Week 21

Highlights
Size: a banana
What baby is up to:  Her digestive system is prepping for the outside world.  Her amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what I eat.  Her arms and legs are finally proportional, neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles, and cartilage throughout the body is turning into bone.  She's already got a lifetime's supply of eggs in her womb.

Week 20

This week was another first!  I felt my first flutters (it's when the baby moves)!!  We had gone to Josh's 10 year high school reunion and then to a restaurant afterwards.  I was sitting there and all of a sudden I felt something, a really indescribable feeling in my lower stomach and then I felt it again.  I told Josh that I think I just felt the baby move and he was like "where, I want to feel."  He put his hand to my stomach, but I didn't feel it again that night.  On Sunday night I was laying in bed and Josh was downstairs watching football and I felt her move again!  This time she was going crazy.  I put my hand on my stomach and could feel her move, so I called for Josh to come upstairs quickly so he could feel.  I also called my mom to let her know too.  As I was on the phone and Josh had his hand on my stomach we both could feel her move.  It was an awkward, amazing feeling that we could share.  Since that night I have been able to feel her move everyday.  She moves in the morning around 9:00-10:30 especially while I am teaching reading groups.  She already likes listening to me read!! She moves again in the early afternoon around 2:00 and then again when I lay down for bed.  This has been pretty consistent every day around the same time.  I have been feeling great still, but I am starting to get a sore throat (but I think that's from teaching all day-talking and the weather changing.)  On the other hand we have had friends over with a baby and Cooper is extremely excited and jumpy, which worries us.  We are going to look into training for him closer to our due date. 

Highlights:
Size: a cantaloupe
What baby is up to: She's got working taste buds. Now, she's gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day -- that's significantly more than before.

Week 19

Today was the big day, we found out what we are having.  IT'S A GIRL!!!  We are both so excited.  Both of our parents were able to come to the doctor's appointment with us.  Josh, my mom, and I thought we were having a girl, while his mom and the dad's thought we were having a boy.  Not all of the parents were able to come into the ultrasound room at the same time, so the moms and Josh came in first then the dads came in.  It was an amazing experience to be able to share with our parents.  The ultrasound tec took lots of pictures and showed us all the different parts of the baby; like the four chambers of the heart, spine, leg bones, arm bones, heartbeat, measured the head, and measured from head to foot.  We then meet with the doctor and he says everything is moving along greatly!

Highlights

Size: From the ultrasound she is 10 ounces and 5 inches long. She is the size of a mango.

What the baby is up to: She is developing a protective coating over her skin, called vernix caseosa. It's greasy and white and you may see some of it at her birth. Working on her five senses. Nerve cells for her sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell are developing in her brain.

Week 18

Highlights
Size: a sweet potato
What baby is up to:  Baby is yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing.  Also twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, too -- and he/she's big enough that I might be able to feel her/him doing it!

Week 17

Highlights
Size: an onion
What baby is up to: Fetus' rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone. And he/she's growing some meat on those bones -- putting on some fat. He/she's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord, too.

Week 16

Highlights

Size: an avocado

What baby is up to: Fetus is listening to your voice, thanks to tiny bones forming in her/his ears. Fetus is growing hair, lashes and eyebrows. And he/she's forming taste buds.

Week 15

This week I had my second doctor's appointment.  Everything is moving along greatly.  We heard the baby's heartbeat and it was going a mile a minute! The next time we go we get to find out what we are having!!  September 1st will be the big day!
Highlights
Size: a navel orange
What baby is up to: Fetus is squirming a ton! Possibly might even be hiccuping in there. Fetus is making lots of progress:  joints and limbs can all move now.
Total weight gain: 5 pounds

Week 14

Highlights
Size: a lemon
What baby is up to: My fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling,  making urine, and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys, and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over her/his body for warmth.
Sleep: I have had trouble sleeping through the night.  I'm trying not to sleep on my back, but it has been very challenging.
Cravings: I've not yet had any crazy cravings.  I'm really enjoying eating nachos and seem to want those more than normal. 

Week 13

Highlights
Size: a peach
What baby is up to: Fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy.

Week 12

This week not much has changed.

Highlights:
Size of baby: a plum
What baby is up to: As I move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of her systems are fully formed.

Week 11

At our first doctors appointment we found out that we were 11 weeks pregnant.  Which was farther along than we thought. 

Highlights:
Size of baby: a lime
How I'm feeling: I have been feeling better with my nausea.  I haven't gotten sick, but food just doesn't seem to be of interest.
What baby is up to:  Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through. But, fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.

First doctor's appointment

July 7, 2011, we had our first doctor's appointment.  It was very exciting to finally be able to go to the doctor to find out exactly how far a long I am and when our due date is.  First in the doctor we meet our doctor and he was wonderful.  He made us feel very relaxed and answered any and all of the questions that we had.  Then I had to have blood work done and then we got to go have our ultrasound.  IT WAS AMAZING!!! Josh and I were not expecting to see what we saw.  We could see the entire baby; head, body, arms, and legs.  We were both overjoyed!  We were given pictures of the baby and were so excited the rest of the day.

The New Beginnings

So I can finally get the blog up and running.  I have been trying to find a USB cord so I can upload my pictures into the blog.  Now I finally have one and here I go.