Week 20

 

Whooooah, We're Half-Way There!! 

Whooah ...Livin' on a prayer...Take my hand and we'll make it I swear...

Ok, now that you're all singing Bon Jovi, I'm excited to announce that I'm officially half-way through the pregnancy.  Yay! :)  The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of kicking and poking, which Jeff was actually able to feel at one point!  Very cool.  Sometimes while lying in bed at night, Jeff will talk to the baby to try to get it to move, but it has yet to really work.  It's still really cute to listen to him though.  He's going to be such a great dad.
We've discovered that Baby P either really does or really doesn't like pizza.  It's pretty much a given that whenever I eat pizza, I have heartburn that night.  One night it was so bad that I kind of wondered if something was wrong because I have never felt anything like that before.  It was a little painful, but more just like this incredible burning sensation.  Hmm…guess that's why they call it heartburn.  Duh!  Anyway, it is rather unpleasant, but very normal for a pregnant woman, so I'll just have to deal.  Otherwise, I haven't noticed any other direct effects from certain foods.  I feel the baby kicking a bunch pretty much right after I finish a meal though, so that is kind of fun to anticipate.
At my last appointment I had the second round of blood tests for the integrated screening.  They had told me that most likely I'd only get a call if they saw something on the screening that caused concern, but that otherwise they would just go over the results with me at my next appointment.  But, I was so anxious to hear the results, I ended up calling the office later that week anyway.  One of the midwives called me back to say that everything from the integrated screening looked great and there was nothing to show concern.  There are other tests to still be completed (at my next ultrasound appointment), but basically...so far, so good.  So, I was happy with that.  Of course anything can happen, but it was nice to hear those results all came back looking OK.  Our next appointment is Tuesday, May 25th, and we'll have our next (and possibly last) ultrasound then.  Can't wait!

I made another baby purchase this past weekend!  This lamp...

I know I know, it's just a lamp, right, but isn't it the CUTEST lamp you've ever seen?  Ha ha - man, I'm easy to impress!  But when I saw it, I fell in love and just HAD to have it.  So, this is officially our first nursery room purchase.  I still don't even have a color scheme picked out or anything.  But, I have this cute green lamp to get the inspiration flowing!  I am constantly looking online at different fabric prints to make the window drapes and crib skirt out of.  Rachel recently shared a link to a blog of this young couple who have remodeled their house, and long story short, I'm obsessed with their site and am stealing lots of their ideas!!  (Like, making my own no-sew drapes and crib skirt).  I can't wait to get started, but I am so indecisive that I can't pick what fabric I like best.  And that's mainly because I can't decide what color scheme I want to go with.  I've been ALL over the board with it…just ask Jeff and Rachel.  Ha ha.  I keep thinking I should just pick something "girly" since almost EVERYONE thinks we are having a girl.  But, I'm not convinced yet, so I think I'll stick with neutral décor for now.  :)  My goal is to have something picked before we leave for Aruba though, so stay tuned!

We have also decided to try and find a used dresser that we can refinish and fix up to turn into the changing table (another idea I am stealing from my new favorite bloggers!).  I've been looking a bit online, but haven't really found much.  Jeff's mom has been so great, though.  Ever since we told her about our project ideas on Mother's day (we're also thinking of trying to find an old rocking chair to fix up) she has been on the hunt for us.  She frequently goes to local auctions, and even has a friend that runs an auction business.  We are planning to go to one later this week with her, so I'll be sure to post pics if we find anything.  I'm very excited about going…I've never been to an auction before!
Oh, a couple of other milestones to mark.  I've now been approached by 3 different co-workers (ones I don't work directly with, but pass by frequently in the halls) who've come up and whispered to me "Are you pregnant?".  So, I'm officially showing as a pregnant person and not just someone who's put on a few extra pounds.  It is fun though, and makes me laugh to think how long they had probably been asking themselves if they should ask me or not.  :)  Oh, and the other night at dinner I had my first stranger comment.  It was our waitress at this little Italian place downtown and when she brought me my delicious manicotti, she saw my belly and said "Oh you have a bambino!!"  Ha ha.  She was very fun about it.  And just an FYI to any local readers of this blog...Antonella's on 3rd street has EXCELLENT food!  Give it a try.  Also, last night at Jeff's softball game, I received my first belly pat.  It was from our friend's mom (and also Jeff's employer), but again, it is a lot of fun to start getting noticed as a pregnant lady.  I was so self conscience before about putting on the extra weight, but I'm getting lots better about showing off the bump more. 
Well, the countdown to Aruba is now only 17 days away!  And we have TONS of stuff filling up every ounce of our time until then.  Should be a busy, but fun, couple of weeks.

Also, just wanted to share that my best friend Krista had her baby on Mother's day last week!  Miss Kiera Jean Kelly entered the world and she is so beautiful!  Just like her momma!  Congrats to the Kelly family. Love you guys!

Week 18

We had our 4 month appointment on Friday. Still rather uneventful doctor visits these days, but Jeff got to come with me and hear the heartbeat for the first time, so that was fun. We are getting a little worried though. While checking for the heartbeat, the midwife said, "My goodness you have one active little baby in there!". This is the second person to say something to us about this. And we witnessed for ourselves during the last ultrasound just how active it really is. Plus, I've been feeling the baby move A LOT in the past two weeks since I first started noticing it. And we are just worried that we are going to have our hands full...even more than we anticipated. But honestly, what should we have expected? With Jeff and I as parents...we are doomed to have one HYPER baby! :) I still keep saying though...as long as the baby is healthy, we'll be happy. Speaking of, I took the second round of blood draws for the integrated screening tests while at the appointment also (the test for Downs and other chromosomal abnormalities). Praying for some good results. I should know more within a week or so.
Other than that, not much else to report this week. Baby Center says baby is about the size of a bell pepper this week! And it is practicing flexing it's muscles (no doubt)! Here is a snipit from The Bump.com...
"Baby's become amazingly mobile (compared to you, at least), passing the hours yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing. And baby is finally big enough that you'll soon be able to feel her movements."
Just thought that was funny since it is certainly what we have been noticing!
Also, apparently if we had a an ultrasound now, we would be able to see the gender (as long as baby cooperated). Our next ultrasound is in another 3 weeks, but we are still 99% sure we aren't going to find out the sex anyway.
Other than that, nothing else too exciting going on. I have been experiencing some minor back pain here and there, but I think that has a lot to do with my poor posture. Shoulda worked out those core muscles more before I got pregnant! Oh well..just have to make do. :)
Counting down the weeks till Aruba!!! Only 4 from this coming Friday. YAY!!
My 18 week picture is below. (Can you tell I'm really starting to pack on the pounds now!?!) Time to go work out...I just went on a quick 2 mile (well, almost) walk, but looking at this picture really gets me motivated to pop in the pregnancy work-out DVD!

Week 16

I know I know I know...I have not been good about posting weekly. I have no good excuses so let me just try to back up 2 weeks and go from there....
I went shopping with mom and Mary at Burlington Coat Factory, just to browse around, and ended up getting a few new maternity shirts and a pair of maternity pants - my first maternity wear purchases (thanks mom!). I have worn a couple of them, but still mostly try to squeeze into my "normal" clothes...although that is getting harder by the day. I have officially outgrown one pair of my jeans (although they were a little tight to begin with, I won't lie). I'll still wear them, but will have to start doing the rubber-band trick to extend the button (thanks Mary for the tip!). Anyway, needless to say I'm definitely growing quite the belly now. And have finally admitted that it's a baby, not just fat. I just feel like I am so much bigger than I should be at 16 weeks. If I can ever get motivated to start working out more, hopefully I won't be too gigantic, otherwise I may be on track to be HUGE come October. :)
We also made our first official baby purchase the other week...our baby monitor. I was SO excited to get it and I read the direction manual from front to back the day it arrived, but for some reason, I have yet to test it out. I think part of me is still a little scared to make anything too official. I'm weird...I know. Otherwise, so far that's the only baby purchase we've made. I've been looking at baby bedding like a mad-woman though. And of course I can't find anything I like (well...that isn't ridiculously expensive at least), so I am thinking I might make the baby bedding myself! I don't even own a sewing machine! Ha ha. But, Jeff's mom and aunt are both great seamstresses, I hear, so I'm counting on getting some help from then. Stay tuned...
Also, as far as naming goes...all along (even before we conceived) Jeff and I had picked our baby names for either a boy or girl. However, I've started to second guess my girl name, so have been entertaining some new options. I think I might be driving Jeff crazy with it actually. I even invented a name! He didn't like it though, so it's back to the drawing board. At least we still have plenty of time to decide.
Other, non-baby related things going on...we finished the bathroom. Woo hoo! I imagine we'll probably start working on the baby room soon. I think I might wait to really get going till we get back from Aruba though. My weekends are going to be busy busy coming up here soon. So, after the trip, I think we'll get more focused on getting more baby things done.
Probably the most exciting news I have to report is that I think I have started to feel the baby move. For the past week, on occasion while I'm laying in bed at night, I have been feeling a little flutter in my belly that I kept saying...could that be baby? I have read online that women start to feel the baby around weeks 16-20, but most first-time mom's don't notice anything until sometimes even after that. Mainly because they don't realize what it is they are feeling,and will confuse it with gas bubbles or belly rumbles. Even though I thought what I was feeling felt different than anything else, I have been convincing myself that it wasn't the baby and I was just crazy. But I was talking to my BFF Krista (who is due with her little girl in just 3 more weeks!) and she said if I thought it was the baby, it more than likely was. So, I'm taking her advice and declaring that it has been the baby I was feeling. So today after lunch, while sitting at my desk, I felt the baby move!!! It was the first time I felt it outside of lying in bed at night. It was a faint little flutter...kind of a light couple of "pokes" at me, but it happened a few times. IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!!! I couldn't help the gigantic smile on my face and I literally started laughing out loud. I was really "LOL"ing. :) I'm sure my co-workers were thinking "Jackie's on crack". Ha ha ha. But I don't care. It was so freakin' cool! (So after typing all that out, I really hope it truly was the baby and not just gas, because maybe I am on crack if gas makes me laugh out loud). :)
Ok, that's all for now. OH! Baby is about the size of an avocado this week. That reminds Jeff of guacamole' so he has been referring to baby as just Mole'. he he he.

Second Trimester Begins!

Today we start our second trimester...woo hoo! Apparently the second trimester is the most comfortable one, I'm told. Although, I can't really complain too much about the first. Other than the exhaustion and other minor discomforts, the first 13 weeks were rather pleasant. Hope that means I can count on continuing that for a while. :)
We had a big week this past week. Jeff (daddy) turned 30 on Wednesday!! Happy birthday to him! What a big year 2010 is for him...entering a new decade of life, AND becoming a father. How exciting!
We also had another doctor appointment on Friday. Everyone keeps saying it seems like I have a million doctor appointments, but I assure you, it won't always be like that...and those aren't "normal" circumstances. We should only see the doctor every 4 weeks up until closer to the due date, but I had some extra tests in there that had to be scheduled outside of the normal check-up visits, so that's why it seems like I've gone so much. Anyway, Friday's appointment was rather uneventful, but I did get to hear the heartbeat, which was really cool! I also met with the 2nd of the 3 midwives, and she was just as nice as the first lady, so I'm glad so far. Other than that, that's about all.
We celebrated Jeff's birthday with family and friends Saturday night for dinner and drinks. And we celebrated Easter today with my family at my mom and dad's house. Good food and good company...just what these celebrations are all about. :)
Anyway, baby is about the size of a lemon this week! Eyes are blinking, fingers and toes wiggling, and baby might start sucking it's thumb now. Wow...growing up so fast!
Here's my baby belly pic. Me at 14 weeks:

And a picture of me and Jeff together...

Happy Easter Everyone!

Week 12

Update...added pics at the end of this post.
We had our ultrasound appointment yesterday afternoon and it went great! We have one active little munchkin!! It was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. We had NO idea it would be so active! It was moving it's arms all over the place so we got to see it's litle hand and all five little fingers. And then every time the lady tried to get a picture of what she was looking for, baby would squirm away and turn it's head. Fiesty little thing! Hope that's not a sign of what's to come. :) But the most fun part, was that baby was jumping all over the place! Pushing with it's legs against my stomach and jumping up and down, over and over. How compeltely cool is that? I can't wait till I can start to feel all the kicks and moves. What fun!! Jeff and I were just so impressed with it. He said baby has a great jump shot, so it'll probably be a basketball player. I think he's convinced this baby is a boy...we'll just have to see!
I have some more pictures to post, but didn't get a chance to scan them last night. I will work on that tonight and post pics later.
Otherwise, not a too whole lot else is new. We have been checking a couple of websites each week to see what size the baby is. One said last week that it was about the size of a lime, and the other website said that it was the size of a lime this week. Oh well. It's either a lime or a plumb this week...you pick. :P
As far as the ultrasound and blood work yesterday, we won't know any results until my next blood draw which is not till 15-18 weeks. So, we just have to sit tight for now and hope for the best. The lady doing the ultrasound said baby has two legs and two arms though...and we know at least one hand has all five fingers, so at least we're good on that front. :)
We're still not finished with the bathroom remodel...but getting there. I have moved back home though, so that is nice. Hopefully soon our house will be back in normal shape because next on the list is the baby's room!!




This last pic shows the 5 little fingers of baby's hand! There is an arrow pointing to it, if you can't tell. I wish these things weren't so grainy. It's such a cool sight!

Week 10

Baby is approximately the size of a kumquat or prune this week and is expected to double in size within the next 3 weeks. Sheesh!
My fist appointment with the midwives last Friday went well. Jeff and I decided to do the additional Integrated Screening for Downs Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. It involves an extra ultrasound and two extra blood tests. The ultrasound can't be performed until week 11.5 thru 13. So I'm set to go back for that on March 22nd (I'll be 12 weeks). Can't wait to get another pic of the babe. :)

Week 9

Baby is approximately the size of a grape this week!

We told all our friends and family the news this weekend! So, I think pretty much everyone knows now. At least our closest friends and family. Jeff is telling his grandma today. I haven't told my work friends or boss yet and probably won't for a couple more weeks. Eek! That makes me nervous for some reason.

Otherwise, all is still well with us. Jeff is finishing up with the shower remodel this week, so hopefully I can go back home soon. I'm sure my mom is getting sick of her house guest that just won't go away! ;) Just teasing.

Well, my posts are probably gonna be boring for the next couple months, I have a feeling. I'll try to start posting "baby-bump" pictures soon. Although, right now it's not a baby causing the "bump", but fat, rather. I really need to start exercising again....Aruba is only a few short months away!!

I forgot I took this pic at 6 weeks....I look pretty much the same now, 3 weeks later, so I thought this would work...