Week Twenty

I can’t believe what I’m about to say, I’m 20 weeks along and officially half way through my pregnancy. Just thinking about it being half over is bittersweet. My favorite part about being pregnant is being able to feel my little guy move and knowing he’s always with me. In 20 more weeks, he will be out of my tummy and in my arms. I really cannot describe my thoughts on this. Sometimes it just seems too good to be true. I’m really looking forward to meeting my baby boy, but I know I’ll also be sad when he leaves my tummy and officially meets the world.

My week started out shopping with my Dad and Step Mom. They drove to Harrisburg to treat us to lunch and celebrate the baby. They brought us some cute presents including a baby sized Penn State Jersey and a baby Nittany lion plush animal.

They also took us shopping and bought us our car seat and an extra base, which was extremely generous of them. We then all pigged out on steamed little-neck clams for lunch (all of us besides Glen, who was utterly disgusted by the thought of eating a slimy sea creature).

I went back to get a 2nd ultrasound on Tuesday to measure the baby’s spine. Low and behold he was in the perfect position to get his spine measured. The ultrasound tech was pretty amazed that he was in that position. She then asked if I wanted to see a 3D picture of the baby and I, of course, jumped at the opportunity to see my baby in 3D. She took a few photos and 2-3 videos of the baby in 3D. She said that she’s never taken such a good picture of a baby this young before and that usually they look very skinny. She just kept commenting on how cooperative and beautiful he is, and I have to agree; our baby is absolutely stunning! I attached some 3D ultrasound photos for you to see. I really feel like you can start to see features of him, even though he’s only 10 ounces in weight. The baby’s measurements look perfect and he’s right on target in every way!

 

 

 

 I got so spoiled with these 3D images, that I decided to book a 3D ultrasound appointment with Womb with a View in Lancaster. Because they hold business accounts with the financial institution that I work for, I was able to obtain a pretty significant discount. That appointment is scheduled for May 14^th, Mother’s Day Weekend (I’ll be 28 weeks along). What better way to spend my first Mother’s Day than watching my baby in 3D!

Wednesday was my next baby appointment with a midwife at the Hershey Medical Center. These are the appointments where I get weighed, pee in a cup, hear the baby’s heart. The baby was moving around so much that she couldn’t get the heart rate. She was finally able to corner him and get it. She made many comments about how active of the baby is. Doctor’s and midwives don’t have to tell me how active my baby is, I can feel him pretty regularly, so I know that he loves to dance around in there. The best movements happen after meals. He particularly loves “donut day”, the day that I stop at Giant and get a chocolate covered sprinkle donut. I allow myself this pleasure once every week.

 

Week 20: Cantaloupe

Average size: 6.5 inches, 10.6 oz.

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

Week Nineteen

It's official, Glen and I will be welcoming a baby BOY in August. We are absolutely thrilled and very anxious to meet him.

The ultrasound went great! We learned a few interesting things about our baby boy such as; he's breech (head up towards my head) and he's extremely active. The ultrasound tech commented several times on how unusual it is for babies to do the kind of things he was doing. For instance, he was moving his arms and hands around like crazy and showing off his fingers. Then, he did the same with his legs and feet. She said that he seems very friendly and that he's photogenic. At one point he even took his hands and played with his feet. It was absolutely adorable. The ultrasound tech told us that she wishes she had babies like this all day, and that it's really rare to see this kind of activity. The baby's measurements are perfect and he's right on target for August 4th. He currently weighs 10 ounces.

Here are some photos from the ultrasound...

 

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Arm/Hand/Fingers

 

Feet/Toes

I also have a few videos, albeit not too exciting...

 

 

How we told our friends the baby's gender...

We ordered specialty cupcakes from BeeBakes with gender specific vanilla cream and brought them to our friends, Shea and Emily's house. Once they bit into them, they knew the gender! They were cute and delicious!

 

How we told the Social Networking World (Facebook)...

We posted the following picture

 

Notice anything special? This is our first family photo as a family of three!

Week 19: Mango

Average size: 6.0 inches, 8.5 oz.

 Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

Week Eighteen

So far, March has been treating me pretty well. The week started out with me running to the store in the morning to grab some milk and some water. While I was there I went over to the donut section and got the very last chocolate frosted sprinkled donut. It was delicious. 

The baby has been more active this week. A day hasn’t passed that I haven’t felt a little nudge here and there. I didn’t realize this, but many people are telling me that I’m feeling the baby move unusually early and that most 1^st time Mom’s don’t feel anything until they are 20 weeks or more. Someone told me that I couldn’t possibly be feeling the baby back at 15 weeks, that it’s simply way too early and I was just feeling gas. I’ve learned to block out negative comments and let me tell you, it is absolutely the baby moving-not gas. I definitely know that now that I’m 18 weeks and still feeling the same movements. I don’t even think the two feel that similar. I’m going to chock it up to me being very relaxed and being a thinner build. 

My big ultrasound is on March 11^th, followed by my regular OB appointment on March 16^th. You guessed it, we will officially know the gender of our baby on March 11^th! My step Mom and Dad are going to try to visit us on the 12^th for a little gender celebration lunch. Once we find out the gender, we are planning on painting the spare bedroom (hopefully we can do this on the 18^th and 19^th). So far we stripped the wallpaper, got new floors, and primed the bedroom. It currently looks like this…

Although this is hard to admit, I can’t fit into my pants anymore. I tried wearing a pair of my size 6 work pants this week and couldn’t even zipper them, not at all. I wore them anyway but with a very long shirt and belly band. Even still, they are too uncomfortable for me to wear that way, so what did I do? I went shopping! I was a little scared, so I started out going to JCPenny, Boscoves, and Bonton. None of those stores carry maternity clothes (even though the websites state otherwise). Then Emily and I went to the mall. I had hopes to get a few new tops and dresses at Forever 21. A big fat plate of reality was served up when I realized that I didn’t fit into anything and that my body was rapidly changing. So, there I was, forced to shop at the Motherhood Maternity Store *gulp*. I went in and was greeted by Brandi who showed me around the store. She helped me pick out my size in pants. I started small. I picked a pair of basic black pants. As I was pulling them up I thought to myself, wow, these are extremely comfortable. I then looked in the mirror and to my surprise, they were actually very flattering! Ok, I now felt a little better about trying clothes in this store. Luckily, I had Emily to help me and support me while I try on maternity clothes. I tried on a few t-shirts and they also fit great! Then I got really brave and tried on a swimsuit. I knew I needed one because the thought of me hanging out in my pool all Summer with everything hanging out like a whale was not appealing to me at all. I tried on a retro style one-piece and again, was shocked with how cute and flattering it looked on me. My shopping experience was very successful and I definitely feel more comfortable in my new clothes. To my amusement, I also made Emily try on “the bump”, which ironically Jen did to me just three months before I fell pregnant.  

Since I did all of this great shopping for myself, I couldn’t resist but to buy the baby something too. I bought the baby a handmade teddy bear hat from Etsy.com. It so soft and cute and I can’t wait to put it on the baby for newborn photos.

 

Week 18: Sweet Potato

Average size: 5.6 inches, 6.7 oz.

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

Week Seventeen

This week we went on a baby shopping adventure to Buy Buy Baby in Allentown, PA. It’s owned by Bed, Bath and Beyond and it’s basically a baby superstore. When you first walk in, it mirrors a typical Babies R Us, but it’s much bigger and more organized.

We went over to the stroller section to test strollers. They probably had around 100 different strollers from the very basic to the very high end. We picked out a specific style on-line and we were looking forward to taking it for a test drive. My Mom and I spent countless hours doing internet research and reading reviews on strollers, so I was pretty sure what I wanted. Boy, was I wrong! Once we got there, we talked to the sales person who showed us a stroller that we weren’t even considering by Baby Jogger. This stroller had almost every feature we were looking for! It was modeled after a jogging stroller, but smaller, extremely light weight and it had a super smooth ride. The canopy is very large, the stroller is very safe and it comes with all kinds of fun a la cart accessories. The one thing it was missing was lots of storage, but this is easy to overlook when we loved all of the other features. Internet reviews on this particular stroller are excellent, probably the best set of reviews I read on one particular item. The best part about this stroller is the way it folds and how compact it is. I attached a photo and you can watch the video by clicking HERE
We also checked out car seats while we were there and we confirmed that we wanted the Chicco Keyfit 30. It’s very safe and easy to work with. It’s also highly recommended. Since we drove 75 miles to Allentown, we couldn’t leave empty handed. We picked up our baby monitor and thanks to a coupon and gift card, got $100.00 off. I would say that our trip was very successful and definitely a learning experience. Here’s a picture of my friend and I posing by the reserved parking sign.

This is a non-eventful week in pregnancy land. I haven’t really felt that many kicks this week and nothing new has happened. I am continuing to get more uncomfortable at night time and I’m often waking up with a sore back. This is to be expected, I just thought it would be a few more weeks until I got this uncomfortable.

One funny story I want to share is about a dream I had this week. I had a dream that my friends and I went to a party and all brought snacks. I made buffalo chicken quesadillas. I was so convinced that this was a great real-life recipe that I made them on Sunday. I used a combination of quesadilla ingredients and my buffalo chicken dip and served them up with Spanish rice, fresh salsa and sour cream. To my surprise, they were actually very good! We had guests come over for my experiment who also agreed that they were excellent. I’m looking forward to more dreams that include new recipes for me to try.

Week 17: Onion

Average size: 5.1 inches, 5.9 oz.
Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

Rainy Day Bump Photos

Week Sixteen

Glen and I had a fantastic Valentine’s Day! Glen surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and took me to Devon Seafood Grill. I had the grab cakes and Glen had the swordfish. We had a banana cream crepe with root beer sorbet for dessert. The entire meal was out of this world and we enjoyed our time together. 

 

 

 

 

I had my 16 week appointment this week, which actually seemed to be without purpose. I walked in, got weighed (5 pound weight gain since I found out I was pregnant), peed in a cup, met the OB, Dr. O’Leary, and had the heartbeat measured (in the 150’s). The appointment on lasted about ten minutes. While I was there, I scheduled my 20 week appointment with the OB which is on March 16^th,, and I scheduled my Anatomy appointment which is at 19 weeks on March 11^th. I’m really looking forward to the appointment on the 11^th because Glen will get to go with me for the first time and he will be able to see the baby! I just can’t wait to see the look on his face when he gets to see an ultrasound of our little baby for the first time.

 

Since my exciting news of feeling the baby move last week, I haven’t felt a thing! I tried laying down and being still. I tried poking around in there to try to get the baby to move and nothing! Exactly one week after I felt the baby move for the first time, we went out to eat at Fiesta Mexico. For those out of town folks reading my blog, it’s a Mexican restaurant in Harrisburg. I was sitting in the booth, stuffing my face with tortilla chips and salsa when all of a sudden I felt some fast movements in my lower abdomen. “Wow”, I said, “The baby must really like Mexican food because it’s moving like crazy”. To Glen’s sheer excitement he said “let me feel it!” and then when I told him that he wouldn’t be able to feel it from the outside, his big smile soon turned into a sad face. The baby was kicking so hard for about 5 straight minutes. My smile went from ear to ear. I actually felt the kicks start in the lower abdomen, then to the side and finally at the top of my abdomen. I think the baby was just switching positions. It was a really cool feeling. Again, the best way I can describe it is to compare it to the stovetop popcorn. My belly is the popcorn container, and the baby’s movements felt like the kernels were popping! 

 

 

 

Since I’m officially four weeks along, I was eager to start the baby’s room. Glen and I worked out color palettes for the room and started shopping for furniture. We went to Babies R US, Burlington Coat Factory, JC Penny and Finally Rock-a-Bye Baby ( a small family owed store). I’m a little picky when looking for furniture because I had something specific that I wanted out of it; I wanted it to have drawers (not doors) and I wanted the crib to convert into a toddler bed. You would be amazed how hard it is to find a dresser that only has drawers. Most have drawers with a swinging door. I just thought that it was a little impractical. We did manage to find one set at each of the locations that we liked. We ended up purchasing our furniture this week at Rock-a-Bye Baby. We loved the one-on-one service, we loved that it was a small, privately/family owned business, and most of all, we fell in love with their quality, all wood furniture. We chose a very simple dresser and crib set in a dark wood (called chocolate mist) by the company, Westwood Design. Westwood Design is known for Quality furniture that’s meant to last from birth to beyond. Every piece of the furniture is made with solid wood and high quality parts such as hidden ball bearings. The crib we purchased has three height adjustments, coverts into a toddler bed, day bed, and finally, a full sized bed. We felt that we made the right decision when purchasing this furniture. They could have had the furniture delivered this week, but we asked them to please wait until we can paint the complete the main pieces of the nursery. 

 

 

 

 

Our nursery is not exactly “move in ready”. The floors and heater are in, but it sits without trim, a chair rail, and closet door. We’re also considering installing a ceiling fan. Until we can get these items finished up, as well as the nursery painted, we aren’t going to be moving the furniture into the nursery. We have plans this coming weekend to clean out the closet and finish removing the old wall paper from the room. On March 11^th, we will officially know the sex of our baby and will be picking up our paint that weekend. We have plans to finish the trim and final touches in early April.

 

 

Week 16: Avocado

Average size: 4.6 inches, 3.5 oz.

 

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

 

 

Week Fifteen

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

Glen and I are celebrating Valentine’s day together at an exquisite seafood restaurant in Hershey called Devon. I made reservations in the late afternoon with the intention of making a dessert at home in the evening and watching a movie. I’m hoping that Netflix sends us Despicable Me. Rarely do Glen and I splurge on anything, so we decided to treat ourselves this weekend. I’m incredibly excited to be spending Saturday evening alone with my one and only Valentine, Glen.

 

Something very magical happened this week, I felt the baby move! It was to my complete surprise that I felt the baby move this early on, and definitely not what I expected. After going through a year and a half of analyzing my body and really getting to know it, I feel very sensitive to foreign happenings. I woke up early on Wednesday from a deep sleep, laying on my back. I typically don’t sleep on my back, but I must have rolled over while I was sleeping. I remember waking up and not being able to open my eyes because I was so tired and they were somewhat fused shut. So, I just stayed in that position very still and feeling completely relaxed with my eyes closed. All of a sudden I felt something strange and beautiful. For me, it felt like bubbles popping every 2 seconds or so in my lower abdomen. I guess you could compare it to gas bubbles you get in your abdomen, but softer and with more pattern. I just stayed completely still, with my hands on my stomach and enjoyed the bubbles until I fell back to sleep. I feel like maybe this was the baby’s way of saying “Hi Mom! I’m doing great in here but I can’t wait to see you in a few months”.

 

Our NT testing results came in this week. All of the tests came back normal. So that eliminates the probability of Down’s Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities.

 

Glen and I went window shopping this weekend at the Hershey Outlets. On our journey, we noticed that baby clothes are incredibly overpriced. Sleepers are $10-$25 each, and socks are $7-$10 each. Even baby essentials are incredibly expensive. Looking at these steep prices makes me feel grateful for all of the people in our lives who had children in the past year that are willing to give us some hand-me-downs. We also just had someone offer us their swing that was barely used for free. We just hope that we can continue to pass the gently used items that we receive on to our friends who will have children in the future.

 

During week 6, I remember thinking how far away the baby was from being an orange. I was particularly looking forward to this week’s fruit because I love oranges. For the record, I’m equally excited for next week, the avocado, since I love avocados! I do hope that everyone enjoys my wacky weekly baby comparison photos, I enjoy eating the fruit of the week after the photo is taken. I suppose that’s a little odd to “eat my baby” every week. 

 

 

Week 15: Naval Orange

Average size: 4 inches, 2.5 oz.

 

Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements.

Fifteen Week Bump photo

 

 

Week Fourteen

Even though the second trimester is a blessing, it also brings on some extra stress. I have officially lost all of my symptoms and with this came some concern. I just wanted to know that my baby was still there, and doing ok. I was really looking forward to this week’s NT scan, just so I could have reassurance.

 

On Sunday, my Mom and I decided to go test out some strollers and look at some baby supplies in Lancaster. We didn’t end up finding the particular stroller that I wanted to test, but we did find a bunch of cute nursery sets and furniture. We scanned the pack and plays and car seats and even looked at baby clothes. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. After we returned from Lancaster, we ate out at the Cracker Barrel restaurant, which hit the spot completely. I think that their raspberry lemonade is my new favorite drink.

 

On Monday (1/31/2011), my Mom and I had lunch at Café Fresco, then we headed over to the hospital for my NT scan. We waited around for about 15 minutes until my name was finally called. Wendy Glatfelter, the genetic councilor, took us back and went over the reasons for the test and what to expect. Basically, they are going to be looking for signs of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome and Trisomy 18 and 13. After talking to the councilor, we were taken back to the waiting room until our ultra sound tech, Kristy, came to get us for the ultra sound. The purpose of this ultrasound is to take measurements and look for signs of abnormalities. It was a nice, long ultra sound that was really enjoyable to watch. My Mom and I were “ohhh-ing” and “ahhh-ing” throughout as the baby moved around. We could see a nice strong heartbeat of 157 bpm, and the baby even did some flips and flops. When we first saw the baby, it was drinking the amniotic fluid, which I thought was adorable. The baby also showed off its hands, legs and feet. We could vividly see that baby had all ten fingers and all ten toes. The doctor came in shortly after to confirm that the measurements looked very good and brought in a nurse who took my blood. I had to get a finger prick, which is probably the worst way to have your blood taken, in my opinion. I just hate having my finger pricked! Even though I haven’t received my full results of the scan, I feel that everything is fine with baby Charron.

 

Ever since Monday, I’ve been thinking about an Ice Cream Snickers bar. I probably haven’t had one in years, and all of a sudden, I really had to have one. After days of fighting my temptation, I finally asked Glen to pick one up from the store. Glen has been really supportive and accommodating throughout the pregnancy so far, so gladly agreed to get one for me. Once he brought it home, I decided that I no longer wanted it. I think the hardest part about having cravings, is that they soon turn into food aversions and if you don’t act right away, you’ll miss your opportunity completely. Luckily, I have an understanding husband!

 

So this week, I’m really craving pickles, Oreo cookies, BLT’s, grape Gatorade, white fish, and shrimp. I’m still hating chocolate candy and most meats are not appetizing. The thought of a hamburger or piece of chicken makes me feel sick to my stomach. Greasy foods aren’t really agreeing with me moment either.

   

 mmm...pickles

 

 

I attached some ultra sound photos, including the infamous “hand” photo. I hope you enjoy them!

 

And here is a video of our baby drinking. 

 

Week 14: Lemon

Average size: 3.4 inches, 1.5 oz.

 

Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.