Finally starting to show!

Twenty weeks along and finally starting to show! The only time in my life where I'll be thrilled to not have a flat stomach! :)

20 Weeks! The halfway mark!!!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

WOW! 20 weeks. When I first found out I was pregnant I never thought the halfway mark would come so fast! I have really enjoyed getting to see how Nugget is growing when I get these updates each week from Babycenter.com and it's just amazing to me how fast it's moving.

We go this Friday at 1 to get our 20 week ultrasound and they should more than likely be able to determine the gender for certain at this visit. I've had a number of people tell me that you should drink some caffeine before you go in because it makes the baby a bit more hyper and so the baby ends up moving around a lot more when you have the ultrasound done, so I'm going to try that and hopefully Nugget will cooperate this time and show us for certain! :) I can NOT wait to find out for sure so that we can focus on names and finally get started on the nursery. I'm itching to get in there and get decorating!!!

19 Weeks!

Your 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 your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces 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.

Oh yay! Nugget is growing some hair! How exciting! I love reading how much Nugget is growing from week to week. 8 1/2 ounces - that's over half a pound! It's amazing to think that when this whole process is over, Nugget will (hopefully) be about 6-7 pounds or so. He/she has so much more growing to do before it's all said and done. It's also exciting to know that Nugget may be able to hear us talking - we've been talking to him/her all along, but it's good to know that he/she can actually probably hear us now!

I can't even begin to describe how excited I am and what a joyous process this entire pregnancy has been so far. If I had to describe the worst part it has been some minor sleepless nights, but in the grand scheme of things, that's nothing compared to what I know some women go through. I'm finally starting to show and that just means to me that Nugget is, in fact, growing like he/she should. We're down to ten days until our next ultrasound and more than likely confirmation of Nugget's gender. I can't wait to find out so that we can get to planning the nursery and even buying some stuff for Nugget!

Time to Check In!

Ok, I'm totally stealing this off of a friend's blog, but I love it and thought it would be a good update and a reminder for me as I get further along of how I felt at this point!

How far along: 18 weeks and 6 days.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, which is almost completely gone. But now I'm starting to get round ligament pain and it sure isn't my friend.

Total Weight Gain: 3 pounds as of my last doctor's visit. Let's hope it doesn't go up too much next Friday! :)

Maternity Clothes: Still not in maternity clothes at all yet. Wearing my normal clothes and some of them are still loose on me although I know it won't be that way for too much longer!

Stretch Marks: I haven't noticed any yet! Again, let's hope it stays that way!

Sleep: I've been tossing and turning a lot lately and struggling to get comfortable, but I've just found my new best friend - a body pillow! I slept with it for the first time last night and it was awesome! So hopefully sleep will be returning to me post haste!

Best Moment This Week: Starting to feel Nugget moving. They're just flutters, but it's awesome nonetheless!!

Movement: See above. I've felt it a couple of times over the weekend and then once today.

Food Cravings: No real cravings of any sort. I'll crave something just once and then it'll be gone. The oddest one so far was deviled eggs. But I had some and the craving went away! So I'd say that's no different than a normal craving.

Belly Button: Still in.

What I miss: Honestly? Nothing. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me and the only things I'm not getting to have are caffeine and alcohol and I'm not missing either one a bit!

What I am looking forward to: I have exactly 11 days until I go back for my next ultrasound and we're supposed to be able to confirm the gender and so I can't wait for that and then to begin registering and decorating the nursery!

Milestones: I don't know that I've really had any "milestones" per se other than making it to my 2nd trimester and now feeling Nugget moving.

How is Daddy?: He couldn't be more excited. I loved getting to see him interact with a friend's child this weekend and I just saw the joy in his face. I know he can't wait for Nugget to get here and I know that he will be the best dad any child could ever ask for!

How are the Grandparents?: They are all just thrilled, but I think my mom especially as this is her first! My mom has already been helping me pick stuff out and helping me plan the nursery.

18 Weeks!

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.

How exciting! I'm glad that Nugget is moving around all over the place and I can't wait to start feeling the kicks and movements. I haven't felt anything yet, but I try to pay attention as much as I can to hopefully catch it! The update also said that during this trimester my body also will tend to have lower blood pressure and I can experience moments of lightheadedness or dizziness if I try to stand up too quick. I definitely think I've experienced that a couple of times already. I've found myself slowing down a lot these days and walking more carefully, using the hand rail on the stairs, etc. Definitely don't want to end up falling as I can be klutzy at times!

Joe and I worked on the nursery this weekend some. The closet in that room had been crammed to capacity with a bunch of stuff we had just stored in there when we first moved in. So we finally went through the closet and decided to get rid of a lot of stuff and move the rest of it to the attic, so now the closet is cleaned out and ready to put more stuff in!

I also went over to my mom's house on Sunday and we started going through her basement to look at all of the stuff she's kept from mine and my brother's childhood. I did bring back a load of stuff that I definitely want Nugget to have. The most prized out of all of those? A wooden rocking horse that my grandfather made for me when I was a child. It has gone through a lot in the last 30 some odd years but it is still in excellent shape and I love the thought of Nugget riding on it as well!

I am excited to go back and go through more stuff at my mom's and start getting our nursery set up. It's exciting to plan it out using new stuff that Joe and I pick out together but still adding in the memories from our own childhood as well. Oh I can't wait for Nugget to get here!!!!

17 Weeks!

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.

It's hard to believe that I'm only 3 weeks away from being at the halfway point. I alternate between feeling so excited and ready for Nugget to be here and still not believing this is happening. 17 weeks begins my fifth month and I'm excited that this is progressing so fast! Hard to believe in only 5 short months, Nugget will be here and I can't wait to meet him/her

Third Ultrasound - It's a Girl! Well.... maybe...

So I went back to the doctor on Friday for my third ultrasound. Apparently I technically wasn't supposed to have a third ultrasound at this point, but I thought I was - so I had managed to weasel myself an appointment. :) I told the technician how we were really hoping to find out the gender this time so when she found out I wasn't supposed to have an ultrasound, she knew how eager we were and went ahead and did the ultrasound to see if we could find out. Well she poked and prodded and did her best but Nugget was just NOT cooperating like we wanted. The tech said she's about 80% sure that it's a girl but because Nugget wouldn't uncross her legs, she couldn't say for certain. She showed us on the ultrasound where she had her legs crossed at the ankles and I take that to mean, if she is a girl, she's already a true Southern lady and is being modest and keeping those legs crossed!! :) We go back on May 14th for our fourth (and last - for a while anyways) ultrasound and the tech said she should be able to confirm it for us then. Here are two shots of the ultrasound we got to see this time around:


This one is a side shot. You can see her kicking her little leg up in the air. Both the tech and the doctor said she was kicking and moving a lot and so it shouldn't be long now before I'm able to feel her moving. Yay!



This angle we got her looking right at the "camera". So that's her cute little face looking right at us! :)

We finally went out this weekend and started shopping around for cribs, strollers, highchairs, etc. and really started getting into planning the nursery in my mind. This is SO much fun and I have SO many ideas. I can't wait until we can confirm the gender 100% and then I can begin planning like crazy! I am so excited about this entire process and I think this is the first time in my life that I have ever looked forward to going to the doctor every month!