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! :)

And...drumroll please...

Sorry to sit down so late to post this. Baby Larson has been busy since the doctor's appointment last week...Official stats...baby head circumference measured exactly 17 weeks, baby length measured 16 weeks 5 days, and I gained 1 more pound! The doctor reassured me that the baby is measuring perfectly and that she'd rather see women gain the right amount of weight slowly, rather than pile on 50+ pounds. (Not saying I won't be there by July!)

My appt was Tuesday, 2/21/12, and Ryan wasn't able to be with me because of class. He had told me Tuesday morning to text him the baby's gender so he would know right away. Well, I didn't think it was fair to share such exciting news with him through text message! So...I lied. I told him that the baby didn't cooperate and couldn't be coaxed into the right position. We would have to wait 2 more weeks for another attempt. He was disappointed but I think he figured, at least he would be at the next appt. with me.

As soon as I left the doctor's office, I called local florists to deliver flowers to my parents and to Tim and Linda to announce to them the sex of the baby. Then I headed to Babies R Us so the baby could buy an outfit for Ryan. I made sure to use blue, green, yellow, and pink tissue paper in the gift bag so Ryan couldn't tell before digging in. I think I got home from work about 7 that night, and Ryan finally learned the truth. Baby Larson had picked out a pink polka-dot outfit that says, 'Daddy's Girl.' Turns out our previous dreams were correct...

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

Pregnancy 101 - Larson style

Because everyone keeps asking...and because every preganancy is different...if I don't write down symptoms of this pregnancy, I'll forget.

First sign of pregnancy? Heightened sense of smell. Before we got our positive pg test, I could smell burps across the room, and my pee smelled different. Ryan's response?...'pee doesn't smell!' I told Ryan either something is wrong or I'm pregnant.

Second sign of pregnancy? Increased trips to the bathroom...to pee. Thankfully, not for morning sickness. Seriously though, is it really necessary to pee 3 times at night? The baby isn't that big yet and I can only imagine how frequent the middle of night pees will become as the baby grows.

Weeks 6-8? OMG! Increased appetite like I hadn't eaten in weeks. I was amazed at in the course of 10 minutes, with just the mention of food or seeing a billboard, I would go from...'hmm...that sounds good' to 'I need to eat that NOW.' There was one Sunday that I ate a bowl of Cheerios at 6 am, 2 pieces of french toast at 8 am, a piece of toast and PB at 11 am, then snagged a piece of pizza at a patient's house at 12:30. A bedtime bowl of cereal became a staple during those weeks, just to get through the night!

Week 10: Quesiness after a meal began. Only with dinner. Didn't matter what I ate for dinner as I tried to experiment with light vs. heavy dinner. Dinner never settled right.

Weeks 12-15: Due to the quesiness, decreased appetite. Also with week 12? My first round of pink eye, which was just lovely. I've never had pink eye the past 30 years... I was told (after the fact) that pregnancy can make your immune system weaker. After this, Clorox wipes became my friend at wiping down every lightswitch, door handle, and electronic in the house!

First emotional moment? January 14 (12 weeks pregnant) we were watching NFL football (Saints at 49ers so it wasn't even the Packers!) and my eyes filled up with tears. I told Ryan he better not laugh at me but he just smiled and said, 'Congratulations...you're pregnant! Finally, your hormones are pregnant too.'

Week 13: Headaches began by 3 pm daily. Made for plenty of early and unproductive nights. Once I caved in to taking Tylonel as needed, I was able to stay awake past 8 p.m.!

Valentine's Day 2012...Sweet child of mine, your dislike for sweets and the finer things in life really put a damper on my enjoyment of Valentines! This is the first year, in as long as I can remember, where I did not go shopping the day after to buy chocolate 50% off! This is the first year that I didn't eat any chocolate or cupcakes...on a holiday designed for those of us with large sweet tooths!

Here we are at week 17...still feel best in the mornings and quesy at night but the quesiness is starting to leave. I don't feel I have had any cravings yet. I'm told that I should start feeling the flutter of the baby moving (which possibly happened Tuesday night while watching tv but I'm not 100% certain). We should find out this week the sex of the baby. At this point, I don't think either one of us have any indication if it's a boy or girl. I hestitate writing this but around week 6, I had a dream it was a girl and Ryan actually dreamt the other night that it was a girl. But oh my...I just don't know how either one of us will handle all those cutsie outfits and dresses and matching accessories! As long as he or she is healthy and happy, we'll be thrilled with either boy or girl.

Til next time!

16-weeks

I can't believe that we are already 16 weeks into the pregnancy. I had told myself that once we hit 20 weeks, we'll start planning the nursery, registry, making our list of names, and getting the house ready...and its almost time for all that fun!


I feel guilty for only gaining 2 pounds so far, but the doctor didn't seem concerned at the last visit. If I add those 2 pregnancy pounds to the 4 intentionally gained while trying to conceive, I am up 6 from my regular weight, so maybe the baby is feeding off those pounds as well? But my appetite hasn't been real good the past 3 weeks, often feeling quesy after meals. This past week, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to eat more food. Food in general, to increase my calories. However, I haven't always made the best choices...mac n cheese has become a staple for dinner as it seems to settle well. Chips and salsa, well...I should know better than to open the bag of chips knowing how much this baby loves salt. Ryan's comment, "You're kinda eating a lot tonight..." To do this week, increase fruits and veggies!

Noteable happenings this past week: Tuesday, 2/7, one of my friends commented that I was 'glowing' and she felt my belly was growing. Last night, 2/11, I took Ryan out for a steak birthday dinner and I couldn't quite get my jeans buttoned. These are my regular jeans...that I had just worn comfortably last weekend for a Super Bowl party...has the baby really grown that much this week? Thankfully, my previously pregnant friends had strongly recommended the Be Band from Target to allow pre-pregnancy pants to continue to be worn as the band covers the unbuttoned top :) (Sidenote, jeans were buttoned for the picture without problems. I feel I am at the point where by the end of the day, the belly is full and bloated but mornings everything fits! Give it 1 or 2 more weeks and the protruding belly will be present all day, not just at night...)

Our next doctor appointment isn't until next week, we'll be 17 weeks along so we're really hoping that the doctor will perform an ultrasound and we'll learn the sex of the baby. My headaches continue but the doctor said headaches are common due to the surge in hormones and typically subside around 20 weeks. My sis-in-law also had headaches and her doctor told her that means the baby is growing as it should and everything continues to develop. I'll gladly take the headaches over morning sickness :)

Today is a big day for us: Happy 16 weeks little one, and Happy 33 Birthday Daddy-to-be!

Pink or Blue?

From the beginning, Ryan has wanted to find out the sex of the baby while I prefer to wait and be surprised. This topic gets brought up often because when anyone finds out we are expecting, the first question we get asked..."Well, are you going to find out what the baby is?" So...in an effort to compromise...we agreed to find out the sex of this baby however the second baby will remain a surprise. I wanted to be sure to share this as the next time around, I don't want Ryan to conveniently 'forget' our agreement :) so now we will all be able to remind him!

Our next doctor's appointment is coming up a few weeks and we'll be 16 weeks along at that point, so as long as the baby cooperates, we should find out soon if it is a girl or a boy! Regardless of what this baby is, we'd still like to do as many things in neutral colors as possible as I'm guessing the wardrobe will end up reflecting either pink or blue.

It's funny to hear everyone's theories about carrying a girl versus a boy. Everything from food cravings, fetal heart rate, how your belly looks, severity of morning sickness, the Draino test, and the list goes on and on. Once we know, we'll have to compare this pregnancy to those old wives tales!

So, stay tuned...we'll hopefully be able to share more news in a few weeks.