Something a little different this week...

Just a little something different for this week's belly picture.

I've noticed that my belly isn't even - can you see it? My left side sticks out a little further than my right side. Katie says that's probably because baby's butt is on the left side...

Web update this week says she's almost a pound now! (15 ounces)

I can see movement on the outside now! I'll sit in the chair with my shirt up and just watch my belly dance :) It's cool!

I am hungry ALL THE TIME! I feel like I graze - oh wait... I DO graze! This morning I got up at 8:30 - had a bowl of cereal. Ate a brownie. Had another bowl of cereal. Then another brownie. Looked at the clock and it was only 9:30! ... maybe this will be the month I gain 10 pounds! ha ha ha!

Cereal seems to be my downfall - if I'm hungry, I go for the cereal. Doesn't have to be one particular kind - just whatever is in the cupboard. But let me tell you - last week when I was out of cereal and went to the store to get some and ended up coming home without the cereal (yeah, maybe that's just pregnancy forgetfulness)... I was NOT happy. Sure, I got the bread, bananas and a few other things, but I forgot the cereal. Not that I didn't put it on the counter at the checkout...just forgot to bring it up to cashier since it wasn't on a conveyor belt...

Hiccups

My baby girl had hiccups this morning! Usually when baby girl moves it's like a poking or a squirmy feeling, but this morning as I was lying in bed, I felt my whole lower belly area jump... then it did it again... and then again... over and over again probably 20 times. I realized after about 6 or so that she was probably hiccuping! :)

Kickin'!

Yay! Last night Richie was finally able to feel his baby girl kick! He only felt it once, but she wasn't too active at the time. I'm happy he could feel her move around :) and now I'm sure he'll feel her more often.

Half way done!

Wow! This pregnancy is flying by! I can't believe it's half over already. Or... as Richie told me last night... I'm a quarter of the way done being pregnant... I looked at him with a confused look and he said - 2 pregnancies for 2 kids... so total of 80 weeks - you're 1/4 of the way done. Isn't it wonderful how he's looking at the whole picture? It made me laugh anyways!

Everyone at work today told me that I've "popped" out since they saw me last week. I am feeling bigger, but I guess I can't see it as easily as everyone else since I'm living with the belly each day.

Let me tell you - this baby girl is one active chick! She used to just poke at me... but now I swear she's doing a tap dance on my bladder everytime she moves! I keep trying to get Richie to be able to feel his daughter moving around by having him put his hand on my belly, but that's just a guaranteed way to make her go back to sleep. Anyone think he'll keep that "magic touch" once she's born? If so, he gets the bedtime routine! ha ha!

This weekend I was lying on the bed and sucked my belly way in and held my breath - tried to see her moving and I ~think~ I did. Richie couldn't see it, but I bet in the next 1-2 weeks he'll be able to at least feel her move :)

Checklist -

crib - check!
mattress - check!
mattress pad - check!
one white crib sheet - check!
Total price... $75!

I love a good deal! I was looking on craigslist and found this crib. The lady was selling all the stuff we got because her son never used it. It was all brand new 2 years ago and he never slept in it... just laid in it a few times to look at his mobile. It's a very sturdy/solid crib. She was worried we might not want it because the front bar has some kitty cat scratch marks on it... but what would a pricey crib look like after our 2 kitty cats use it as a play pen!?! probably a lot worse than it is now. So... we decided better to spend a little than spend a lot. I think we can cover most of the scratches up with a teething rail though... so no big deal! So, here's the crib our baby girl will have -

I did it.

I ordered the outfit I posted yesterday. It'll be our baby girls coming home outfit :)

I wasn't sure what size to order so... I ordered both! I hear this brand has great resale value so I'll just sell the small one if it's too small, and if she fits into the small one, then I guess she can grow into the big one and wear that one too.

Coming Home Outfit?

How cute is this outfit? I'm thinking coming home outfit? My only quandry is that it comes in "up to 7 pounds" or "0-3 months"... ack! How do you choose which one to buy!?! I probably won't end up getting this one, but it is adorable and something like what I'm thinking for coming home. October won't be warm so we'll need a long sleeve/legs outfit and the little hat is just adorable! (In case you can't tell from the picture... the embroidered design is a pink flamingo and tropical flowers.)

The BIG u/s appointment!

Well, I already shared one of the most exciting parts of the appointment from thursday (May 17) - It's a girl! We are thrilled!

The other great thing... everything looks healthy and is measuring just as it should. Brain looks good. Heart looks good - that was awesome because you could actually see all 4 chambers and even the valves working! Richie really liked seeing that. Kidneys and bladder are working. Umbilical cord has good blood flow.

We got 4 great pictures (3 profiles and 1 leg/foot) - I'll work on uploading them this weekend.

We went into the room with Renee (the u/s tech) and when she first put the wand on my belly - one of the first things we saw was crossed legs. It was so cool how you could see each and every body part so clearly! I was a little worried at that point that because her legs were crossed that we might not get to tell the gender... but Renee kept taking measurements - baby's head measures 4.5cm across. Baby is currently breech (head up, butt/legs down) - but she still has lots of time and lots of room in there so hopefully she'll turn around before October! Then Renee tried getting pictures of baby's belly and kidneys - but my bladder was too full and it was hurting me so I went and emptied out and came back and we got much better pictures.

Baby girl was moving all around - kept putting her legs up by her face. At one point we could even see her opening her mouth :)

After Renee had the measurements she needed, she said to us "Are you going to find out what it is?" and my response was "Are you going to tell us what it is?" Without hesitation she said "It's a girl!" ... She already had the baby girl parts on the screen, but it didn't look like girl (or boy) parts to me or Richie. She said there are 3 little dots which represent girl parts - and there was definitely a lack of boy parts ... so she was really sure it's a girl. She didn't give us a percentage though - everyone keeps asking "how sure was she?" ...

Then Richie and I waited about another hour before seeing the doctor. He just looked at the pictures really quick and said everything looks healthy. Asked if we had any questions and sent us on our way. The doctor also cleared me to continue seeing the midwives since I've had no complications :)

I did find out my placenta is posterior (by my back) so that's probably why I can feel lots of movement this early on :) Oh - one other thing about my placenta - they said that it's low, but not over my cervix. They didn't sound too worried though because as I grow, it'll move up.

Current weight: 139#
Weight gain since last appointment: 4#
Total weight gain: 7#
BP: great! 108/sixty something

Next appointment: June 14th at 3:30 with Kate (midwife)...she's the only one we haven't seen and lots of people really like her!

This is my picture from Sunday... my first Mother's Day. I got a cute card from my mom... outside: when is it a good thing to get kicked in the stomach?
inside: when it comes from the inside...
AWE :) That's going in my pregnancy scrapbook along with all the other cards of congrats I've gotten so far!

I've currently got a head cold... I feel so blah! I took a half day from work yesterday and came home to take a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. Then today I did a split shift day and worked 5 hours, came home and took a 2 hour nap...then worked another hour and a half...so I have to claim 1 hour of sick time for today.
I have a sore throat and my ears hurt - headache too. No cough or runny nose though :)

Happy news: I felt baby from the outside last night!!! (Sorry mom C... It was 10pm so I didn't call!) I was lying in bed and baby was in his awake mode so I just put my hand on my belly as I laid there trying to fall asleep and I felt a little bump when he moved :) Richie was already snoozin' so he hasn't been able to feel it yet. Maybe in the next couple of weeks though :)

Oh yeah - and just a note to self ... Milk still doesn't agree with me! :(

It's happened...

I've got my first stretch mark...and it's not on my belly! Cocoa butter is obviously NOT doing a thing since I've been basically bathing in that since the day I saw 2 lines. Oh well. What else can ya do? :P

In less than one week...

we should know if this baby is a boy baby or a girl baby! :) Yay!!!

It's been a wonderful 2 months...

But it's time to send the doppler back... It got me through the time from when I didn't feel pregnant until now...when I look pregnant and can feel my baby kicking me everyday. The doppler was totally worth it for my sanity!

Day Care...

So, I started searching for daycare this week. It looks like we'll end up going with someone who does in home daycare...because the cost of sending an infant full time to a center is CRAZY!!! I called IC3 (Ithaca daycare place) and guess what their monthly rate is... go ahead... guess...

Lots of people guess $600... some guess $800... Keep going...

$1,000...

Nope, Keep going...

$1,200? Nope, not there yet!

$1,400? Getting warmer... but still a bit more to go...

$1,500? Warmer...

$1,560!!!!!!! Yeah, for ~one~ month! ...um...I think we'll keep looking!

So, if anyone local here knows of a stay-at-home mom looking to make some money watching our kiddo - please let us know.

18 Weeks

Here's my 18 week belly. Doesn't look much different to me, but I have people telling me everyday that they can see my "bump" now.

Not much new this week. Feeling really good. No cravings. I have my moody days, but who doesn't???

I'm feeling baby kick me everyday now. Just counting down the days until we get to see our little one on the ultrasound again :)