22-week appointment

We had our 22-week appointment on Friday, March 23. Baby Girl's heartrate was 148 bpm, my fundal measurement (uterus to pelvic bone) measured on schedule, and I gained 4 pounds the past month! Making total weight gain 8 pounds in 22 weeks :) My next appointment isn't for 4 more weeks and then we'll do the gestational diabetes test.

We met the nurse midwife that works at the office. The doctor had to leave to go to the hospital, which was disappointing, as it would've been Ryan's first time meeting the doctor. Confused? Yeah...I switched doctors after the 3 month appointment. Neither Ryan or I felt comfortable with the doctor I had seen annually for the last 7 years, we felt like we were just a number being rushed through the door. Taking the advice of friends, I made my next appointment with their doctor and immediately felt very comfortable with her and she took plenty of time with me to answer all my questions.

I had Ryan take pictures again this weekend because I feel in the past 2 weeks, baby Girl is making her presence known by steadily increasing the size of her living area. Picture on the left is 20 weeks, picture on the right is 22 weeks. If I knew how to add captions...I would've labeled the pictures! For the record, Ryan's contribution was the sticky note saying 22 weeks :) It sure feels like she is growing quickly, now weighing about 1 pound and about 11 inches head to toe. Can't wait to see what the 6 month/24-week picture looks like!

21 weeks, 2 days...

Ryan felt the baby kick this morning!

I thought that I felt the baby kick (from the outside) Saturday night after dinner but told myself, it's too early, it's just my reflexes wanting to feel it.

Well, this morning when I rolled from my side to back, she must not have been ready to change positions and I could feel her kicking or rearranging in there so I put my hand on my tummy and felt 4 good beats! I called Ryan over and he could also feel her :) I'm so excited she is getting big enough and strong enough that we can both feel her from the outside. I know her kicks and movements will continue to get stronger with each week.

Little moments like this put everything else in perspective. It reminds me to slow down and take time to enjoy this journey. Pregnancy only lasts 40 weeks...we've got the rest of our lives to worry about other things!

Baby Industry

When planning our wedding, I remember hearing something about if you want to start a business, go into the wedding industry because there is so much demand for that perfect day. Well, this past week, we took advantage of Ryan's spring break and did as much preparing for baby/planning as possible! I think we were both shocked at all the options, stores, websites that cater to baby items!

Big items we completed this week:
1. Ordered the crib and mattress!
2. Ordered an infant carrier carseat.
3. Ordered our BOB jogging stroller :)
4. Picking out her name (well, we narrowed our list significantly)

So with those first 3 things completed, we can bring Baby Girl home in July! If only it was that easy...next on the list(s) include settling on a nursery theme (neutral or do we make it girly?), assembling above items as they are delivered, deciding where to take a birthing class, learning about daycare vs. home sitter options.

After this past week, it's safe to say, we are both more excited about July and it seems much more real that we are having a little girl to love and spoil. Seeing all the new things we'll be experiencing makes it very exciting. I'm sure the remaining 19 weeks will go by just as fast as the first 21 weeks. Yeah for entering the next chapter of our lives!

20-week pics

Here we are at 20 weeks...halfway mark...however, from running our previous marathons, we both know that it's the second half that gets you!

The belly is starting to protrude. Reportedly the uterus is now at the height of my belly button. Baby Girl should be about 10 inches head to toe (about the size of a banana!) and weighs about 10 ounces.

I can't think of any new symptoms that have arised. I'm remembering my dreams...vividly...and they are in color. I attribute that to waking so frequently to pee during the night. Friday night I couldn't fall back to sleep at 3:30 so got up, ate some cereal, did some reading, we went grocery shopping at 6, and began baby researching...what a day! I think its because I was secretly excited that we were finally sitting down Saturday to begin researching baby items. Strollers, car seats, bottles, cribs, blankets, etc...there is so much information to learn! We are definately accepting recommendations and suggestions from those who have been through this as to what baby items are a necessity vs. luxury!

20 weeks ALREADY!

We went in this morning for our Level II/anatomy scan ultrasound. Gender of baby was confirmed to be a GIRL! Everything the technician saw looked good and measured right on schedule for gestational age. We were reminded that nothing is 100% until delivery when the baby is actually here and the doctors can actually see everything. Baby's heart rate was 124 bpm which is the lowest it has ever been but we were told its nothing to worry about. Baby Girl wasn't as active as she has been during previous appts and we were told that she apparently has a favorite position in there because it was hard for the technician to coax her out of the position.

Key points I took from this appt:
1. Heart has 4-chambers.
2. Spinal cord is closed so no indications of spina bifida.
3. No signs of a cleft palate.
4. Brain/cerebellum looks like it has formed correctly without excess fluid in the ventricles.
5. Kidneys measured perfectly and bladder is present.
6. Arm and leg bones were all measured to be correct length.
7. Placenta has moved higher in the uterus where it should be (if it stays too low, it makes a natural delivery not likely).
8. Amniotic fluid levels checked out fine.

We were told that the doctor will go over all official results next week when we meet with her. I didn't get weighed in today so that stat will have to wait til next week. We weren't able to get very good pictures of her but we'll try to scan the ultrasound picture in this week.

We're on the MOVE!

Well, baby girl that is :) I think that I can definately say at this time that she's large enough that I'm feeling her movements. The past 2 nights, while laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I feel the flutter of movement. Monday night, I don't know if she just liked the pasta I had for dinner, but it felt like popcorn kernels popping in there! I put my hand on my stomach, thinking that I would be able to feel it, and the popping quieted. I removed my hand and pop, pop, pop.

Should only be 3-4 more weeks until Ryan is able to feel the movement as well. I can't wait until I can feel the kicks and punches but right now, this fluttering is nice reassurance that she's in there, growing, and learning how to move her muscles.

At my last appt, I had asked the doctor about risk of anemia related to the pregnancy due to my lack of animal protein. Lucky for me, so far, my hemoglobin levels are still in the perfect range so I am really relieved at those blood results.

Our next appt is 3/13/12 for what they call the Level II ultrasound/anatomy scan. I've been told by others that this appt should give us some good pictures of her as well as check to make sure that the heart, kidneys, brain, and all other organs are developing properly. I'm hoping to get some good pictures of her and we'll be sure to share what pictures we get.

I'm still feeling good, the quesiness and headaches are now rare and my appetite is slowly increasing. From the books I've read, the mother's appetite should steadily increase over the next month as the baby is undergoing major growth in height and weight. Can't wait!

Heres to hoping that our next post has cute pictures! :)