22 Weeks

I do believe that Baby B has a future in kick boxing. She has been making herself known here lately.

And good news, we have settled on a name! Not quite ready to announce it yet, we are still saving it for some one to one conversations but I expect we will be sharing the story here soon enough. Oh, and it is quite the story.

This weekend we got to spend time with my bother Chris, his girlfriend Robin and her family.  We went to a fantastic Italian restaurant in the South End of Boston and got a celebrity sighting, Glenn Close was there.   Chris and Robin are leaving for New Zealand on Wednesday of this week, wild! Perry started calling his dad by his first name awhile back (despite our best efforts) and was having a hard time with the fact that there were two (and starting calling his dad Uncle Chris instead) so we decided to come up with a new name for my brother. From here on out he is to go by Zeus.  Perry was game and we had a good time with it. 

 

To leave you with something else fun, this is my idea board for the nursery.  Need to find the right shade of pink (pretty with out being to over the top). 

 

 

 

 

Week 21 Developements

Baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long - the lenght of a carrot (sure, why not a carrot). Baby is developing a pattern to her sleeping and waking activities. In other developments, baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Week 20 - Half Way There!

We hit the 20 week mark this past Thursday; it is wild to think that we are half way through this pregnancy. Or maybe even more than half way if this little one decides to go early. I doubt it though; my money is on her being at least a week late. Of course that is what I thought for Perry and it certainly didn't turn out that way.

Starting to really think about nursery plans and have been adding some pics along the way to Pinterest to get a design board going. This go around we have two rooms to work through since we are moving Perry into the guest room and then converting the nursery from boy to girl. Feeling rather up for the challenge as I do love this part. We have a narrowed down to a few cribs to choose from so I think we will be placing that order very soon. I will update the blog along the way with our progress.

Week 20 Developement


Baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel - the lenght of a banana. For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against her torso and hard to measure, measurements are are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe. Baby is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and will be seen in her first soiled diaper.

Week 19

Here we are at week 19, which is a big one because we had our anatomy ultrasound this morning. Baby B passed with flying colors. Her heart rate was at 145 and she weighs 11 oz, right on target for 19 weeks. She was being a bit stubborn and wouldn't give the technician easy access to take a look at her heart; she kept her arms crossed which caused a shadow. Finally after she tried having me move side to side, cough and tilting the examination table back at an angle she finally got what she needed. We were able to count all fingers and toes and confirm that all of her organs are in the right place. We also confirmed that she is indeed a she and found out that the placenta is towards my spine and not my belly button which was not much of a surprise but good to know.

On a different note, October tends to be a month all about organization for me and this year is the same. Part of that effort is what I call 30 days of perfect where I stay away from sugar and junk food and keep to a workout routine. I am always amazed how much clearer and more energized I feel when I stay away from sugar. The reason though that I am bringing this up is that I am actually down two pounds from last week. Now mom, before you start worrying about this, know that I am actually two pounds heavier than I was with Perry at 19 weeks.. So just getting back into where I should be at this point!

 

 

 

We were given a long roll of pictures and I picked a few of the best down below. Also posted the pictures on Facebook today to make the announcement to the rest of the world.

 

 As you might remember in our last blog for Perry, Chris and I had installed a backsplash at our South Portland house. Well apparently growing a baby leads us to wanting a backsplash because we did it again this last week. Well Chris did it really and I kept Perry entertained and lent a hand during naps. He did a fantastic job and it is just what we wanted. We decided to go with a cream subway tile with a grey grout which really works well with our kitchen colors and just feels appropriate for the style of our house. Very satisfying to have it complete.

 Dasiy approves.

 Finished product.

 

 Perry had his own project going on, trying to fish a ball out of the elephant nose.

 

 

Week 19 Developements

Baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear moms voice now.
Baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces (actually 11) and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.



Week 18

Week 18 was a great one. We had our 18 week appointment last Friday and Baby B's heart beat continues to be an easy one to find! As soon as the Doppler hits my belly there she is, pretty fantastic. Her heart rate was in the 150 range. She has also become big enough that I can feel her kicking quite regularly. I was lying on my back on the couch earlier in the week and could feel her bumping around in there, grabbed Chris' hand and he got to feel a wee baby kick also. With Perry the placenta was positioned in the front which lead to a barrier of sorts between he and I, and meant that we didn't get to feel him move as much. With Baby B that certainly does not seem to be the case. I was hopeful that I could feel her move more, and considering we are only at 18 weeks and she is making herself known, I have a feeling that by the end of this pregnancy I will be wishing that the placenta had been in the front for this one too!

We are still on the name hunt but have gotten some great suggestions from our friends here checking the blog, thank you for that! My list is getting longer every day.  Carrie called out that the middle name will be Lou which is dead on and I should have listed that as part of my criteria! Lou is my middle name as well as my Grandmother, Aunt and Cousin on my Dad's side and I really do like the idea of following the tradition of passing it on. Plus Baby B's cousin goes by Amy Lou (formal name Amelia Louise) so in a way the girls will both share middle names. Pretty sure we can have some fun with that.

Week 18 Developments
Head to rump, baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the lenght of a bell pepper) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing hers arms and legs — movements that might be noticable more and more in the weeks ahead. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born.