Weeks 22/23

The baby and I were off to Cincinnati OH for work.  Interstates has a Regional Office in Ohio and I was traveling there to visit with employees and attend the University of Cincinnati Engineering Career Fair.  For the most part, the trip was good.  On the way out to Cincinnati, I didn't have anyone sitting by me and I was able to stretch out across two seats.  Thursday was the career fair.  If any of you have ever attended a career fair at a big University, you know it is going to be a long day. 

It is amazing how tired you get when you are pregnant. These past two weeks, I have really experienced this.  I am ready for a nap after cleaning my house, going for 1/2 hour walk, or at the end of the work day.  Needless to say Thursday was no different,  I was on my feet for most of the day talking with students and by the end, I was exhausted! 

Sorry about my long explanation above, but I needed to explain that so you can all understand the repercussions of my long week.  I woke up on Friday with a cold.  It hit me like bulldozer.  My sinuses were plugged and the cold was coming out of my eyes.  I am sure I looked a mess by 8:00am!  Did I mention I had a morning full of interviews scheduled and I was flying on a plane for four hours in the afternoon.  This was going to be a long day.  Long story short...I got home fine with no one getting too mad at me on the plane for sneezing, coughing, and blowing my nose every five minutes.  Week 22 was the week of "the cold".  I was on the coach from Friday evening to Tuesday night.  Tylenol just doesn't do a whole lot for a cold.

The worst part about being sick while you are pregnant is that I felt awful for the baby.  I knew that the baby was not feeling well either because the movement was way down.  I felt the baby only a few times during those four days.  Poor thing... :(

Week 23 spent a lot of time catching up and cleaning the house. I disinfected everything I could think of including door knobs and light switches. Dan thought nesting was in full force already!

Valentine's day is always a big deal for me...it's LOVE DAY! Dan is never disappointing. I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers...nine Gerber Daisy's (3 red, 3 white, and 3 pink). I thought that was plenty and then I was surprised with a prenatal massage too. Oh and did I mention he took care of me for the four days that I was laying on the couch...what an amazing man!

During month five, the average fetus measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.  I would imagine our baby is closer to the 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces.  This is due to the fact at our 20 week ultrasound, our baby was measuring in the 10th percentile for weight...just a little peanut!  The baby has more developed eyes, lips, and ears.  The baby is listing to our voice and heartbeat.  They can hear loud sounds and the baby may start to move more when he/she hears something familiar.  I started reading to the baby at night and you can catch me singing to him/her during the day (not so much at work though).  Such Fun times!  I can't wait to do this with the baby in my arms...even if it is 3AM in the morning!



 

Week 22/23 was exciting b/c the morning of V-Day...I woke up with a bigger bump! I am officially past the chubby stage and pregnant! YAY!

 

21 Weeks

I am really enjoying the special 5 months  that I have had with this baby already.  It is amazing how a baby so tiny can make some much movement!  I assume that our baby weighs somewhere between 8-10 oz based on the fact that the baby was weighing around 7 oz at our ultrasound.

The baby is the most active in the evenings.  It is such a crazy feeling.  It is almost like a butterfly is fluttering inside of you.  I am sure many of you moms have your own analogy of what  the feeling is.  I can say that over the past few weeks the movements have increased and are stronger.  The other night Dan was able to feel the baby too.  His face lit up like a proud dad!  He is convinced it is a boy :)

Some of the highlights that happened during week 21:

• Belly Button ring was removed.   AH...the memories of  college freshman year spring break -- Florida.  (sorry mom..I am sure you are proud of that comment)
• Body Pillow is in full use.  How do people sleep with out one?
• Round Ligament Pain (a sharp pain or jabbing feeling often felt in the lower belly. Ligaments surround and support your womb (uterus) as it grows during pregnancy on one or both sides).  I have been doing a lot of stretching, prenatal yoga, and Pilate's to try to help with the pain.  Stretching really helps.
•  I am reading Baby Bargains.  A must read for expecting mothers!  This book gives such good advice about all the items you may think you need to buy when having a baby.  The book gives ratings from A-F on performance for various products but their main focus is to give you guidance on quality, safety, and what is necessary.  I try to keep Dan in the loop on what is to come, but I think it is a little overwhelming for him.  I have to remember that we don't have to buy everything TODAY! 
• Dan started working on the Nursery.  Dan removed some paneling from the closet and put sheet rock up.  He is currently working on tape and texture.  We are hoping that we can start painting later this month.  I can't decided whether to paint the room gray or tan.  Any advice?
• Trying to take advantage of the nice weather and go for walks outside.  I have been walking on my treadmill but it is so nice to be able to go for walks outside. 

The baby and I are off to Cincinnati Ohio next week for work!  Praying for safe travels!

20 Weeks...Little Miracle

Dan and I are so excited to be halfway; it is a great feeling that we have made it this far.  Dan, myself and the baby are doing great.  I got a little bit of a cold after we returned from our vacation but other than that we have been a healthy crew!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this past week and our review of the ultrasound with our doctor this past Wednesday.  It was such a blessing to see our baby!  The thought of a little person growing inside of you becomes so real seeing the baby on the screen.  The ultrasound we well, they measured the baby's head, brain, tummy, arms, legs, and face.  We saw two kidneys, and the heart beating strong at 142.  We were able to see the blood going from me to the baby through the umbilical cord.  We also saw the blood pumping through the baby's heart.  Throughout the ultrasound the technician was great and she talked us through every picture we were viewing.  I had some nerves (Dan would say a lot) going into the ultrasound and so I was very thankful that the ultrasound tech was very informative.

As we were going through the pictures of the heart, I was asking questions about the chambers of the heart.  The tech mentioned that the baby was measuring very small and she was having a hard time getting a good picture of the heart.  She kept asking me how sure I was of our due date and if I thought the due date could be off.  I started asking her why and she said that the baby is measuring around 17.5 weeks.  Of course my heart sunk and I thought everything was wrong.  Dan took over with questions and we found out that everything is developing at the same rate (legs, arms, head, body, heart, kidneys, etc.) but small.  Dan was a lot more positive than I was walking out of the ultrasound.  Even though our baby is small, I sure think the baby is beautiful!

We were able to meet with our doctor on Wednesday to discuss our ultrasound.  Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were long days.  My mind was racing about what possible was going on.  On Monday I decided that I was going to think positive about everything and thought the worst the could happen is my due date gets moved. 

                      The ultrasound tech thought the baby was sucking on his/her hand...so precious!

At my doctor's appointment I gained 4 1bs since my last appointment.  This was a positive way to start the apt. At the last few appointments I was loosing what I gained in the first 12 weeks.  The doctor was very upbeat about our ultrasound.  She said that everything is developing normally.  The heart has four chambers, and the kidneys are functioning correctly.   I am just caring a small baby.  She said there are multiple ways to look at this...my baby will be smaller than the average baby, baby will grow, by week 24 the baby will be closer to average, or my due date may be off.  She wasn't ready to move my due date just yet.  We scheduled another ultrasound at the end of Feb.(24 wks) to check the baby's growth and development.  Depending on what we see at this ultrasound, we will be able to determine if we need to make any changes to the due date.  If we do make the change, my new due date would be the beginning of July.  The ultra sound will also let us know if there are any concerns with the growth of the baby.  Dan and I are saying prayers and thanking God for our baby!

We also will have a follow up ultrasound at 32 weeks.  It was discovered on my ultrasound that I have a low lying placenta.  Basically, my placenta is too close to my cervix.  My placenta is currently 1 cm away from my cervix.  In order to be able to deliver with out a c-section, my placenta needs to be 2.5 cm away from my cervix.  Dr. Berg was not too worried about this.  She said that 99% of the time the placenta will move up as the baby and my uterus grows.  We will just have to confirm that the placenta moved.

Overall, we walked out of the appointment feeling a lot better than walking out of our ultrasound.  The doctor was very positive and said nothing that is going on with the baby is life threatening from her standpoint.  The baby's heart rate was strong at 153 at our appointment.  PRAISING GOD FOR OUR HEALTHY BABY!

Dominican Side Story -- Sheriff Woody

I just had to write about one of my favorite moments while in the Dominican.

Almost every day, I saw this cute little girl and her family walking around the resort.  I am not sure why our paths crossed every day but they did...that is the reason why I am writing about her. She was a sweet little Italian girl around age 3/4. She has long dark hair that was naturally curly and her mother dressed her to the nines. She was darling.  The reason why she stuck out to me is the toy that was in her hand EVERY time I saw her. She must love Woody (Toy Story). He went with her everywhere she went. I saw him in the sand, by the pool, at dinner time, and playing in the grass. It was really cute. I don't know this little girls name but her love for Woody reminded me of my cute little nephew, Levi. Levi LOVES Woody. Todd, Jeff and Myself got Levi Woody for Christmas. This little girl had the same one. Woody has a string that you pull and he says 4 different sayings. My favorite ones...."Your my favorite Deputy" & "I have a snake in my boot".  Levi's eyes lit up when he opened up his present. He tried so hard to wait patiently while Todd got Woody out of the box. Here are a few pictures of the excitement...