baby was in breech position.  Last time they were head down.  But that doesn't mean anything at this stage anyway.  The baby is on target for growth and they estimated the weight to be 1 pound and 4 oz.  They said it falls in the 39th percentile for growth.  The baby had hiccups too!  You can see the 3-D picture that we were given down below of the baby's face.  The little stinker wouldn't move its hands from its face, but all in all, the picture turned out pretty good.

Craig was finally able to feel the baby kick.  I had his hand on my stomach this past Sunday and told him he will have to do this each night until he feels a kick.  At first he would say he felt it so he can just go to sleep but I knew better.  And shortly thereafter, I felt a huge thump and said "o.k., did you feel that??  That was a really good one!" and sure enough he did.  He said it felt like my belly just bounced...LOL.  After that, I had a hard time falling asleep because the little one would not stop moving around.  But I was enjoying it none the less!  As the doctor says, "an active baby is a healthy baby".  I don't go a day now without feeling some good movements.  And to top off my excitement, I was able to just lay in bed and watch my belly have a party inside!  Seeing it from the outside adds a whole new dimension to this baby miracle thing.  I just love being pregnant!!!  Someone ask me in 3 more months if I'm feeling the same way!!

Some random tidbits - I do find that I have a hard time catching my breath when going up 2 or 3 flights of stairs.  Also, tying my shoes is becoming a chore, so I'm glad I am having a June baby so I can start wearing slip on flats and flip flops soon.  I do notice that there is more of me taking up more space.  For instance when opening a door, I have to step back just slightly more than I'm used to or the door brushes against my stomach.  I lay on my stomach still to play with my cat, but I find I have to have a huge pillow under my chest to balance the bump out.  My back started hurting this past Wednesday; although it's been a lot more tolerable now.  And I cheated on my lenten promise...I had some chocolate chip peanut butter cookie batter when making Craig cookies to bring to work.  But I'm saving my craving to try the cookies on Sunday.  Other than that, I've done really well!

Our baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him/her at just over a pound. Since the baby is almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he/she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but the body is filling out proportionally and will soon start to plump up. The brain is also growing quickly now, and the taste buds are continuing to develop. The lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help the baby's air sacs inflate once he/she hits the outside world. The skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.  My uterus is now the size of a soccer ball!
Below are pictures of both the sonogram from Thursday and me at 24 weeks.

Baby has a face!

24 Weeks

23 Weeks

Four more months to go!  I seem to be doing very well on my Lenten sacrifice - no chocolate or desserts.  It is definitely hard, but I know it is for the better.  Despite giving up desserts, I find my weight is accumulating much faster now.  My body seems to be holding on to whatever I consume.

I've been up late each night watching the olympics, but seem to still be getting enough sleep.  Luckily I have the privilege of working from home.  It definitely makes it so much easier when I can be flexible with my sleep schedule.

My 4th prenatal visit was on Thursday.  I checked out pretty well.  My only downfall was my weight gain.  I gained 8 pounds in the last 4 weeks!  Now I am up a total of 18 pounds from my prepregnancy weight.  I was hoping to be no more than 15 pounds over at this point.  My blood pressure was 108/68.  The nurse said I have a rowdy little one in my tummy because the baby was never still enough to get a consistent reading of the heartbeat.  The heartbeat kept jumping between 155 and 163.  I do feel the nudges a lot more frequent now and they are becoming stronger.  A couple times, I've even been able to have my hand on my belly and actually feel the kicks.  My next prenatal appointment is my glucose test!  I can't believe how far into this pregnancy I've gotten now.

With the baby's sense of movement well developed by now, I am told that I should start swaying to music. And now that he's/she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, I may be able to see some squirming underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that the baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing them for their entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as our dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him/her when they hear them outside the womb.

Below is a picture of me at 23:

23 Weeks

22 Weeks

I am 5 months pregnant, which is hard to believe.  I have just over 4 more months left before the baby is expected to make their entrance. 

Thursday, I went to Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, MD with my parents and some of their friends to see the musical "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change".  It was a pretty hilarious show about dating, marriage, and of course it wouldn't be complete without the baby!  I wish Craig was able to go.  He would have liked to see it.

Last night I had a girls' evening and chowed down on chinese take out and watched the Olympics with my friends Gina and Jenny.  It's so nice to be able to get out much more since being couped up lately from all the snow.  And it's even better to be able to spend time with friends you rarely get to see anymore. 

Today I'm leaving on my first annual mommy getaway.  Our friend Victoria and I are heading to Cambridge, MD on the Eastern Shore to the Hyatt Regency to enjoy a day of pampering.  She has a one year old and since I'm carrying in utero, I'm technically a mommy too!  We'll grab lunch together before we begin our pampering.  We'll start off with a 60 minute massage sometime after 3PM.  I'm getting the "Baby on Board" massage.  Then later in the evening, we'll be back to get an intense pedicure and a 60 minute facial which mine will be a "Baby on Board" facial.  I'm really looking foward to it!!  Craig will have his own little freedom by having the evening without me.  Just him and the two Baileys (cat and dog).

My parents are pretty much done with painting their nursery.  Craig has only the walls to do now in ours.  Everything else is complete as far as painting goes.  Once all the snow and ice is gone, he can finally move our guest room furniture over to my parents' house to store (one day we hope to buy a bigger house so we can reincorporate the guest room).

So, I am attempting to tackle something huge.  And I mean huge as in tough.  I LOVE chocolate and desserts.  However, being pregnant, I know it's not the best thing for our little one.  Soooo, starting this past Wednesday (which was the beginning of the Lenten season), I am giving up all chocolate and sweets.  I have never been able to give this stuff up for Lent before, so you can imagine how tough it's going to be while pregnant!!!  Now, I'll allow myself to have snacks, like apples and peanut butter, baked chips, crackers and cheese, yogurt, or what not, but no more cookies, cakes, brownies, M&Ms, etc.  Please wish me luck, as I will need ALL the luck in the world!

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, our baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. The lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and there's even tiny tooth buds developing beneath the gums. The eyes have formed, but the irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If we could see inside my womb, we'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers the baby's body and the deep wrinkles that appear on their skin, which the baby will sport until he/she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside the belly, the pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Here are pictures of Craig and me posing in the nursery with the "Baby" graffiti Craig painted on the wall.

Here's Craig painting the nursery into our keylime green color.  What a difference in color from the lilac purple shown above!

Below are some pictures of my belly at 22 weeks.

22 Weeks

21 Weeks

We can technically say we are OVER halfway there now!  Due to the two major snow storms we had this past week (totalling over 40" of snow all together), it took a week before I left the house!  The cabin fever was settling in.  Poor Craig had to do all the shoveling by himself.  I wish I could've helped him!  We did start a fire in our fireplace down in the basement so I can go through some storage items and get rid of some things.  Craig and I stripped the wall paper border off of the nursery walls and he painted the trim in the room.  He's finishing up the doors and will probably do the walls next weekend.  My parents are almost done painting their nursery.  They are waiting for Craig to paint the edge at the top of the wall that meets the ceiling.  They are trading his services for a nice home cooked meal for us.

Yesterday (Saturday) we ventured down to Great Beginnings and ordered the nursery furniture.  And since I like to save a buck or two, I sang kareoke to the song Hokey Pokey in front of the store customers in order to save $90 off of the purchase price.  And, yes, Craig HAD to videotape it.  I felt SOOOO red in the face out of embarrassment.  But apparently, I was able to get a little girl to dance.  And if you get to see the video, laugh all you want.  Just remember that I was the one who stepped up to the plate and someone else wanted to hide behind the video camera and take all the credit!  The furniture is going to take approxiamately 10-14 weeks before it arrives.  We opted to have them deliver and install it all.  I can't wait!

Today is Valentine's Day and Craig made up for videotaping my embarrassment just the day before by making me breakfast in bed this morning.  He made my favorite breakfast item - Eggs Benedict!  MMMM  mmm Good!!!  It was fantastic.  He even made the hallondaise sauce from scratch.  Tomorrow I am making him one of his favorites - Banana Chocolate Chip waffles.  Due to all the snow we've received, Craig's Valentine gifts had not arrived yet.  He gave my Valentine gift early and it is absolutely gorgeous!  He splurged on a Pottery Barn Wine hutch for our dining room.  I love it!  If only I can drink wine now!  We are going to dinner tonight at one of our favorite restaurants, the Red Parrot, for one of our favorite cuisines - SUSHI!!!  Don't worry, there are plenty of cooked fish items I can eat while pregnant.

Our baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. The fluttering I've been feeling should soon turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges.  The baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if we're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

While watching the olympics over the weekend, I felt some good nudges that kind of tickeled, so I can already sense the kicks are getting stronger.

Below is a picture of me at 21 weeks.

21 Weeks

20 Weeks - Halfway there!

We have accomplished a major milestone today - we have reached the halfway mark!  June will be here before we know it! 

Our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now and is 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, a baby's legs are curled up against their torso which makes it hard to measure.  Therefore, measurements during this time are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, they are measured from head to toe.  Going forward, I will only be stating the "head to toe" measurements.

The baby is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for their digestive system. He/she is also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in their bowels, and we may see it in the first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery - oh my!).

We were going to order our furniture at Great Beginnings this past Sunday; however, due to the snow the day before, we decided to put it off a week.  So instead, we stayed more local and decided to take a trip to Babies R Us and start our registry.  Craig held up pretty well, quite surprisingly!  We were overwhelmed like any first time parent probably would be, but thanks to my Baby Bargains book (which I call my baby bible), I was more prepared than probably the average first time parent.  And what do you know - as we were walking out of the store, our friends Mike and Eileen were working there way into the store!  And yes, Eileen had her Baby Bargains book too!  It is a fantastic book!  Now that we have been hit with yet ANOTHER snow storm, we will have to wait another week to order our furniture.  Poor Craig - we chose a very snowy winter to be pregnant.  It seems he is shoveling snow every other day!!  And could you imagine - we were originally due a week from now if it weren't for the miscarriage back in July.  How scary would that be having a baby during a storm like this??!!

We had dinner at Mike and Eileen's on Tuesday (which was planned before we made our surprise encounter in front of Babies R Us!).  As you may recall, she is about 3 weeks ahead of me.  She has such a cute little round belly!  Our friends Victoria and Jason were there as well with their 1 year old which gave Eileen and I something to look forward to having one day.  He was such a happy baby and behaved and played so well.  I was truly amazed.  They seem to be such great parents - something I hope Craig and I will turn out to be.

Thursday was the big ultrasound.  They had a nice flat screen monitor on the wall so it was easier for us to watch.  Everything checked out great!  The baby's heart beat was about 148 and the weight was estimated at 10 ounces.  The baby seemed to be a squirmer at times, but managed to allow the doctor to get all of the needed shots.  It was amazing how detailed everything was, especially the ribs and spine!  They were able to determine the sex of the baby during the visit, but we looked away during that portion.  However, the technician did still print us the gender pic and put it in a sealed envelope for me to have as a keepsake.  Whether a boy or a girl, the baby looked precious on the monitor!

Below is a picture of me at 20 weeks along with some ultrasound pictures of the precious baby within!

20 Weeks

Ultrasound pics

Profile picture - soooo sooo cute!  Just look at that button nose!

Face picture - can anyone make this out???  I sure can't!!

"Hi mommy and daddy!" - baby is waving

Full leg and foot picture

Happy feet!

19 Weeks

Wow, how time sure does fly!  I attended my 3rd prenatal appointment this week and checked out like a champ.  Aside from awaiting the blood results to check my thyroid levels (which come back next week sometime), the doctor said I am right on track.  My uterus measured where it was supposed to (a fingertip below the bellow button), my urine came back negative, my weight change from my last appointment four weeks ago was +3 pounds (a total of a 10 pound gain from my prepregnancy weight), and my blood pressure was 107/69 which is lower than the last two visits which is nice.  The baby was moving around so much that the nurse had a hard time following him/her around.  The heartbeat kept going in and out because of all the movement, but she finally was able to grab the heartrate and the baby is ticking away at about 145 bpm.  She said I had a feisty little soccer player in the making!  My next appointment is in four weeks.  Guess what is coming up though later this week?  Our BIG ultrasound!!  We can't wait!!  Tune in to my 20 week blog to find out how that goes!

Our baby weighs in around 8 1/2 ounces (over half a pound now!) and measures about 6 inches, head to butt— about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the 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 the skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

The baby's sensory development is exploding! The brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that he/she may be able to hear our voice now. Pretty cool, isn't it? Maybe we should start reading to the baby. I can't carry a tune, so I'll have to leave the singing to someone else! Any volunteers?

Below is a picture of my belly at 19 weeks!  My cat managed to get in this photo op.  He's playing with my pants' drawstrings!

19 Weeks

18 Weeks

Craig and I took a trip out to Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg, MD to look at furniture with Craig's parents and John.  That place is HUGE!!  After a few hours (yes, a few!), we are set on a Pali crib, a Bolton dresser and a Bolton end table.  The furniture will be white.  I may have a chair picked out, but when we go back in a week, we should have a final decision since that's when we plan on purchasing the furniture for the nursery anyway.  The store says it will take about 10-14 weeks for the furniture to come in, so thankfully we are making a wise decision to buy now instead of waiting.  The colors for the nursery will be green walls and white furniture.  Brown will be an accent color.  Craig plans to paint the nursery probably in the next month or two.  We'll probably pick out the paint color in the next week or two.

Well, Grandma Conlon (or Oma as she might want to be called) found a stroller on Craigslist she liked and we went out today to take a look and the lady was selling the carrier along with it.  It seemed like a great deal and it seemed to be in excellent condition, so Grandma and Grandpa were sold.  I guess this marks the beginning of them really preparing for the newcomer! 

Our baby now measures about 5 1/2 inches and weighs about 7 ounces (that's almost half a pound!).  His/her blood vessels are visible through the thin skin, and the ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from the head a bit.  A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the nerves, a process that will continue for a year after birth.  If we are having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place.  If we're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now.

I still feel great!  I really have been soaring through this pregnancy practically symptom free.  Let's hope it continues that way in the coming weeks.  I have been feeling the baby more, but it is still very light.  It mostly feels like tiny thumps or knocks.  But it should continue to get much stronger and more consistent in the weeks to come.

Below is a picture of me at 18 weeks.

18 Weeks

17 Weeks

Happy 17 weeks to us! Craig and I went out to dinner last night to DuClaw and he has finally told me I am starting to look pregnant and not just plump :) Haha. I will have to say that I can definitely tell I've popped out in the last week or so. When looking down, I see three boobs, not just two. But then I realize, it's my baby bump! Yes, my stomach has officially outgrown my breasts now! My bras don't fit right and they are so unconfortable. I may have to start wearing just sports bras until I'm ready to start wearing maternity bras. I can get away with certain clothes that can "hide" my pregnancy, but people will think I'm just "thick" in the middle, so why not pass as being pregnant and wear my maternity clothes? With that being said, I have officially changed over into my maternity clothes full time.

Every now and then, I can feel the baby moving, but it's not too often, and it's not at specific times; so it is a hit or miss - or should I say a "kick" or miss? But when I do feel it, it's amazing! I have to justify to Craig why my hands are down my pants all the time while we lay to watch TV!! I simply don't want to pass up an opportunity of feeling the little one squirm. I am growing so fond and attached to this little being that I can't wait to meet him or her!! Of course we don't want an early entrance or anything, but boy is the wait hard! I love the baby so much already!!!

Our baby's skeleton is hardening from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker. The baby weighs about 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she/he is around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She/he can move all of their joints, and the sweat glands are starting to develop.

They say that dreams are more intense during pregnancy and although I've had a couple baby dreams so far, they haven't been good news, so we will share one that Craig has had last week. Yes, his first baby dream; or at least the first he is willing to share!

I gave birth on a street corner and then we were in the hospital trying to deliver my placenta. There were three nurses and of course one had to be hot since it was Craig's dream! We were all waiting for the doctor to come in. The baby apparently was sitting up on a bookshelf! When our family wanted to know the name, we said we haven't named her yet (yes, it was a girl!). But it was between two names (I am not mentioning them here because they are part of our potential name list), but since in the dream I was insisting on naming the middle name something I would never use anyway, I will let you in on that name. Craig said that I insisted on the middle name "You" for some odd reason.

Hey, we can't exactly control our dreams, can we? I just thought it was hilarious that he is having such vivid, intense dreams too! By the way, if anyone wants to use the name "You" as a first or middle name for their baby, it is off our list and up for grabs.

Below is my 17 week old baby bump along with a picture of Craig and I since I haven't posted an updated picture of us together:

17 Weeks

Craig and I at a dinner gathering in Virginia - 16 weeks

Belly Pics

I will be adding my belly pics weekly to their corresponding post.  However, if you would like to see all the belly pictures posted together, simply find the link on the right-hand side labeled "Belly Pictures"

38 Weeks

37 Weeks

36 Weeks

35 Weeks
Missing Photo
34 Weeks

33 Weeks

32 Weeks

31 Weeks

f
30 Weeks

29 Weeks

28 Weeks

27 Weeks

26 Weeks

25 Weeks

24 Weeks

23 Weeks

22 Weeks

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

19 Weeks

18 Weeks

17 Weeks

16 Weeks

15 Weeks

14 Weeks

12 Weeks

10 Weeks

8 Weeks