18 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of a bell pepper.

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.

**Can I just note that this morning I realized that in the next 5 months this kid is going to grow from only about 7 ounces to probably around 7 pounds or more, in only 5 months! Unreal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5ish pounds. Depends on the day but right around 5 pounds.  

Maternity Clothes: still regular clothes though those are getting much tighter. I'm trying to get through the next month or two without having to buy much. I'm at such a weird in between stage and have no idea how big I'll really get so it's either waste money buying clothes that fit me right now (and for not much longer) or guess at how big I may get and buy clothes for later that are too big for me right now.

Gender: we'll find out in a week and a half! There is now a poll on my sidebar so you all can vote on what you think the baby is!

Movement: Still some bubbles here and there. Nothing consistent.

What I miss: having an appetite. I'm no longer nauseous all the time (thank God) so I can eat fine but I really never have much of an appetite and nothing ever really sounds that appealing so eating has been a challenge.

Sleep: Better thanks in large part to the noise machine I got from my friend to eventually put in the nursery. The Ocean noise is so soothing.

Symptoms: Backaches. I had to bring a pillow to work finally to use in my chair because everyday by about 2pm my back hurts so much I can hardly stand it. Also, my belly is starting to feel a lot tighter and I've been having some minor discomfort from things growing in there.

Cravings: Mango Smoothies! I had 3 last weekend and would have had 4 but McD's ran out so I was forced to get the Wild Berry. Smoothies are the one thing that sounds appealing to me.

Best Moment this week: Having my test results come back negative for the AFP and getting lots of baby stuff from my friend.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender in T-minus 11 days!!

Weekend Highlights

I had a very nice, very quick and productive weekend. Some of the highlights include:

- Visiting my good friend Kelli who cleaned out her storage unit and is letting me use all the baby stuff her son has now grown out of. We scored so much awesome stuff including a bassinet, a few swings, two boppy's, a bottle warmer and an awesome noise machine which we are currently using in our room (falling asleep to the sound of the ocean is so soothing). It's easily saved us several hundred dollars and space on our registry for other needed items.

-After meeting up with Kelli I had lunch with my mom and then we went shopping where she bought both the baby and I a few things. She bought me 4 new bras since I'm now in the B cup club! I can't even tell you how excited I am about that, though if you are also a member of the itty bitty t*tty committee I'm sure you know. I have to admit bra shopping with my mom like that gave me flashbacks of being 12 and shopping for my first bras.

-When I got home I saw the beautiful new steps that Kristian made me so I can get into bed easier. Our bed is VERY high (like up to my chest) and with my slowly expanding belly it's getting harder to get into so he built me these and stained them to match our bedroom furniture. Our 14 year old cat also likes the steps, we found him sleeping in our bed (which he rarely does due to the height off the floor) on Saturday afternoon.

-Sunday my girl friend Colleen came over to visit and meet Moxie and then I went with her to get her nose pierced. I have to say it looks really cute and subtle on her.

-Sunday we also discussed our ideas for the future nursery and I can't wait to find out the gender and start decorating. We have so much fun stuff planned for the room!

-This didn't happen on the weekend, it actually happened this morning but thought I would throw it in. I got a call from the doctor's office and the results from my AFP blood test (which tests for the potential of genetic defects) came back negative! So baby is looking good so far! Now we just have to pray for a good anatomy scan.

17 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 17 weeks

*I'm still taking my weekly photos in the same outfit which I'll post again in a few weeks but I thought it would be fun to post a picture of me wearing something else for a change so you can see the growing belly*

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of a turnip.

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.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +3 pounds from my last doctor's appointment and about +4-5 pounds overall.

Maternity Clothes: none yet, trying to get through summer at least. I will definitely need to buy a whole new wardrobe for the cold weather.

Gender: not sure, still getting the girl vibe though.

Movement: I believe there is definitely some movement happening in there now. Still hard to distinguish what's what though.

What I miss: nothing.

Sleep: This week has sucked but not because of the baby but because a certain husband of mine keeps snoring and waking me up!

Symptoms: Lots of stretching/growing/shifting type of feelings in my stomach. There definitely seems to be a party happening in my uterus.

Cravings: nothing in particular, haven't had much of an appetite this week.

Best Moment this week: Having a good doctor's appointment yesterday and ordering our crib

What I am looking forward to: Visiting my girl friend this weekend to go through her baby stuff and our anatomy scan in a couple weeks!

Doctor Appt.

This morning was my monthly doctors appointment. I met with the nurse practitioner this time, the goal is to try to meet with everyone in the practice at some point. Happy to report that the appointment went well and things are looking good with the baby. The N.P. listened to the heartbeat and told me that "if you believe in the old wives tales you're in the girl range" :) She felt my belly and mentioned that I would probably need maternity pants soon. I'm hoping the Be-Bands can keep me in my regular pants for a lot longer. She also basically confirmed that the "gurgling" feeling I've been getting is the baby moving so that's really exciting.

I also had blood drawn for the Alpha Fetal Protein test which is a something they do to test the probability of certain genetic abnormalities. Initially I rejected all of the genetic tests they offered because most of them are not definitive, they can have a high risk of false positives and I didn't want to be stressed out for my whole pregnancy and since I wouldn't abort based on the results I didn't see the point. Well my doctor did say of all the tests this is one he typically recommends so I figured why not. Now I just have to keep praying the results come back okay so we don't need to do any further testing.

Wanna check out my crib?

This past weekend we made our first (of many) larger purchases for the baby and ordered our crib. I realize that we won't need a crib for a while especially since the kid will probably sleep in a 'pack n play' in our bedroom for the first couple months. However, for me it would be hard to decorate the rest of the nursery without knowing what the crib will look like. And I really want as much of the nursery done beforehand as possible. I don't think either of us will have the time or energy to do it after the baby is here.

With that said I went back and forth between wanting a darker wood color or white. I knew I wanted something that could work for either gender, not just because we don't yet know what we're having but hopefully if we have another kid of the opposite sex we can use the same furniture.



After looking at a LOT of cribs online we decided on the below one from Walmart.com.

I just love espresso colored furniture, which shouldn't be a big surprise since that's what we have for our bedroom. I think it works great with both blue/green or pink/purple bedding. It also got really good reviews online and comes with a mattress. We should get it in about a week or so, not that we plan to put it together anytime soon. We still need to figure out what to do with the bed in our guest room/future nursery first.

We still have a LOT more stuff to get but somehow buying a crib makes this even more real and exciting. Now I can't wait to find out what the gender is so that we can start picking out bedding and the rest of the nursery decorations.

I should also mention that I've had a number of friends already offer to let me borrow some of their baby stuff that their kids have outgrown which I know will save us quite a bit of money and we're incredibly grateful. In case you didn't know babies are expensive yo.



Deck re-do

This weekend I lazed around the house and the pool while my super, awesome, handy husband took on a pretty big project all by himself. He's way more motivated than I am let me tell you. He's been dying to redo the railing on our deck since we moved in. Personally I thought the deck was fine. Yes it's old and could use a facelift but it never bothered me too much.

Well can't say the same for my husband. So using some Cedar wood he got for free through his work he single-handedly replaced the entire railing going around our deck, sanded and stained it AND extended part of it so that we now have a little bar to eat on/serve food. Oh and it only took him a day and a half! Yeah he pretty much kicks ass. Now onto the pictures.

So I'm a super bad blogger and didn't think to take any before shots so all I have are the bottom two photos from before.

Here's our deck looking up from the backyard (obviously). Nothing special, kinda old.

Here is a picture from our housewarming party, if you look close you can see how old and worn the wood is, kinda ugly but functional.

Again I was a bad blogger and didn't think to take pictures when he first tore out the old railing. So here's a picture of the new, un-stained railing after he first put it up. He measured, cut and installed all the wood himself.

This is to the right of the house, as you can see there is a section of the railing that now extends out a bit further. This will be our new eating/serving bar.

This wood was initially pretty ugly in it's original state but after a lot of sanding and scraping he got down to the pretty stuff.

And here it is once it was stained. So shiny! He also added a little backer so that we don't have to worry about dishes/glasses we have on there falling off the back.

Here is the right side again, now that it's finished.

Here's the left side. Oh yeah he also planted all those flowers, not only does he build shit, he gardens. I sorta feel a bit useless around the house, though I am in the process of growing a human so that's a win for me!

Here's another shot of the new eating/serving bar. He's also going to build a couple barstools to go underneath so we can start eating dinner out there.

Another close up shot of the new eating area. If you look closely you can see that the floor of the deck is still that ugly, old wood. Unfortunately that's not something he can really replace himself. So instead he plans to power wash and stain the floor and then we'll buy a nice outdoor rug, that way there isn't so much of a contrast between the new wood and the old wood.

I must say having such a handy guy around the house not only helps make our place look a lot better but saves a TON of money. I think all in all we spent around $100 at Home Depot for some supplies. Can't beat that!

16 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of an avocado.

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.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +3 pounds...the weight is finally starting to stay on.

Maternity Clothes: still no maternity clothes, trying to put those off as long as possible. I think I'll need some new bras soon though.

Gender: don't know...still thinking girl.

Movement: I think I may actually be feeling something! The last few days I've felt some gurgling/bubbly type of feeling that isn't a typical stomach feeling.

What I miss: nothing.

Sleep: Okay, not great.

Symptoms: I've felt pretty good this week. Still some headaches but nothing too bad.

Cravings: String Cheese and Orange Juice (not at the same time)

Best Moment this week: Feeling what I think is the baby and not just gas!

What I am looking forward to: Going shopping in my friend's storage unit, she has lots of baby stuff she said I could borrow. Score!

The great name debate

We still have a few more weeks (or 26 days but whose counting) until we can hopefully find out if this baby has girl parts or boy parts but of course we've already started discussing baby names. I told Kristian I really didn't want to discuss names too much until we knew what we were having, that would cut down on 50% of the arguments names right away. But of course we can't help but throw names out there in the meantime.

There is one girl name in particular that he loves and I...like it...not sure I love it, but at least I don't hate it which is a good start. He's much more open to girl names, the problem comes with boy names and this is why I really want to wait until we know what we're having because we've already gotten into heated discussions about what to name our possible son.

Long story short Kristian wants to name our possible son after himself. I am very opposed to this for a number of reasons, the first being that I'm personally not a fan of juniors, never have been. For the second reason I must give a bit of background:

My father-in-law is Edward Kristian but goes by Kris. My husband is Kristian Edward (so technically not a junior) and goes by Kristian or Kris depending on whose talking to him. Most of his family calls him Kris so needless to say at his family gatherings it can get a bit confusing already with two Kris'. Not to mention that my husband grew up being known as "little Kris" which would personally drive me crazy. So therefore I don't want my child to be added to the name confusion and definitely would not want him known as "little Kris" or "baby Kris" or anything of the sort. My family and friends call him Kristian, b/c that's what I call him (that's how he introduced himself to me and he said he likes that I call him by his full name) so if we were to call the baby Kristian that still doesn't solve the problem when it comes to my family and friends. Sigh.

Hope that wasn't toooo confusing. Anyways I've explained this to Kristian and he doesn't think any of these reasons I have are a big deal. But I've pretty much put my foot down. I want the kid to have his own name. So I can't help but admit that there's a big part of me hoping it's a girl if for no other reason than to put off this argument until the next potential kid.

Oh and as for using Kristian as a middle name, that hasn't been completely ruled out, however he doesn't seem completely satisfied with that idea and I have other middle names I would prefer as well. So who knows.

This whole naming a kid business is NOT easy.

Bump: Weeks 13-15

Here are some more updated pictures of the baby bump I'm sporting these days. The bump is pretty obvious to those that know I'm pregnant but I'm still a bit self-conscious that to those that don't know I'm pregnant I just look like I have a serious beer belly going on which is ironic considering I hate beer.

Here are weeks 13-15.

And a close up of the progression showing weeks 8, 11 and 15.

15 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of an apple.

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. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +2 pounds...though I think I look like I've gained a lot more than that

Maternity Clothes: still no maternity clothes. I have been able to now wear some things that were always a bit big on me. They now fit perfectly!

Gender: don't know yet however according the needle and thread test my mom's friend did on me, it's a girl. We'll see!

Movement: Nothing yet but I can't wait!

What I miss: nothing really, though last weekend I admit I did miss being able to drink for 4th of July.

Sleep: Better though I've been completely exhausted all week for some reason.

Symptoms: I haven't felt great this week, lots of headaches which also make me feel nauseous and I've been really tired. I feel like I'm back in the first trimester :(

Cravings: Salads

Best Moment this week: Just being one more week closer to meeting our little one.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender in August.

**I'll try to post more belly pictures next week.

Christmas Gift FOUND!

After doing some searching on cafe press's website I think I found a few t-shirts I may need to buy Kristian for Christmas in honor of our new puppy.

"Screw work I just want to go home and play with my wiener"

"Are you looking at my wiener?"

"Try not to trip over my wiener"

"Wanna pet my wiener"

And of course the baby needs a shirt:

"My sister is a dachshund"

Have I mentioned I have the sense of humor of a 7 year old?

Celebrating America

We spent 4th of July Weekend (Saturday-Monday morning) at my in-laws beach house. We of course brought Moxie with us to introduce her to the beach and all her dachshund cousins. There were 5 dachshunds in total at the house- Jack and Lilly (in-laws dogs), Eddie and Bella (my sister-in-laws dogs...and yes they were named for Twilight) and Moxie.

Moxie did amazing! She fit right in with the other dogs, LOVED the sand, only had one accident in the house and wasn't scared of the fireworks. She's basically the best dog ever.

Now for the pictures:

Family photo (minus the kitties of course)

Moxie with Jack and Lilly...she looks just like a mini Jack!

Getting ready to check out the beach for the first time.

She LOVED to dig in the sand.

And she had no issues getting all sandy.

She even got her first swim lesson in. Amazing how they instinctively know how to doggie paddle.

Kristian and his dad walking the pack of dogs. You can see Moxie bringing up the rear.

We ate great BBQ and corn salad on Saturday.

And LOTS of crabs and shrimp on Sunday. I believe the boys went through 3 dozen.

There was a lot of drinking (Not by me of course!). Look at the beautiful bloody Mary. This was the first time in the past 3 months I've actually been a bit sad not being able to drink. But I plan to make up for it next year!

Moxie and I had some snuggle time.

14 Weeks pregnant. Hard to see the belly from this angle.

Please excuse my husbands Metallica shirt with the cut-off sleeves. I packed for him yet he still managed to sneak this one in. This shirt might have to "mysteriously" disappear one day.

Watching fireworks on the pier. We only got to see about 10 minutes worth before having to retreat inside and avoid the massive thunderstorm that came through on Sunday night. We sat on the screened in porch and watched the lightening show that Mother Nature provided. It was actually way cooler than the fireworks.

We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend and I'm so sad that it's over already. We kept saying how next 4th of July we'll have a 6 month old with us at the beach. Amazing!