The most comfortable seat in the house

Last weekend when we bought furniture for the nursery, we also picked out the chair we wanted (truthfully, I had it picked out from the first time I went in the store--if you have a chance to sit in it, you'll see why!). Because of the sale, we were able to purchase a chair/ottoman that was already on the floor for a significant discount. That also meant we were able to bring it home with us! Mick moved it into the nursery after it was painted, and I've almost fallen asleep in it twice already. The chair and the ottoman both rock/glide, and

every time I sit down, I say it's the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in. We can hardly wait to be able to rock our little princess to sleep in it!

20 Weeks (Halfway There!): What's Happening

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now! She'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 her torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.) She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. You're officially at the midpoint of your pregnancy! Keeping pace, your fast-ballooning uterus has also reached the midway point, just about even with your belly button now.

Your baby is aware of all kinds of sounds, from the beating of your heart and growling of your tummy, to songs on the radio and the buzzing of your alarm clock. If you feel a "bounce" in your tummy when you hear a loud noise, it's because your baby hears it, too! This is the start of her active phase. You'll feel every twist, turn, and wiggle.

The Nursery

We painted the nursery today since we knew what the furniture would look like now, and the weather was beautiful, so we could open the windows for plenty of ventilation. We also bought this cute little chandelier and Mick put it up this morning. We had planned to use the smaller of our two upstairs bedrooms, but decided yesterday that it made more sense to use the larger room, so Mick ended up moving quite a bit of furniture today too!

It's tough to tell the color from these pictures, especially with nothing else in the room, but I was afraid I wasn't going to like it when I first started painting. I kept going though, and ended up loving the color--it looks different now that the whole room is painted, and we both keep going in there and picturing what it will look like with everything moved in. We left the top undone because Mick is planning to add crown molding soon, which should really look pretty.

Week 19: What's Happening

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you (Mick has already been doing plenty of this!). Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

One thing I've noticed lately is leg cramps, which wake me up some nights. I read that it's relatively common around 19-20 weeks, for unknown reason. Some doctors think it's because certain blood vessels are being compressed by the growing baby. Luckily, they haven't been too bad or happened too often so far.

Baby Furniture

Today, to me, was probably the equivalent of Christmas morning to a little kid--I knew this week that The Baby's Room (the store we planned to buy furniture from) was having a year end clearance sale today. There were "early bird" specials from 8-10am, and we were literally in the parking lot when they unlocked the door. It was actually a little tougher than I expected--there was so much to choose from, and it all looks adorable in the store. Here are some pictures from the store's website of what we decided on--it's really beautiful, and Wiggles is going to have such a little princess room. The top left is the crib, top right is the hutch/changing table, and bottom is the nightstand we picked out. We decided not to get the tall dresser or armoire. They told us to give it 8-10 weeks to come in...we're hoping it won't take that long though.

Wiggles is on the Move

Everything I've been reading says I should start to feel little Wiggles moving around any day now, and I was getting impatient. When we went to bed last night, I thought I felt a few flutters, but I woke up at 1:00 AM this morning and she was definitely moving around! It was so exciting I couldn't go back to sleep--it sort of felt like a butterfly in my belly. So I'm completely exhausted this morning, but it was really cool to feel our little girl dancing around in the middle of the night. I can't wait until Mick can feel her too--then neither of us will get any sleep!

Good News!

I got a call from Dr. Graham's office today with test results from the AFP 4 Test from last week. This was a blood test used to help identify pregnancies that may be at increased risk for open spina bifida, Down syndrome, or trisomy 18. My test results were negative, which significantly reduces the likelihood that Wiggles has an open neural tube defect, Down syndrome, or trisomy 18. The test detects 75% to 80% of Down syndrome pregnancies, more than 60% of trisomy 18 pregnancies and greater than 80% of pregnancies that may have open neural tube defects.

Baby Shopping

I knew as soon as we found out the baby's gender, I'd be dying to decorate the room and start shopping! We went on Saturday to Babies 'R Us to start our registry. Mick was such a trooper--he wanted to be as excited as I was, but after a few minutes, he was a little overwhelmed. We decided that he'd help pick out the big stuff and then he would leave me to do all the girly stuff. After about an hour, he went next door to Dick's Sporting Goods to check out golf equipment. Mick stayed home to watch college football when I headed to Target to register there.

Today, we went with Robbie, Zachary & Stacy to an outlet mall and started Wiggles' wardrobe with some sweet little clothes on great clearance sales!

Week 18: What's Happening

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the size of a lobster tail) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. Your uterus is now about the size of a cantaloupe! Baby is busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. Her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place.

Baby's rapid growth period is beginning to slow down, but her facial features are starting to form. Your baby can now yawn, frown, smile, and make other facial expressions. Taste buds have developed, and your baby can sense bitter from sweet, and swallowing reflexes are now present. She may even start getting the hiccups! Because baby's eyes are still developing, they're very sensitive. If a light is shined onto your belly, your baby might flinch and try to cover her face.

I also went today to get my H1N1 vaccine. I know, I'm a skeptic too, but both doctors advised me to get it, so I figured it was more risky not to. It was comforting to go to my doctor's office for the vaccine, and to see all the other pregnant women there for the same thing!

First Baby Gift

Wiggles received her first gift today! I was surprised at work with a basket of goodies for our little girl. My friends/ coworkers sent us this--two onesies, a bib, booties, a hat, a blanket, a washcloth and hooded towel, and that sweet little bear wearing a tutu. All of it has a tiara and 'Princess' embroidered on it--too cute! It's hard to believe we'll have anything small enough to fit into this stuff, but I'm quite sure Wiggles will probably have to grow into some of it.

Thanks Devlin, Jeanie, Theresa and Gerry! Gracie and Bella have already done their sniff inspection and approved this for use in our house :).

It's a Girl!

We had our long awaited appointment with Dr. Gomez today. It was raining this morning and traffic was terrible, but we were determined to make it on time, so we left an hour before our appointment. The office is only 8 miles away, but it literally took us the entire hour to get there. Ridiculous!

The ultrasound technician came in and asked us if we wanted to know the baby's sex. I told her we were DYING to know, so of course she saved that for last, after checking measurements and heartbeat and everything else. When she finally told us it was a girl, I started crying--I know, I'm a total wuss, but I couldn't help it.

Jenn had told me last night that I should drink a little caffiene this morning to make sure Wiggles was awake and moving around so they could tell the gender. I stopped and bought a Coke and drank about half of it (it was delicious, by the way, after 4 months of no caffiene!). When Dr. Gomez came in to take a look, his exact words were "look at that kid move!" So I think she's a fan of Coke--thanks for the tip Jenn :)!

This picture is a profile--the little black dot in her abdomen is her stomach, which he said shows she can swallow. They measured her to be right at 17 weeks, 3 days and about weighing 9 oz. Her heartbeat was strong and all measurements were perfect.

We thought this was a sweet picture of her hands--it looks like she's praying or clapping!

If anyone can tell what this is, I'm thoroughly impressed. This is a shot of her legs in a sideways V shape, and right by the little star shape is how they could tell Wiggles is a girl!

This one is a shot of her face--and no, you won't offend us by thinking it's alien-like! You can see her eye sockets and forehead on the right of the picture, and a big round belly on the left.

Week 17 Checkup

I had a checkup today with Dr. Graham (my regular OB). My blood pressure was great, I've gained 5 pounds, and my belly is measuring at almost 18 weeks. He said I was "growing well," which I already knew since I can no longer button my pants!

All of the blood work they did last time came back normal--the most significant was the cystic fibrosis test, which was negative.

As for Wiggles, there was still a lot of movement--the nurse found the heartbeat and then lost it 4 or 5 times, and she said that was because there was still a lot of room to move around. The heartbeat varied between 130 and 160, which they said was normal. Only one more day until we know if we have a little boy or girl...we can hardly wait!

Week 17: What's Happening

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Here's me at 17 weeks!

I've noticed lately that I seem to be dreaming a lot more--almost every night, and then I read that many women report that their dream life shifts into high gear during pregnancy. What's weird is that during the second and third trimesters, you spend less sleep time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the cycle in which most dreams occur. So it's probably at least in part because I'm waking up during the night a lot more for a bathroom run or to try to get in a more comfortable position. I used to sleep straight through the night, but not anymore--thanks Wiggles!

Week 16: What's Happening

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 your open hand--about 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.

Too Much Rain!

We've had so much rain lately that Gracie and Bella are going stir crazy from being inside. This is one example of what a terribly tough life they have. This morning, Mick had to work for a couple of hours, so I decided to take the girls for a walk before it started raining again. The word "walk" always gets Gracie super excited, which in turn gets Bella excited. They were exhausted when we got home, and I'm sure it was great exercise for Wiggles and me too.

Week 15: What's Happening

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces, about the size of a naval orange. She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. So what keeps your baby busy all day? Mostly, she is in rehearsals — practice, practice, practicing, and getting ready for that big debut. Babies practice breathing, sucking, and swallowing so that when they leave your comfy womb and move into your comfy house, they'll have the skills necessary to survive.

Week 14: What's Happening

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches, about the size of a lemon, and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little one's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.