We found a bassinet

We've known for a while that we want Emily to sleep in our bedroom for the first few months before moving to her crib, so I've been looking for a bassinet. I didn't really want to pay full price for something I knew we'd only use for a little while, and I was having trouble finding a new one I really liked. I've been looking on craigslist and ebay, and found one this weekend that we liked, was closeby, and almost brand new for a really good price. I'm just glad we found one so Mick can stop asking if I've found a bayonet :)!

24 Weeks: What's Happening

Your baby's growing steadily, and weighs more than a pound and a half right now . Since she's about a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. At this point in fetal development, that beautiful face (though still tiny) is almost fully formed. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon. Your baby is also starting to produce white blood cells, which will help fight infection after she leaves your body and enters the world. You may be surprised to notice that your baby responds to the sound of your voice or even the touch of your hand on your tummy by quieting down or occasionally increasing activity as a way of communicating with you! In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball.

Daddy felt her move!

Mick and I both came down with severe colds this week (which explains the red, puffy eyes in the 23 week pic) and haven't been able to sleep very well, so we were up late last night. Emily was wiggling around a lot, so Mick decided to try to feel her again--up until this point, she has stopped moving every time he put his hand on my belly, but she was cooperating last night. For the first time, her daddy felt her move--twice! It was quite exciting :).

23 Weeks: What's Happening

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes (I haven't yet seen her move, but am feeling her more often, so hopefully Mick will be able to feel her any day now!). She'll more than double her weight by the end of this month! Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

We've already decided that Emily will know Bella's voice very well by the time she's born! Bella is our resident loudmouth.

Wiggles has a name

Although most of you who read this blog already know, we have decided on a name for our little wiggler. For a long time, Emily has been our favorite name for a girl. We actually took it out of the running for a while because it was the most popular girl's name for more than a year. We noticed that it's fallen out of the top three names in the last couple of years, so we came back to it. We had a couple of names we liked for her middle name, and have landed on Claire after lots of discussion.

In just a few months, we'll be welcoming little Emily Claire Jackson!

3-D Ultrasound

Click here to check out the pictures from our 3-D Ultrasound on Sunday: View Album - Jackson, Libby

Wiggles was being a little uncooperative--her head stayed tucked in the placenta almost the whole time, so we only got a few pictures of her face. Her hands and feet were very active though, and we confirmed (again) that she's definitely a girl!

22 Weeks: What's Happening

At 22 weeks pregnant, your baby has finally broken the one-pound mark, and is about 8 inches long from crown to rump. This week, your sweetie is making more sense of the world as she develops the sense of touch. In fact, your little one's grip is quite developed by now — and since there's nothing else to grab in utero, she may sometimes hold on tight to that umbilical cord (don't worry — it's tough enough to handle it). The sense of sight is also getting more developed. She can now perceive light and dark much better than before (even with those fused eyelids). But remember — unless you're shining a flashlight over your belly (which you can do, by the way), it'll be mostly dark for your baby inside that cozy womb of yours. Moving up from the eyes, the eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed now — and even more hair is sprouting atop that cute little head. You'd be quite surprised, though, if you could see your little one up close and in color. Hair at this stage of fetal development has no pigment, so it's bright white.

What We're Thankful For...

This was the first month I was able to schedule both doctors' appointments on the same day, so we had quite an exciting morning! Dr. Graham was first--I've gained another 5 pounds (so 10 pounds total so far, which they said was good), my blood pressure was good, and we heard the heartbeat (about 160 now). I'll go back in 4 weeks for another checkup and my blood glucose test.

Then we headed to Dr. Gomez's office, which we always look forward to (not only because we really like him, but also because we know we'll be able to see Wiggles!). They confirmed that we definitely have a girl, and all of her measurements are right on target. She's already weighing in at 1 lb, 1 oz, and was dancing up a storm! I'll see Dr. Gomez again in 5 weeks. The placenta has moved away from my cervix some, which was good news, but he said it was so close that he'd still call it marginal previa, and wants to keep an eye on it.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from today! The top picture is her face--looking a little less alien-like.

You can probably tell this one is her profile. She had the hiccups during the ultrasound, so some of the pictures were tough to capture.

I love this one because it looks like there's a heart around her hand! Or maybe my imagination is causing me to see things. Her hands were very active--at one point, she even gave us a thumbs up!

Here's her sweet little feet and toes! Her foot is almost an inch long this week! Dr. Gomez said she looked like she was doing a little dance, and I've been telling Mick that's what it feels like, so it was really cool to see it.

21 Weeks: What's Happening

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot! The rapid growth phase has slowed, but organs and other body systems continue to mature. The swallowing reflex is in full swing and your baby will begin to "drink" amniotic fluid, which helps her digestive system to develop. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

I was just telling Mick the other day that I think I've figured out her schedule--she's definitely not ready for action when we get up around 5:00 or 5:30 every morning, but by 9:00 am or so, she's moving around a lot, and usually keeps going most of the day and night.

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!