Twenty Three Weeks

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 (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. 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.

Wanted to include an update – we’re traveling, so we’ll update once we get back.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Twenty Two Weeks

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.See what your baby looks like this week.
Breaking news – my brother and his new wife Chrisi are having a GIRL! She’s one of the “triplets” arriving this spring. So, two boys and a girl. Poor thing will be tormented at family gatherings, but I’m sure she’ll be one tough cookie with two brothers and two boy cousins to contend with. Congratulations Mike and Chrisi and bring on the pink!

I’m feeling really good this past week. The morning puking ritual is becoming less of an every day thing. I have more energy and feel more like myself. We’re getting ready for a trip out to Nebraska for a Watson family reunion. I am so excited to see my extended family. I was very lucky to have gone to college out in NE and had the chance to spend some quality time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I feel that time was a true gift in disguise being able to bond with my Midwestern family. And they welcomed me with open arms, fun weekends together, hockey games, school musicals and many a trip to the airport. You all have such a special place in my heart and I just wish I didn’t live so far away.

Here’s a picture of me and my grandma – isn’t she lovely?

The whole family will be in NE next week celebrating Thanksgiving together and I get to meet three new additions, cousin Amy’s twins Drew and Ellie and Susie’s little girl Addison. We have a full agenda planned, thanks to my very organized aunts! And they’ve even decided to throw a small baby shower for me, which was completely unexpected, but so sweet!

Ok, now that I’m all mushy and feeling hormonal – I better stop before the water works start.

Good Night Sweet Pup

Wow! I hope Frank has these same skills when putting our little one to sleep... I had to share this.

Twenty One Weeks

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. 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, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.See what your baby looks like this week.
Lucky 21. We’re just over half way to the finish line and I’m feeling great. I thought I was catching a cold earlier this week, but my super pregnancy immune system kicked it right out of my system. I’m still puking almost ever morning – this week it was 3 out of 5 days – so I’m doing good so far.

I saw the nurse practitioner, Suzanne, yesterday for my monthly check up. She said all looks good. Blood pressure was at 110/70, which is great! Fetal heart rate is about 140 – right on track. And she felt for my uterus which is just above my belly button. Total weight gain so far is 11 pounds. Not bad, but the doc doesn’t want me to gain more than 20 – so we’ll see how that goes. I have a feeling a lot of it is water weight, really, cause I’m just swollen all over.

Do you know where you sciatic nerve is? I do – I know exactly where it is. Cause this little baby likes to rest on it and that causes shooting pain down my right leg. It comes and goes, but mostly comes when I’ve been sitting for a while. So my new charge from the doc is to get up every 45 minutes and walk around. Not only will this help with my sciatica, it’ll help with the swelling I still can’t seem to get rid of.

Great news on the family front. My cousin Wendy and her husband Jay welcomed their newest addition, Gavin Ellis, into the world on November 11. What a cool birthday – 11/11. Wendy is the first of us cousins during this baby boom to have hers and we couldn’t be more excited. Gavin weighed in at a healthy 9 ½ pounds, 21 inches long. Jay is a pretty tall guy, so we’re sure he’ll take after his dad in the height department.
Our little guy is still measuring a little over a week a head of schedule. The ultra sound tech last time said he should probably be due on March 19. So, I’m not anticipating making it until my due date. Especially if he’s already big – I think they gain the bulk of their weight at the end.

I had to catch myself from making plans for work in April – not thinking that I’ll be on maternity leave by then. The end is getting closer and closer every day.

Nursery on Order!

I’m heading out after work to order our nursery furniture. We hope to receive the furniture by December/January. Our very generous parents have collaboratived and given us this great gift. The crib is convertible and changes into a toddler bed, day bed then into a full size bed. We also ordered two dressers, one high and one low. The low can double as a changing table. We will get a very nice glider and autumn. It’s so comfortable and it reclines!

Here are a few pics:

We also finalized our registry at Baby’s R Us. Check it out

Here is our nursery bedding collection click here to view all the pieces, and check out the picture below. Think lots of wild animals, in a fun, festive sort of way. Lots of tans and greens. We like the monkey the best, so we'll have lots of monkey accents.

We did not register for much clothing. I always find it’s more fun to pick out your own little outfits when you give gifts. We just ask that you get a wide variety of sizes – if the baby’s anything like us, he won’t be in 0-3 months for long! And one can never have too many onezies!

I’m sure the shower process has started. I know the north jersey folks, my in-laws, are hosting a shower for me on January 11. My mom is hosting a south jersey shower on February 7. I thought I wanted to be involved in the planning process, but as we get close, I think I’ll just enjoy the day and not worry about the little details. We have so many other things to worry about!

Thanks to my two very loving moms for hosting these showers for me. And for my sisters for their hard work too! I’m so looking forward to celebrating this new baby with friends and family.

Pregnancy and Pets

You know, they say that animals can sense that a woman is pregnant and tend to become more loving, or affectionate. We have none of that in our house - none at all...

Here I am after a long day at work, I prop up my swollen feet on several pillows, hoping to alleviate some of the swelling and here come Ozzie and Hastings to take their positions. Don't think I'm reliving any swelling with a 25 pound pug laying on my legs!

The pets have definitely become more affectionate and this photo happens almost daily. I hope they're sensing that a new baby is coming. Granted, I will watch everyone like a hawk, but I know Ozzie will be great with the baby. We even got an infant seat/bouncer that sits up higher off the ground to avoid any drive by kisses for the baby from Ozzie, or cat but in the face of the baby from the kitties.

I read some where that we should set up the nursery furniture way a head of time. We will also use a baby doll to place in the crib. This will give the cats a chance to explore and learn the rules - if there's a baby in the crib - stay out!

Ultrasound Findings

We went for another level two ultrasound yesterday. Our first level two ultrasound found a "downs syndrome marker” in the baby’s heart. My doc sent us to a specialist and yep – there it was clear as day. It’s called a echogenic foci spot. Whish is basically a small calcium deposit in the left atrium. There is only one, and it’s very small. These deposits never grow and will never hinder the hearts ability to work properly.

Doctors only started seeing these calcium deposits in the past ten years, so they wanted to find out the significance. Well, turns out that 3% of all babies have one and a very minute percentage of these babies have downs syndrome.

However, doctors do not take this marker into account UNLESS there are two or three additional markers for downs syndrome – small pinky bone, different shaped nose, small ears.

AND we were fortunate enough to have a first trimester screening which put us at a greater than 1 in over 10,000 chance for any chromosome abnormality, including downs syndrome.

The doc says that he sees patients every day with this marker and 99% of them go on to deliver an average baby. AND even if we did an amnio, our risk is 10 times greater of having a miscarriage than having a baby with downs syndrome.

Long story short, we are not worried in the least. We are not going for any further testing. We have every faith that the baby is fine.

Twenty Weeks

Your baby 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).See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Wow – Half way to the finish line! Feeling really good. Still getting sick every morning like clock work. Hastings, my kitty, has gotten in the habit of following me into the bathroom to watch… strange I know.

I had a stranger notice I was pregnant last weekend! That was exciting. A man at the Hyundai service center asked it “it” was our first, and I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but then it clicked! Oh, okay, he meant the baby!

We have another ultrasound today. The doc wanted to get a better look at the heart to make sure everything was ok. I did some research on my end and it turns out that it’s really difficult to view all for chambers of the heart in moms-to-be with a little extra padding. So waiting a few more weeks and doing another ultrasound is standard procedure. But wish us luck anyway. I am starting to worry, but I’m sure we’re fine!

Just found out some very exciting news. My brother, St. John and his wife Linden are expecting their first baby!

They just told our parents this morning and I believe the baby’s due in May. I haven’t heard from the proud parents to be just yet, but I heard through the grape vine that they’re having a boy! We are well on our way to a full basket ball team! With my other brother Mike and his wife Chrisi also expecting – all the women in our family are knocked up! Accept for my mom of course! Mike and Chrisi will find out their baby’s gender on November 19.

This is so great. So far all the mommies are healthy and doing well. All the babies will be born within three months of each other. So in one year we went from one grand child to five, with the addition of Thomas, Mike’s new two year old step-son. My mom and step-dad Dave are on cloud nine!

Halloween Fun!

We had a blast on Halloween this year. My nephew Zach and his mom Jen came out dressed to the nines. Zach was a scary skeleton! We trick-o-treated with our neighbor Lee Ann and her two kids, Amanda and Jason. Amanda was Abby Cadaby and Jason was an Amazing Race contestant! Oh - and Ozzie was a hot dog! His Grammie gave us this really cute costume! Fun and a sugar rush was had by all!

Glowing?

People have been saying that I’ve been “glowing” lately. I’m glad I’m not has pale with nausea as I used to be, but I’d say my “glow” is merely a flushed feeling I have. My face is pinker than usual and I’m feeling rather warm throughout the day.

So glowing? Sure!

I’ll take that over pale and nauseous any day!