6 mos (24wks)

How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are developing. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Your baby can hear more and more now, and you may even notice her startle at loud, sudden noises. But she's probably getting used to the regular noises she hears around the house, such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner. Many new parents are surprised by how unfazed their newborns seem by sounds like these, but if you think about it, they've had months to get accustomed to them.

How your life's changing:
The top of your uterus is now an inch or so above your belly button, which means it's
about the size of a soccer ball. (wow - that's pretty big)

still feeling pretty good. just getting a little slower - physically and mentally. ha ha. :) feeling her kick is both reassuring and exciting. 16 wks to go. not sure why people say 9 mos when it is really 40 wks. i guess i understand now why mothers-to-be always used weeks. too confusing to go by months sometimes.

we will have a new niece soon. joe and marney are due the 9th of april. very exciting. any day now. lots of baby girls.

my side: sami (cousin) and another cousin due in july a few weeks before us
mike's side: brooke (cousin) and mike's bro's baby girl is due soon.

also our friends: 2 new babies in our groups

baby season. lots of kids for our kid to play with and grow up with.

2nd ultrasound

so we had another ultrasound today. our baby is already stubborn - she was all curled up and not cooperating. we didn't get any good pics, but she is healthy. she is at the right size and everything. her heart is good, spine good and cranium is good. it is so fun to watch her move. she had her feet up by her head and we could see her mouth opening and closing. she is super super low still in my belly. so i was sitting in the waiting room with other pregnant women who were as pregnant as me or more and they were HUGE and uncomfortable. i mean i feel huge myself, but then i see what i can be - and i guess it is good that she is so low for right now. because if and when she moves up i'll be huge like these women. :) i'm just happy knowing she is doing well. she's a wiggler. i felt so bad for these other ladies. one was in a wheel chair and had veins popping out every where on her legs. one lady kept burping these nasty burps - i was going to go get a trashcan. and it smelled horrible. it was probably 80 degrees in that room too. ick. and one lady was just stuffing her face and dropping food everywhere. she also kept her phone in her bra/cleavage...something i missed and mike pointed out later...i guess she lost it and had to dig for it. he was repulsed. anyways. those are my adventures at the hospital. i'm very lucky.

23 wks

How your baby's growing: Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. Her skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare her for breathing. She can swallow, but he normally won't pass her first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when she hears them outside the womb.

no food analogies :( boo. i guess my uterus is supposed to be the size of a basketball soon. it will look like i'm carrying a basketball under my shirt too. ha ha.

researching about what you can do with the umbilical cord it is pretty amazing what they can use the cord for. there is a site on the left side you can read about more info too. it is all new to me. it is definitely something worth thinking about setting up when it doesn't hurt you or the baby!

congrats

to amy and scott on the birth of their new baby girl brooke marissa merlin. everyone is doing well and we can't wait to meet her!

slutzy

so when you are pregnant i guess you get kind of klutzy and stupid. and a few weeks ago i accidentally said slutzy. which is kind of funny. and mike used the word in the correct context today. it made me laugh. i guess i could be 'slut'zy too because i AM pregnant. but i meant to say stupid and klutzy and slutzy came out.

mike's photography

here are some photos of me and the belly. warning - not for the weak to view :)

22wks in our backyard >>>>>>>>> baring the belly

22 wks

5 1/2 months.

How your baby's growing: Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

another site says - You and baby are both getting anxious to meet each other! Your baby is kicking up a storm and you feel like you're getting bigger every day.

Your baby: Your baby weighs over 12 ounces and is more than 7 inches long. Baby's eyelids and eyebrows have developed and her muscles are growing stronger - something you can feel by the strength of the movement in your tummy. Your baby is probably moving more regularly now - not just once in awhile. After birth, she'll recognize the songs you sing or play for her now, resulting in a soothing effect.

i'm getting a little bigger. i'll try to have mike take a pic this weekend. my belly button has gotten a little smaller. my steering wheel seems a bit closer and my coat is hard to button. :)

we got into the classes we want and we are looking forward to learning more. still feeling good.

21 wks and kicking!

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel her move. She's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if she starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth.

registry fun

mike and i have had fun registering. it's like shopping and setting up wish lists and it saves us money - so far. that way we have lists of what we want for our baby, but we can prioritize what we NEED and what we want. so far i have been good and holding back on buying baby stuff (mainly because i shop at 4 am or mike has the gun at the store). you are supposed to wait as long as you can because once you start - you won't stop. hee hee. i have already had problems with urges of buying stuff for friends' kids - so can't imagine what i'd do once i start for our own :) ha ha.

no way

today some how word got out that i was pregnant at work. and people were coming up to me asking when i was due. i would say end of july and they would respond with no way. i would reply by saying - well yea - that's what the doc says - i'm 20 wks/5 mos pregnant...all these women coming up to me have had kids and they don't believe i'm that far along. they were making fun of me and my belly. i guess they had money on me only being 3 mos and that's why they didn't know til now. the baby is pretty low - so i think that's why my belly isn't huge yet. everyone carries differently. i'm sure i'll get big soon and that will make them happy. :)

i guess i'm not fat enough for their satisfaction - the world wants me to be fat. ha ha - and i have a feeling it's going to be coming. trust me - i haven't been holding back - i eat CONSTANTLY. the girls even went out and bought me a yummy sandwich because they felt bad for standing around poking me and talking about my belly. i am already trying to get used to some extra weight as it is - and for them to say i'm not big - it makes it awkward to say - well i know it's some where because i'm gaining weight. they also filled me on some horror labor stories, morning sickness and then the baby/toddler stories. good thing it's a weekend. i'm sure i'll be hearing more. i guess that's the real reason i've been quiet at work. :) ha ha. oh yea - i also got two child/baby magazines today from some coworkers. they mean well.

5 mos (20 wks)

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery). FUN STUFF.

my calendar says we're half way there. whoohoo!!! it's been great so far. only bad side effect is lack of sleep - and that's really not that bad. it has been great practice for sleepless nights to come :) the site also says i should have gained about 10 lbs. ha ha. that's hilarious. 10 lbs awhile ago maybe. where is the weight going if she is only 10 1/2 ounces? i'll tell you - it's all on me - :) oh well. i actually really don't mind being pregnant. it's a feeling i just can't describe. most of you mommies probably understand.

update

our latest test results came back with good numbers/percentages. yay. we have to get another ultrasound in a month because they didn't get to see all the organs. but what they did see was good. we're excited to see our baby girl after another 5 wks from the first ultrasound. she'll be a little bigger. :)

late post

latest pic of my belly - she's growing! (5 mos pregnant)

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and she measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing six million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

more pics to come of my stomach as i grow. mike took a few on our vacation.

we got our first girl clothes last week. cute little girly outfits. thanks christina and cipp.

19 wks

we hit 19 wks friday. the baby girl is the size of a zucchini now. i'll write more later when we get back from florida. we have a name narrowed. but we are going to wait and see how we like it in a few months. :)

1st baby pics

can you see her?! she's waving in the second photo. in the first one you can see her profile pretty well. pretty exciting.

it's a girl

we found out today that we are having a healthy baby girl. we are soo excited. i guess my dreams were wrong. :) but we are happy - now we need to come up with some names. we got to watch her wiggle around for almost an hour because she was not cooperating. she was curled up in a little ball. we will scan pics and send them out tonight. she even waved at us. so cute. it just makes it seem that more real and it is just an incredible feeling. :)

18 wks tomorrow

yay - 4 1/2 months. whoohoo. not sure if this counts as half way, but it is halfway for 9 months.

How your baby's growing: Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

hopefully we will be able to tell from an ultrasound monday to find out what we are having. yay. can't wait to see the little thing growing in me. hee hee.

so now it's a large sweet potato. sweet. no wonder women crave food - they compare your kid to food the whole pregnancy.

so i'm too big now for my clothes (they are tight and look hideous having body fat/baby fat hanging out) and maternity clothes are too huge. i've heard about mothers-to-be being in this 'in between' phase, but now i know how it feels. i guess i'll go for the too big of clothes than the too small. my tops fit ok, but i don't look pregnant unless you know me.

we'll see - if people start rubbing my belly - i'm figuring that's a sign that i am start to get bigger.

belly

not showing a lot yet, but i can tell more now :) thought i'd document my belly's growth. 17 weeks!