17 Weeks!

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

•How far along?•
17 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 7.5 lbs.
•Maternity clothes?•
Bought a pair of maternity jeans and put them through the test this week. They passed with flying colors, so I'll be buying more this weekend.
•Sleep•
Yes please.
•Best moment this week•
Shakes and Sarah came to visit us this week. It was so much fun!
•Movement•
I felt a little jolt while on the acupuncture table, I think it was the baby!
•Food cravings•
Navel Oranges and Popsicles
•Gender•
We can't wait to find out!
•Labor Signs•
Thankfully, no.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Still in.
•What I miss•
Umm... not much this week.
•What I am looking forward to•
Feeling the baby and KNOWING it's the baby.
•Weekly Wisdom•
Now that I feel better, this is starting to go by really quickly
•Milestones•
Maternity clothes are now hanging in my closet.

16 Weeks!

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.


Anyone else want some guacamole?

•How far along?•
16 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 7 lbs.
•Maternity clothes?•
I'm ready to move into maternity clothes - especially now that the coworkers know.
•Sleep•
I'm feeling pretty energetic. The first trimester is behind me, but I don't have the backpain that I know I'll eventually get as my tummy gets bigger.
•Best moment this week•
Realizing that NEXT St. Patrick's Day, I'll have a little baby to pinch :)
•Movement•
I would think he or she is the calmest baby until I put the doppler on my tummy and hear nothing but little kicks.
•Food cravings•
Ranch dressing.
•Gender•
We can't wait to find out!
•Labor Signs•
Thankfully, no.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Still in.
•What I miss•
Drinking a beer on St. Patrick's Day.
•What I am looking forward to•
The 18-20 week ultrasound and seeing the baby again.
•Weekly Wisdom•
I feel great. :)
•Milestones•
40% Done!

How I told my CoWorkers

15 Weeks Pregnant

Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Future Infant is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though I still can't feel the movements.



•How far along?•
15 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Still down 9 lbs.
•Maternity clothes?•
My normal jeans barely fit, but I'm loving the longer length of maternity shirts.
•Sleep•
Tired by 8pm, can no longer even attempt to sleep on my stomach.
•Best moment this week•
Telling the boss man and finally not having to suck it in all day at work.
•Movement•
Nothing yet!
•Food cravings•
Ranch dressing and a veggie tray. Turkey BLT from Shari's.
•Gender•
Chris is still pullin' for a boy. I go back and forth.
•Labor Signs•
Nope.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Still in.
•What I miss•
Sushi.
•What I am looking forward to•
Going shopping for maternity jeans.
•Weekly Wisdom•
They weren't kidding- the second trimester is GREAT.
•Milestones•
We've announced it to the world!

THUMP!

Chris and I were watching The Big Bang Theory last night before going to bed (The DVR in our bedroom is about 90% full ever since I've been going to sleep earlier) and I turned on the doppler real quickly to check in on the bean.

I was able to find the heartbeat pretty quickly because it now sounds SO different from my own heartbeat, and while I was holding it steady to get an accurate beat/minute count we heard a huge THUMP.

The baby had done the same thing at the midwife appointment and the midwife told us that was a kick, but this was the first time we really heard it ourselves! I'm going to film it tonight and put up a quick snippet of the heartbeat, and maybe a few kicks, too!

14 Weeks!

Maybe that's why my stomach is so sour...

Big huh!? Future infant has tripled in size from a mere three weeks ago! Luckily, I haven't done the same.

The baby spends its days making faces at everything I say. Maybe not, but it is learning to control voluntary muscle movements (this will help him fling food across the room later in life). He can squint, frown and grimace - his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another.

He or she is a peeing machine. The kidneys are producing urine, which is released into the amniotic fluid on a regular basis. Maybe this is why I'm literally double fisting water all day long. I've been trying not to drink much with dinner or I'm up multiple times at night. Regardless, I'm up at least once. (I keep reminding myself that this part of pregnancy is only going to get worse.)

One of the neatest processes I've read about is the formation of fingerprints. Believe it or not, he actually created them himself while swimming around in the amniotic fluid. As he moves his hands, the skin on the tips of his fingers forms unique ridges and folds. That's why no one on earth has the same fingerprints, not even identical twins! Cool, right?

Baby's arms are now in proportion to his tiny body, but his legs are still on the short size in comparison. But just like the fingers were first to form, development seems to work from the top down.

He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. The liver has started making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells.


I'm feeling fine :) My stomach is a little weird on the drive home from work each day, but I'm troubleshooting with the size and frequency of meals during the day to try and get rid of that. I've also noticed that my butt and hips are killin' me at the end of the workday if it has been a computer heavy day. I'm going to go ahead and blame Relaxin for relaxing the joints and muscles in my body. Supposedly it is to help your pelvis expand and loosens the joints in your hips to make room for baby to come out. Lovely. Production peaks this week and will stay in my system till the birth. I just need to remind myself to take MORE breaks MORE often.

13 Week Midwife Check Up

Eventually that scale is going to start going up... But not yet! I'm now down 9 lbs since Christmas. Judging by the fact that future infant just hit the 1 ounce milestone, It's probably a good thing I haven't gained since I wouldn't really be able to blame it on the little one.

We had our midwife appointment yesterday. I think we both walked away confident with the midwifery program at OHSU. It seems they'll be able to care for us regardless of what pops up during the pregnancy. She was very friendly, and even though there are 9 midwives and any one of them could be at the birth, I think it's going to be a nice experience.

We're deciding whether or no to opt in to their group check-up program. Basically it's 8-10 women that are all due about the same time. We meet together, have an hour long conversation/Q&A session with the midwife and then we each have private one on one time with the midwife to listen to the heartbeat and ask specific questions.

The benefits appear to be that we'll have more total time with the midwife, and that we'll be able to learn from other's questions that we might not have thought to ask. It will also be nice to talk to women that are at the same stage as I am. Another benefit is that all the appointments are already setup, so I can give my boss advanced notice of all my doctors appointments for the next 6 months.

The negatives are that the meetings are on Thursday afternoons, so I'll have to take quite a few hours off instead of just scheduling them on Mondays when I don't work. There is also a certain lack of privacy that is inherit in group-based doctor's appointment. Perhaps the biggest con is that the groups are led by 1 midwife and she might not be the one present at your birth.

We still don't know which method we're going to choose.

The check up went fine and the baby's heartbeat sounded great!