Week 17 and 18

On a happy note, I got our blood results back for the birth defects testing (triple scan) and everything is completely normal! On a not so happy note, I had an inner ear infection this week that was the worst thing imaginable. It was so bad that the room was spinning which made me throw up. It is much better now though! We got to have an amazing Father's Day weekend. Saturday, Rich and I went and picked out our oversized Victorian looking chair. It is an elegant chair, but it glides. It is the first thing that we have picked out for the nursery! We got it at a place in Franklin that will let you pick the fabric from hundreds of different choices. Then we went and got Rich some golf shirts, went to Blue Coast and Maggie Moos, then headed home. On Sunday, I surprised Rich with some new Nike shorts to work out in and a new playstation remote. We also went to church and went to my parent's house to swim and for dinner. Get ready for the best part of the day... Rich and Nana (my mom) got to feel the baby move on Father's Day! The baby always moves like crazy when I put my belly in the water, and they definitely felt some jabs. They say people can't feel the baby move until a few weeks from now, but this was actually at 18 and a half weeks. The baby is 10 days further than what we had originally thought. Anyways, enough of my ramblings. Here are the Baby updates for weeks 17 and 18.

Week 17 Updates:

How your baby's growing:Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Week 18 Updates:

How your baby's growing:Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

A little movement (well, a lot)

I forgot to journal about the first time I felt our baby move. I had felt things that felt like a little movement for a few weeks, but the first time that I felt a FOR SURE movement from the baby was on Saturday, June 6th. I was at my parent's pool laying on the float with my mom when I felt it. I was laying on my back, and it felt like something was thumping the inside of my belly. It was one of the most amazing feelings that I have ever felt. I have been feeling the baby move more and more since then and from what I can tell the baby is REALLY active. It is simply the best feeling to know that something that is equally a part of my husband and I is kicking away inside of my belly. I am starting to love being pregnant! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Weeks 15 and 16

Week 15 Updates:

How your baby's growing:Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds.

Week 16 Updates:

I went to the doctor last Monday for our 16 week appointment. As soon as Dr. Wingo put the gel and Doppler on my belly I got to hear the heartbeat. Last time it took him a few minutes to find it, but this time I heard it right away. It was strong at 150. I also had my blood drawn for the Downs Syndrome, Trisomy syndromes, and all of the other major birth defects. I will get those results either tomorrow or Wednesday so please keep us in your prayers. Dr. Wingo did say that our baby is going to be a BIG baby. They measured the baby's legs at our last ultrasound, and he said that the baby would be really long and that there was no way that my frame would allow me to make it to 40 weeks with this big of a baby. Also, I put a few bump pictures up for your viewing pleasures...haha. I am absolutely starting to grow more and more every day. I truly LOVE showing though and having a baby bump. Enjoy!

How your baby's growing:Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

There is one big baby in here!!!

15 Weeks

Well I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow. Here are some more bump pictures. I still have only gained 0.5 lbs, but I'm beginning to show. I had been feeling wonderful until tonight. Fried food does NOT work out so well. I'm really only eating vegtables and grilled food so that I can keep it down. If I eat unhealthy it usually makes its way back up. I had a homemade funnel cake today at work, and have thrown up 8 times in the last two hours. I won't be eating fried food for a while. The combination of the heat, exhaustion, and unhealthy food finally got to me. I'll try to post the updates on the baby's growth tomorrow. Please notice the privacy fence in the background that my dad built for us. One of the nicest gifts we've ever received!

Oh I almost forgot to update about our Memorial Day weekend. Friday, a friend of mine from high school and I went to watch Bethany and Holly's recital and out to eat at Fulin's with them. Saturday Rich and I slept in and went to Opry Mills and Olive Garden on a date. Sunday we rented "Taken" and LOST episodes and napped all day. Memorial Day we went to the Gourley's with LOTS of people from our church and had a cookout. It was a wonderful weekend! I forgot my camera on Memorial Day, but am on a hunt for a new camera bag so hopefully I'll be taking it with us more often. Finally, here are the pics!

Week 14

I'm going to try to update every week what all the new developments are with the baby. Here are the week 14 updates. The weight gain update: drumroll please...... 0.5 lbs. I still have yet to gain a full pound, just a half of a pound!!!!

How your baby's growing:This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

14 weeks, 1 day ultrasound

Wednesday night Rich and I were moving my classroom because it had to be finished by Thursday morning. I had terrible cramps and had to sit down for a while. We worked until around midnight that night and went home to go to bed. That morning I woke up and the cramps were gone so I stopped worrying and went to work at 6:45. Around 10:15 I was filling out paperwork with the special ed teachers, and I felt something going wrong. I went to the bathroom and had started hemoraging. I immediately called my doctor and he said to get there asap and not to drive. So one of my friends that I work with drove me to meet Rich at Centennial where we get all of our ultrasounds. Needless to say, I was FREAKING OUT! They got us in for the ultrasound as soon as we got there. Everything is completely fine, actually better than fine. I had a condition called "placenta previa" which is when the placenta attaches really low and covers up where the baby would come out. No big deal, but they were hoping it would "migrate" so that I wouldn't have to have a C-section. Apparently my body was doing exactly what the doctors wanted, and the placenta was migrating. This is why I had all of the cramping and bleeding. Now for the wonderful news.... I am actually 10 days further than what they thought so they are probably going to officially move up my due date to November 18th at my next appointment. I am actually (today) 14 weeks, 3 days. The ultrasound tech also did a little something extra for us as a surprise. We were planning on waiting until the baby was born to find out the sex, but she said, "I'm going to do something for you guys since ya'll have been through quite a bit, but don't tell anyone." At this point, I had no idea what she was going to do. I was thinking extra pictures or something. I could see everything on the flat screen on the wall so I watched her go underneath the baby's butt inbetween it's legs. Then I saw something that looked like a third leg. I said, "is that what I think it is?" She said, "yea, it looks like it's going to be a boy." She said she was 99.9% sure that the baby is a boy, and that she would be shocked if it was a girl! Needless to say, we were thrilled!!! We are going to wait to get anything though until it is confirmed at our 20 week ultrasound. Here are the pictures of our sweet baby. He is really snuggled up to his mommy and holding on tight to me. I wanted to make sure I got a clear picture on here so I put a few up.

Bentley's spoiled rotten!

Bentley now gets to eat steak about once every other week when we have our steaks. He LOVES it! Here are a few updated pictures on Bentley. He had surgery yesterday, and is already back to his old self. No big deal, he just needed to be "fixed."

"Please Daddy"

"Much better than that dried up dog food."