21 Weeks

Saturday, 27 July 2013

How far along: 21 weeks, 1 day

How big baby is: ¾ pound, 10 ½ inches long (head to toe)

Baby is the size of: a carrot

Baby’s development: eyebrows and eyelids are now present, taste buds are forming

Mommy’s weight gain: two pounds this week, making 11 pounds total

Mommy’s belly:

A carrot? She must be a big carrot! :)

Baby’s movements: The movements are getting slightly stronger. Last night she was really dancing in there. I sat and watched my belly move as she kicked and played. The movements are strong enough that I can see them now, rather than just feeling them. David and Penny are able to feel them a little more too.

Symptoms: I had about three days of chest pains. I’m not sure what they were attributed to, but it was pretty much a constant aching and sometimes got worse depending on how I moved my upper body. It seemed like a muscle pain of some kind and I’m not sure what caused it. I’m glad it’s gone now though.

Food cravings: No cravings this week to speak of

Emotions: I seem to get emotional or cry pretty easily. Any movie I have watched lately has made me cry - even if it’s not supposed to be a sad movie! It’s a little frustrating to me to be so emotional, but I know it’s only temporary.

Sleep: I’m still very tired most of the time. I love to sleep!

What I am looking forward to: I’m pretty sure we have decided what to do in Penny’s room so I’m looking forward to ordering her new loft bed, painting her room, and moving the furniture that will be going to Ariana’s room. I still need to settle on the color for Penny’s accent wall, but her bedding has already arrived - it’s pink and purple, just like she wanted - so I will be able to decide on the accent color soon. I’m ready to get her bedroom done so I can start working in Ariana’s room.

Also, we have fixed up and cleaned our car and we are ready to sell it and buy our true “family car.” We have a very interested buyer today who wanted one little thing fixed before he was ready to commit. I’m praying that we will be able to sell this one and buy our new car before the end of the month - since the deals and offers are usually best at the end of the month. We are cutting it pretty close though. It’s exciting to be getting closer to taking care of things like this - it means we’re that much closer to Ariana’s arrival!

20 Weeks

19 July 2013, Friday

How far along: 20 weeks - the halfway point!

How big baby is: 10 to 10 ½ ounces, 6 ½ inches long from head to rump or 10 inches from head to toes

Baby is the size of: a banana

Baby's development: Her uterus is fully formed and she even has primitive eggs in her tiny ovaries. Wow!

Mommy’s weight gain: one pound this week, making nine pounds total

Mommy’s belly: round - I seem to carry baby A high. Most pregnancy books and websites say that by 20 weeks my uterus should just now be as high as my belly button, but at last week’s ultrasound the PA confirmed that mine is 2-3 inches higher than that already. I like to think that I am just a great hostess who gives her lots of room to stretch and wiggle. :)

Not my favorite photo of myself, but a “belly shot” nonetheless...

Baby’s movements: She is very wiggly! Her most active time (that I’m awake for, anyway) seems to be around 9:30 in the evening. It’s neat to notice how differently her movements feel compared to the way Penny’s felt. With Penny I had an anterior placenta, meaning the placenta was in front of the baby, towards the front of my belly. Her kicks and movements were somewhat muted compared to how Ariana’s kicks feel. Ariana’s placenta is posterior, or on the back of the uterus, behind the baby. So her movements feel very sharp compared to what I was used to when pregnant with Penny. There have already been a few times that the baby’s swift karate chops have almost hurt and most certainly taken me by surprise!

Symptoms: I’m still quite tired most of the time, but I feel pretty great overall.

Food cravings: I haven’t had any cravings this week, but I do feel extra hungry. I have a hard time making it from one meal to the next without needing a snack in between. I have really enjoyed “Flavor Ice” popsicles this week - the ones in the plastic sleeves. Yum!

Emotions: Feeling Ariana’s movements make me so happy. But sometimes they remind me that I missed out on this part with my babies who have already gone to heaven. It can feel bittersweet at times.

Sleep: Still sleeping great at night and taking naps when I have a chance.

Anything else: I love that at twenty weeks the doctors stop calling her a “fetus” and start calling her a “baby.” The halfway point is a great milestone to reach and I’m so thankful for a healthy baby and pregnancy!

19 Weeks

12 July 2013 - Friday

How far along: 19 weeks

How big baby is: 8 ½ ounces, 6 inches from head to rump

Baby is the size of: heirloom tomato

Baby's development: Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. 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.

Mommy’s weight gain: Since my due date has been changed it has only been one day since I weighed and posted - so perhaps my two pounds last week can count for two weeks after all! :)

Mommy’s belly:

Baby’s movements: Still wiggly!

Symptoms: Yesterday and today I have been exhausted. I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so perhaps it has to do with that. Other than that, no real symptoms to speak of.

Food cravings: I have had a snow cone from Josh’s Sno Shack four days in a row now. I think that counts as a craving.

Emotions: Feeling good; feeling very happy and excited.

Sleep: I still need lots of sleep!

What I am looking forward to: I can’t wait to get the bedroom started. We have decided to move Penny to the spare room, so I can’t really do anything about getting a room ready for Ariana until David has a chance to make Penny’s new “big girl bed” and we get Penny moved. The pre-planner in me is having a hard time being patient!

18 Weeks

11 July 2013, Thursday

How far along: 18 weeks, 1 day (Well, not really... but more about that in a minute.)

How big baby is: 5 1/2 inches long, about 7 ounces

Baby is the size of: a bell pepper

Baby development: Cartilage throughout the body is now turning to bone. Baby is gaining more control over limb movements. Also, vernix is developing to protect her skin.

Mommy’s weight gain: Uh-oh. This can’t be right! It looks like I’ve gained two pounds this week making it eight pounds total! Yikes! I better watch what I’m eating! I was holding steady at a pound a week until this week!

Mommy’s belly: Super round! It is starting to get in my way and make me uncomfortable sometimes. Not that I’m complaining!

Baby’s movements: She has been super wiggly the past several days and I LOVE it! On Saturday, the 6th, I was sitting on the couch with David and she was wiggling a lot. I had David put his hand on my belly to see if he could feel any of the movements. It took a minute or so, but he did feel it! That was so exciting to me! Then I sat still and watched my belly for a few minutes to see if I could see her bumping me. It took a little bit, but eventually I did see little bumps twice. Feeling and seeing the baby move and kick are probably my favorite things about being pregnant. I can’t wait until the kicks are hard enough that Penny will be able to see and feel them!

Symptoms: Restless legs and even some leg cramping at night when I’m in bed. I also notice that after lying in one position for very long my limbs fall asleep very easily. Usually when I wake up in the middle of the night my arm and leg will be asleep and I have to roll to my other side. I wake up at least two or three times a night needing to use the bathroom anyway.

Food cravings: I haven’t had any cravings lately, but I do still have occasions where a specific food I usually like just doesn’t sound or taste good. One example would be Pizza Hut pizza - I haven’t liked it since I got pregnant. And these weren’t necessarily true pregnancy cravings, but I had a hankering for shaved ice from Josh’s Sno Shack (the BEST snow cones in Tulsa) and for a pot roast, which is simmering in the crock pot now!

Emotions: I haven’t had any days of panic this week - so that’s good!

Sleep: I am sleeping well, just waking up several times a night due to discomfort and a baby squishing my bladder. With the extra time that I am awake at night I find that if I don’t have at least a short nap during the day I am exhausted and ready for bed by 8:30 or 9:00.

Anything exciting or unusual: Last week I was so worried because there were a few days that I didn’t feel the baby move. This week she has been much more active! I’m so blessed and so thankful for the reassurance that this wiggly little girl has given me this week!

What I am looking forward to: I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour and I can’t wait to see how she has grown and watch her wiggle around! I love getting to see her on that screen!

--------------------------------------------------

Update from our monthly appointment: I just got back from my doctor’s appointment. We were supposed to see Dr. N. at 9:00 this morning, but he was called away for a delivery. I rescheduled for this afternoon and saw the PA, Megan, instead. She did all the measurements for my "20-week ultrasound," even though I am not quite twenty weeks. She said the baby looked great and then said she was measuring just right for being due on December 6th. I was confused because I had been told I was due the 11th. So she did some checking and found out that my due date has been and should be the 6th based on the 8-week measurements and the fact that I have measured consistently for that due date ever since. How funny! We didn’t get any pictures that I thought were really great, just a profile shot and some other fuzzy shots. So now I know I am actually 8 weeks, 6 days. I don’t think I’ll go back and re-label any photos or anything, since they’re only off by five days. I’m just thankful that the baby looks healthy!

The nurse thought she put my ultrasound photos on my flash drive, but they didn’t transfer. So for today I have to use this photo of a photo taken with my cell phone. It’s better than nothing.  :)

Seventeen Weeks

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

How far along: 17 weeks

How big baby is: 5 - 5 ½ inches from head to rump, about 5 ounces

Baby is the size of: a turnip

Baby's development: She can now yawn, her nervous system is maturing rapidly, her sense of hearing is growing more acute, and she is moving around a lot by now - twists, rolls, kicks, and punches.

Mommy’s weight gain: 1 pound this week, 6 pounds total

Mommy’s belly...

Baby’s movements: I can feel all kinds of wiggles and bumps now!

Symptoms: I have had a few sharp pains in my lower abdomen on both sides. I’m pretty sure they are round ligament pains which are completely normal.

Food cravings: I haven’t really had any cravings this week.

Emotions: Other than one day of panic, I have felt pretty excited. I feel so grateful to have this blessing growing inside me!

Sleep: I am still sleeping pretty well. I miss being able to sleep in certain positions though. My belly is starting to get in the way.

Anything unusual: Yesterday I allowed some panic to set in. It had been over a day since I had felt the baby move. I had been really busy on Monday and just hadn’t been able to sit still or relax, so I figured that’s why I hadn’t noticed any movement. But yesterday I still had not noticed any movement by late afternoon. I started to get really worried. I had some caffeine but still felt nothing so I started to pray. I just asked God to please wake Ariana up and let me feel her move so I would know she was okay. Within five minutes, she were nudging away! I was so relieved. I felt a little silly for panicking so easily, but I think that is pretty normal for someone who has been through what I have. Today I haven’t felt any movement at all, so I’m nervous again. I’m praying that she’ll wiggle soon so that I can relax and stop worrying!

What I am looking forward to: getting started on the nursery - I have started to clean that bedroom out and once I get everything out that doesn’t belong in there we will need to paint. I am planning to do a pink and gray nursery. It will be so pretty!