Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Week 16--Developments and Changes

Another week has passed, so here we are again discussing what changes and developments can be expected this week! This week Peanut should be between 4. 3 and 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3 ounces. S/he can open his/her mouth, move the lips, and swallow. There are also a couple other things that are going on this week as well:
  • The baby may be sucking his/her thumb
  • Facial muscles may lead to various expressions, such as squinting and frowning
  • The heart is beating 117 to 157 times per minute
  • The stomach is producing digestive juices
  • The kidneys are producing urine
  • For females, millions of eggs are forming in the ovaries.
Also, any time now I should be able to start feeling the baby moving about. Poor Seth will have to wait a while still before he'll feel much of anything though. So not too much is happening, except for the wiggling and moving about that is expected to start, but that's enough to keep me entertained!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Nursery 101

So Seth and I have been discussing nursery design since we moved into our house well over a year ago, however, now that we actually have a REASON to change the room we've began looking into it. We would really like to stick with a somewhat "neutral" room because even if you find out the sex of the baby, you can't always be 100% sure that it is accurate. After searching for hours upon hours, and many many discussions, we have finally found the nursery set that we both love. I am super excited, and look forward to starting to get pieces of this amazing set. (It's called Jungle Tales by NoJo so you can google it and find TONS of stores that have it.) The bottom half of the walls in the nursery are a dark blue, and the top half are a pale blue, which are somewhat masculine but the wallpaper border is trucks and tractors, which is a little overboard and definitely needs to be replaced (I don't plan on painting the room, because, heck even if we had a girl the room wouldn't be pink so it doesn't matter to me) but I do want to neutralize the room a little bit so the first thing I want to get is the border from this set. So here is the bedding for the set we love:


So here are a couple stores that sell it if you're interested in seeing the rest of the set (valances, hampers, lamps, border, etc).

JC Penney's

Toys R Us

Baby Super mall


Let me know what you guys think of it. I absolutely LOVE it!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Doctor's Appointments are fun!!

This morning Seth and I had a Dr. appointment with Dr. Sellon. She is a really nice lady, and made me feel really confident, so I think I'll be ok whether it is Dr. Sellon or Dr. Manning that is there for the actual delivery. Anyway, now to the information you REALLY care about. My blood pressure was great, I've lost more weight instead of gaining it (is it weird that I tried to lose weight for a year and not much happened, but now that I'm pregnant and "supposed" to be gaining weight, it's just falling off instead??), and everything looks good. We heard the baby's heart beat again, which was sitting at about 160bpm (which is perfect!). I am ecstatic that everything sounds and looks good. We have our next Dr. appointment on 10/15 and then the next ultrasound at 10/20. I'm really happy that everything is going so well at this point. Not to mention that I feel better than I have in a long time, and never had morning sickness at all. If my biggest complaints are being sleepy and hungry, I totally think I can handle this. So that's what's happening in our neck of the woods.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Week 15--Developments and Changes

It's that time again folks, time to check in on our little one to see how he/she is progressing. To start with, the baby should be 3.7 to 4.1 inches long and weighs about 1.75 ounces. The baby is starting to become a lot more mobile and flexible and could possibly lead to me feeling movements within the next few weeks!! The baby can now bend the elbows and wrists as well as make a fist. There really aren't too many changes left for the baby to go through at this point, so most of the development from this point on should just be growth, but there are still a few, so here they are:
  • Blood vessels can easily be seen through your baby's skin, which is thin and translucent
  • The legs are longer than the arms
  • Eyebrows and scalp hair may appear
  • Hair follicles will begin to produce pigment
  • The bone and marrow of the skeletal system continue to develop.
So those are the major things happening with our little one right now. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow with the 2nd doctor (there are 2 that rotate for deliveries, and they want me to be comfortable with them both, so Dr. appointments will rotate back and forth between the 2 from now on.) I'll give a little update on what we find out tomorrow. Have a great week!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Random Thoughts from Insano the Prego

Last night while sitting at home, Seth and I were discussing the next ultrasound, which will be around week 20, and it made me realize that in six weeks---a mere month and a half---we will be half way done already. In some ways I can't believe how quickly it is going, but it also seems like it will be forever before. I'm not sure if that makes any sense at all, but some days I feel like not much I say makes sense. I am so happy to finally be starting a family of my own, even though I feel like a paranoid freak sometimes because of how much I worry that something will go wrong.

Yesterday we found a childcare center too, so it was a good day. The center is actually in Milford, so it's close to home, and I really like that. The program manager is really friendly and put my mind at ease about letting some stranger care for my child. I'm so glad to have found someplace that I am comfortable and confident with.

I've also decided that I have the greatest husband ever. I know that probably sounds random, but it's been on my mind and I had to share. I don't know that any other man has ever been so supportive and involved as he is and wants to be. He checks this page out and if I don't post by 10am he's calling me "where's my blog??" He goes to all of my Dr. appointments, even if I say he doesn't have to. He doesn't get upset when I am overly emotional or when I forget where I left my wallet. Needless to say, I love him more and more each day. Most of the time the dad kind of gets left out in the cold when it comes to pregnancy (we've noticed, just ask Seth's dad) but I want to thank him for everything. So Seth, this is for you...thank you for being the most amazing man I have ever met, my best friend, my pregnancy coach, and my biggest supporter. I don't think that I could do all of this without you. I love you.

Week 14--Developments and Changes

Today officially marks the start of the second trimester (some resources say week 13, but all agree that by week 14 you are definitely in the second tri). The baby now is between 3.2 to 4.5 inches long and weighs between 1 and 2.5 ounces. This week, apparently, my child will start to look like a monkey, as it develops a soft, fine hair over its body called lanugo. Lanugo provides protection to the developing skin and should be shed before he or she is born. The baby's sex is also well defined at this point, even though we're still not sure if we'll find out the sex or not.
Other fetal development that is occurring around week 14 of pregnancy includes the following:
  • The ears have moved from the neck onto the head
  • The digestive glands are complete
  • The vocal cords are complete
  • The thyroid gland starts to produce hormones
  • The baby begins to practice inhaling and exhaling
  • The baby's chin no longer rests on his or her chest
  • For boys, the prostate gland is developing
  • For girls, the ovaries move from the abdomen into the pelvis
  • The hands are becoming functional.
The baby is now receiving all of its nutrients from the placenta, which has also taken over all hormone production from the ovaries. So that's what is happening with our little one. It's still hard to believe that there is a life growing inside of me, but I'm sure it will become more real once I can start to feel some movements (although Dr. appointments where we hear the heartbeat and ultrasounds help too).

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Week 13-- Development and Changes

Today marks the start of week 13, which is the last week of my first trimester. Woohoo!! The baby is now between 2.6 and 3.1 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at 0.5 to 0.7 ounces. The baby can now also flex his/her arms and kick the little legs, so baby movement will be felt in the next few weeks (hopefully!).

Here are some other developments that should be happening this week:
  • The appearance of fingernails
  • The beginnings of fingerprints and footprints
  • The appearance of tooth buds for all 20 baby teeth
  • The start of vocal cord formation
  • The movement of eyes (closer together) and the ears (to a normal position)
  • The appearance of visible ribs
  • The development of the trachea, lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines into their final functioning form.
So that's what's happening this week. Hopefully before too long I will be able to feel some of the tiny movements. I'm so excited.