Week 39

39 week belly

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.
www.babycenter.com

Mini watermelon, that's for sure! Heavy mini watermelon. Still no news... Lots of contractions and jabs in the tummy, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Hubby is so thoughtful - he went out to buy me some chocolates! However, he sent me a text message saying "The milk chocolate bars are sold out". What a heartbreak. How many pregnant ladies are there in Cypress!??!?! He still managed to find me some milk chocolate, so we're good. What a sweet husband. He's the love of my life!!!

Week 38

Big belly (red markings around my waist are from the skirt I was wearing yesterday... I guess the elastic waist band is tight!).

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

(www.babycenter.com)

So as you can see (and I mentioned yesterday), Baby Z is still cooking. Every night as Derek and I go to bed, we say "Our baby could arrive tomorrow!" and it is such a crazy thought... but it's true. Any day now, any moment. I need to head out and go for a walk, but it's just getting to be so darn hot out that I don't want to leave the house. I wonder if dancing around the house would have the same effect? Goodness knows I did a lot of dancing at Mike and Darla's wedding and I was definitely getting Braxton Hicks contractions later that night/next day. Hmm... maybe I should crank up the tunes.

My body has been feeling really tired and I've been getting headaches the past few days, so I'm anxiously awaiting that rumored burst of energy that comes when delivery is right around the corner. My Grandma was telling me that near the end of her first pregnancy she decided to cook spare ribs for dinner, spent all day preparing them and then went into labor with my uncle that very night, before she could even get to taste her hard work, haha! I've been trying to get more sleep since I've been feeling run down and I know I'll be lacking in the sleep department soon enough, but I feel like I've wasted most of my day if I get up late. I guess I could always go to bed really early, or wake up early and take naps throughout the day...

The weekends go by way too quickly. It was super hot here, so we spent part of Saturday by the pool (funny story included below), then we went to see "Star Trek" in the early evening. Good movie!! On Sunday, Derek was so sweet and gave me a card and flowers for my first mother's day. Even if Baby hasn't reached the outside world yet, there's definitely a large baby in my belly that is planning to arrive soon, so that counts! Then later in the day, we had our friend Marshall over for dinner. It was great to see him again, it's been quite awhile since we last got together (he and I were both Geophysics majors and graduated from Texas A&M together). Shout out to him: Thanks for the VERY generous baby gift Marshall!! Can't wait to use it to buy Baby some gender specific clothes... no more of this yellow, green or white stuff, we want blues or pinks! :) Two other shoutouts I can't recall if I made: one to my sissy Kim and one to my sis-in-law Lindsay. Thanks, Kim, for the Aggie onesie for Baby (perfect for football season) and Thanks, Lindsay, for the diaper genie and baby bath tub!! Our friends and family have been so wonderful, and so generous!

Pics below and the pool story I promised:
This is our cat Nova aka. Lazy bones Jones. That's her favorite toy lying next to her. Yes, it's a hair tie :) She throws it, carries it around, stretches it... we don't have to do anything, she can play by herself! We just love her. She is our fur-baby.

So the "funny" pool story... As I mentioned, we went swimming on Saturday because it was a beautiful, HOT day. We floated around in the water for a while, then I decided I wanted to get out and lay on our chairs for a bit. We were on the opposite side of the pool from our stuff and the pool was fairly crowded with people, so I climbed out of the pool to walk around on the deck back to our chairs (otherwise the large, slow-moving pregnant lady probably would have caused some collisions in the water). Derek, on the other hand, decided to swim back over to our side of the pool to get his sunglasses, which we had left sitting on the deck. I reached our sunglasses before he did and was bending down to pick them up just was he was arriving, swimming underwater. I watched as he swam head first into the side of the pool! My poor baby was so stunned, he came up from the water and immediately the top of his nose started bleeding. He'd peeled away a couple layers of skin and the wound puffed up right away, so I made him get out of the water. It looked so painful, but he said what hurt more were his knuckles (he also punched the wall when he arrived). Luckily his knuckles were fine, but his poor nose. It still looks like he got in a fight. When we went to the movie later that night, Derek felt like everyone was staring at him. It was pretty gross looking, I will say that! Now, the reason he swam into the wall was not because he had his eyes closed, but because he was trying to avoid swimming into a little girl next to him. After he passed by the girl, he turned his head to see how far away from the wall he was and... well, let's just say he was closer than he thought.

Wounded Derek after he got in a fight with the pool wall. Derek got off easy, you should see the wall ;) By the end of the day, the wound was really red and gross looking.

Derek's nose as of last night. Not nearly as red as it was on Saturday.

Week 37 aka. Full Term!

37 week belly. It looks like it's sagging, doesn't it?

Congratulations - your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blondes or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.
(www.babycenter.com)

At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world... meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you'll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it's like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life.
(www.thebump.com)

Haha, I have a watermelon in my tummy :) I am so exited to be full term! Man, when we first found out we were pregnant and that we were due in May, it seemed like it was SO far away and it would never get here. I just can't believe how quickly time has flown by. Now I'm torn - I want time to hurry up so I can finally hold Baby, but I also want time to slow down so I can enjoy having Baby safe and sound in my belly.

This was the first weekend Derek and I spent at home, by ourselves, with no plans, in over a month. It was very relaxing :) We went for a walk yesterday morning, installed the car seat base in my car (next we have to do Derek's truck) and spent a few hours by the pool. This time we actually got in the water and I think Baby liked it! I know I did - it was nice to have my belly "float" for a bit, taking the pressure off my body. It's crazy how heavy your belly gets near the end of the pregnancy.

Sad thing: I had to remove my wedding rings :( My hands have been getting so swollen that I decided I'd better take them off before I have to have them CUT off... It was a chore removing them, that's for sure. I sprayed windex all over my finger and pulled and twisted and finally they came off. I did all that on Friday and my finger still looks funny - you can clearly seen the indention (and white skin) where my rings used to sit. I'm bummed I can't wear them, but I plan to put them on a necklace and wear them around my neck. It'll just be for a few weeks, anyway. Yay, a few weeks! AH!!

Another fun bit of news: we have a hanging plant on our patio, and a few weeks ago a pair of purple finches made a nest in there and laid 5 little eggs. Well, those eggs hatched yesterday and now we have little, tiny, baby birds! They are so precious. Their heads are about the size of green peas, their eyes are still closed and their little beaks are open waiting for Momma and Poppa to feed them some food. So cute. We took some photos and videos of them, so I'll post them tomorrow (too late to do it tonight).

That's all for now, it's definitely time for bed. Hope everyone had a restful weekend. Good luck to those who have finals coming up!

Week 36

Your baby is still packing on the pounds - at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, that will form the contents of her first bowel movment. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37-42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 weeks are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your pracititioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version", which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

www.babycenter.com

Pretty incredible, isn't it? I'm continually amazed at what is happening inside my belly. I don't have to do anything... no reading books, no learning any manuals... my body just knows how to make a baby. Amazing.

Derek and I are so ready for Baby to get here. We can't wait to meet him/her, finally see the little face, hold the little body that kicks and prods me from the inside. Only a few more weeks... less than 30 days until my due date, which I just can't get over. Time flies so fast!!!

My parents were here in Cypress for a visit this weekend. It was great - we did a bunch of shopping and got some last minute items for Baby and me (pack 'n play, receiving blankets, breast pump, nursing tops, etc). We're definitely feeling ready for Baby to arrive! On my to-do list for this week is "pack my hospital bag" (I know, I should have done this a few weeks ago... tsk tsk). I'm excited though- once it's packed, we just have to wait around until I go into labor! Oh ya, we also have to install our car seat bases and get them inspected.

I had a weird dream last night, probably because we had such an effective day, baby-wise. I dreamt that I went in for one of my weekly checkups, but I met with the registered nurse instead of my usual doctor. After she checked me out, she said "Okay, we're going to induce you at 4:30pm today, so I want you to drive up to the hospital now". I thought about it for a while and then said "Hmmm, No, I don't want to." So I didn't go. It was just weird. What does it mean???

As I said, great weekend with my parents! Now on to a busy week of school. Blah.....

Week 35!!!

Baby belly, week 35. You can see that Baby sits lower now (compared to week 34 belly shot)

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete - he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.
(www.babycenter.com)

Well, the weekly report is right, things are snug in my belly! Baby likes to stretch it's appendages and really morph my tummy. It looks (and feels) like a little alien is in there. Or like I'm getting a massage from the inside. So weird! Baby still gets the hiccups but now I feel them much lower, on my cervix. And of course, Baby still likes my bladder :) A few nights ago, Derek and I were sitting around chatting when all of a sudden he said "You realize you've gone to the bathroom 4 times in the past hour??" Ha!

It's finally hit me that delivery is coming soon. I have 35 days left before my due date!!! 35 weeks pregnant, with 35 days left. Wow. All things considered (morning sickness, muscle pains, heartburn, etc.) it has been a wonderful, glorious, blessed pregnancy. Even though I'm feeling uncomfortable now, I'm going to miss being pregnant. I love feeling Baby move and I will throughly miss that sensation. But then again, we will have our little precious child with us in the outside world! Oh Baby :)

Week 34

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers - which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born - are filling her out, making her rounder. her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
www. babycenter.com

Space is getting a leeeeeettle tight in my belly. Baby is now kicking my ribs, hips, bladder... sometimes I think Baby uses my bladder as a trampoline. That's lots of fun! My ribs really do hurt, which is weird. I recall a friend of mine saying that near the end of her pregnancy, her son constantly kicked her ribs to the point where they felt bruised. I think I'm getting there. It's also uncomfortable to sit upright for long periods of time. Too bad I can't stay home and do all of my research from the comfort of our bed!

We went to Mike and Darla's wedding this weekend and it was wonderful. We'll update with another post and pictures soon. Gorgeous, and so much fun!!! Congrats to the happy couple :)

Week 33. Can you believe it?

Yowza.  Now that is a growing belly.  Week 33!

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark.  He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening.  The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal.  These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

(www.babycenter.com)

Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy.  Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing.  Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake.

(www.thebump.com)

The belly just keeps getting bigger and bigger!  I'm having trouble taking nice deep breaths of air now since things are becoming so constricted.  Baby is moving a TON, ALL the time.  Hiccups, kicks, waves, you name it.  I'm also still getting contractions, more than I thought I would be.  I guess my body is just getting ready for the big day!

Let's see, where shall I start?  Derek and I went to Austin this weekend to visit my parents and sisters.  It was a lot of fun and, of course, flew by too quickly.  We arrived Friday night and grilled some steaks for dinner (so good).  We also had birthday cake that my Mom made for Derek's birthday!  On Saturday, we did end up going golfing (beautiful weather for it!), and then Derek and I went to the jeweler to get my ring fixed in the afternoon.  Luckily it didn't take long - they even tightened a few of the other diamonds and cleaned it for me.  Now it sparkles like a star!!  :) Today was a low key day, briefly went looking for a dresser at several second-hand baby shops but we couldn't find anything.  Had a nice lunch (leftovers from our early Easter dinner last night), and then headed home in the early afternoon.  On the way back to Cypress, Derek and I passed fields and fields of bluebonnets, so after seeing a ton of people pulling over and taking pictures, we decided to follow suit.  We took a whole bunch so once we sort through them I'll post some on the blog - hopefully by tomorrow.  We'll also put up some pictures from golf on Saturday.

Enjoy your week!

Week 32

My growin' belly!

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
www.babycenter.com

Baby has peach fuzz! We're betting it's blonde, boy or girl (as Derek and I were both blonde). Probably blue eyes too :) Aww.

What a great weekend!

Weekly belly shot, 31 weeks.

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: Al this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.
www.babycenter.com

We had a really great weekend. The weather was beautiful, Derek and I spent lots of time together, we relaxed, saw some friends... really, it was fantastic! Pictures from this weekend are posted below.

Yesterday we had some friends over for dinner - my officemate Scott, his wife Melanie and their two young kids, Emmi and Bradley. They were so sweet and brought us baby gifts that Melanie had made - she sewed a beautiful baby blanket and made (yes, made!) a stuffed elephant for Baby. They also gave us a small notebook to write baby-related memories in. It was so thoughtful of them! We had homemade pizza for dinner (my parents recipe) and played some games with their Wii gaming system. Derek and I had never played with one before, so that was fun! Another cool thing was that Nova got to experience life with kids. I think this was the first time she's ever been around anyone younger than a teenager. Emmi was a little scared of her, but Bradley (who just turned 1) was so excited and crawled around after her. Nova looked a bit nervous and kept trying to get a safe distance away, but overall she handled it well :)

Today, Derek and I slept in and spent the morning relaxing. Around noon, we went over to our pool and laid out there for about 2 hrs. There was only 1 other family at the pool, and then a group of people having a birthday party under the gazebo so we had the pool pretty much to ourselves. We are both a little sunburnt now... that's what the first sun-tanning experience of the year will do for you, I guess! After that, we watched Twilight (haha, poor Derek suffered through the chick flick pretty well!) and bbq'd some hamburgers for dinner. I saw the first hummingbird of the season fly by our feeder quickly, so hopefully he'll be back soon. Last summer we had 5-6 hummingbirds come by at a time so we're looking to having that happen again.

We take a tour of the birthing center at our hospital tomorrow evening, so we'll post an update tomorrow night. I'm so excited to see the place where we'll be delivering our bundle of joy!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Momma and Baby ready to go to the pool!

Ahhh, so relaxing. Cold water though.

Not too cold for Derek!

The beautiful blanket, elephant and notebook from the Maxwell's. So thoughtful!

Week 30

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to devlop, thought it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision - which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
www.babycenter.com

Only 10 more weeks, it's just so hard to believe. Derek and I have a lot to do, lots of purchases to make, etc. My heartburn hasn't been so bad over the past few days, although my stomach and other organs are definitely getting more and more squished, as you can probably tell from the belly pic above. Baby likes to stretch upwards! Other than that, things are progressing nicely. I'm starting to feel tired again, so I'm really enjoying lounging around the house today. We have another regularly scheduled doctor appointment this week (every 2 weeks now!), and next week we go in for our growth ultrasound. Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to seeing a "chubby" baby in the sonogram!

Last night, Derek had some quality "belly time", as he calls it. Essentially he just lays with his head on my belly, talking to Baby. Baby loves it, kicking up a storm, giving Daddy a few punches to the ear. It's great bonding time for the both of them :)

A quick shout out to our friends, Chelsea and Tim - they mailed us 2 baby books! The first book is "Organic Baby" and suggests simple steps for healthy living (how to make your own baby food, etc.). The second book is "Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers" and I'm so excited about this one - I think teaching young children sign language is a great way to develop communication skills. Derek and I were looking through it the other day and we've started learning the basic signs for commonly used words: "more", "mommy", "daddy". I used to babysit for a family whose youngest child had Down Syndrome, and they used sign language as a means to encourage her development. It was really cool, seeing her do the simple signs. Thanks Chelsea and Tim!

Belly Pic

Week 29, 5 days late.  Oops!

Growing belly!

Comparison

Week 29

I know, I know, I'm in trouble. I meant to do this 2 days ago... Oops!

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to matures, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demads, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 260 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

(www.babycenter.com)

Baby's energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jobs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you've also probably noticed -- they don't necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.
(www.thebump.com)

My little squash baby. Baby is super active at night, so Derek gets to feel a ton of movement when we're going to bed. Also in the morning (when Derek gets up at 5:30am). I guess we know Baby will be awake when he leaves for work!

Hmmm, I guess that's about it. As you've probably noticed, we decided to spruce up the blog a bit and change the background. We wanted to add some pizazz, and I think we've accomplished that :)

I'll add a baby bump pic to this post, but it won't be until tomorrow. That will give you something for you to look forward to!

Week 28

Since I forgot to post this yesterday...

Weekly belly shot!

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

(www. babycenter.com)

Someone told Derek that when she was pregnant, she would play with her baby while it was in the womb by shining a flashlight on her belly and moving it around. As she moved the flashlight across her belly, the baby would push where the light was shining. We'll have to try this!

I forgot to mention, when we were sorting through Derek's baby items we came across several of his baby outfits. They are so precious!

Little boy clothes :)

Derek holding one of the sailor outfits he wore as an infant. He's definitely too big now!

Sailor outfit and a baseball hat that says "Baby Slugger".

Week 27. Drum Roll please!

EDIT: This was written last night, but I didn't post it until today :)

My belly!

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain issue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning - with a lot of medical help - if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

(www.babycenter.com)

Oh my goodness, it's been 27 weeks. It's incredible! You know what else is incredible? How my pregnancy is matching up very closely with the weekly descriptions. Seriously. Derek and I had just woken up Sunday morning when I started feeling small pops every 2 seconds. I thought "Maybe these are the hiccups that my baby book says will happen", so I made Derek put his hand on my belly and we sat there feeling the little movements for about a minute. When I got my weekly BabyCenter later that night for week 27 (see above caption), sure enough it said I could be feeling hiccups from here on out! That's the first time I've felt them, and I can't wait to feel them again.

Besides the hiccups, Baby had a very busy weekend getting its "exercise". Haha! My stomach (and bladder, and cervix, and other internal organs) were getting a ton of kicks, and you could actually see my belly changing shape slightly as Baby pushed in one area versus another. I'm actually watching my belly morph right now - first roundish, then cone-ish.

We finally bought our first big baby item yesterday - our travel system (carseat/stroller)! It's just so exciting, our first major purchase. Next to come is our crib, which we plan to order by next weekend. Speaking of next weekend, Derek and I decided on the spur of the moment to fly up to Reston, VA to visit his parents and sister from Friday-Monday! It actually works out perfectly because his parents are preparing to move down to Florida, so we'll get to sort through Derek's old keepsakes and take home the things he wants to keep. Hopefully we'll find some good items from his childhood (books, toys, etc.) that we could use with Baby! This will be the first time the Zivney side of the family gets to see my belly since Christmas, so just like my family saw last weekend, they're in for a surprise too. :)

Okay, enjoy the belly shot! Hopefully I'll have more fun updates this week. We shall see!

Week 26

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's in haling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum - a trip that will take about two to three days.

(www.babycenter.com)

I had a doctor's appointment today for a glucose screening test. Will update more tomorrow, too tired to do it tonight!

Wow, Week 25

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight - a pound and a half - isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair - and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

(www.babycenter.com)

Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving baby a healthy pink glow. Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes. Baby is the size of an eggplant.

(www.thebump.com)

My belly seems to be growing upwards now. It feels like things are getting squeezed higher - lungs, stomach, etc. I'm also finding that it's starting to get more difficult for me to move around with ease. I now struggle to get out of the car, get up from the couch, out of bed. It's just not as easy as it used to be! I can only imagine how I'll be feeling by the time my due date rolls around. At least I can still shave my legs (relatively) easily right now... haha, TMI. Another sign that I'm getting bigger: I rub lotion of my belly everyday to stave off dryness and lately I've been going through the lotion pretty quickly. As my husband lovingly points out, it's because I'm rubbing it on a greater surface area now. Ha, thanks honey! :)

Since I mentioned it yesterday, here's a picture of Derek and Nova. This was taken when Hurricane Ike hit the Galveston/Houston area in September 2008 and we went to stay with my sister Kim in College Station. They decided to have a nice little nap on the couch together and Kim caught it on film.

Week 24

We skipped a week in terms of my belly shot, but this should make up for it! I'd say I've grown since week 22.

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

(www. babycenter.com)

We don't want our baby to be a picky eater, so I better be sure to eat a wide variety of foods! It's another nice day today, although more humid than yesterday. It definitely feels like spring around here -we can't believe it's February already!!!!! That means that we only have 4 more months to prepare for Baby's arrival. Crazy! I mentioned that to Derek this morning-- "In roughly 16 weeks, we'll have a baby." Literally. With us forever. He said he can't wait :)

Week 23

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now - such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner - probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

(babycenter.com)

Derek and I went to "Babies-R-Us" today for the very first time. What an awesome place that is! We spent over an hour looking at strollers, car seats, traveling systems, cribs and other miscellaneous items... We've picked out several top choices, but have yet to make final decisions in any of those topics - we would like to get some input from our friends/relatives/others who have babies first before we buy the big stuff. The reviews we've seen say the items are good, but we still need to do some more research. We want to make the most out of our purchase without spending... oh, $1000 on a stroller. Seriously, people do that. I could definitely get carried away in there though, there were so many cute things! We didn't even go into the clothing section. As much as I may want to, we really can't buy much of anything in that area since we won't know Baby's gender until we deliver. But there are just so many cute dresses and little boy outfits out there!!!! Derek saw baby rainboots with Firefighters on them (too precious). If we have a boy, I guess I know what he'll wear when he's a toddler and it's raining outside!

Other than that, we didn't do much else this weekend. It went by far too quickly though. Today was a relatively slow kicking day for Baby, maybe it was tired or something. Derek brought his stethoscope into our apartment and we tried to listen to see if we could hear it moving around, or hear a heartbeat or anything, but we couldn't. Apparently when I'm further along, Derek should be able to put his head to my belly and actually hear Baby's heartbeat. That's just crazy to me!

I guess I'll need to dance around the apartment tomorrow to get Baby moving. We'll put on some upbeat stuff, or maybe some country and we could two-step :) Sounds like fun to me.

Let's compare bellies...

What do you think, do we match? 22 week belly.

I haven't been feeling very well lately, and Derek was sweet enough to skip his firefighting training tonight just to come home and comfort me. I've had a headache since last Friday that varies in intensity from a dull ache to a severe migraine, so life has been a bit unpleasant... the pain has worn me out so all I want to do is sleep, but even that doesn't do much to help. Hopefully at our doctor's appointment tomorrow they'll be able to give me something to take or have some suggestions.

Week 22

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

(thebump.com)

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas - essential for the production of some important hormones - is developing steadily.

(babycenter.com)

Almost forgot to update today! It's hard to believe that there is a ~10-11 inch baby in my belly... although based on the size of my belly, I guess it's not. I'll add a "week 22" belly shot tomorrow. I guess I sort of match the above picture from babycenter.com. It's funny though - when I feel kicks, I still picture just a little 5 inch baby swimming around, knocking into my organs. Baby is only going to get bigger! :)

Derek and I had a nice weekend together. The weather here in Cypress was pleasant- sunny, upper 60's. We did boring things like grocery shopping, cleaned our apartment, went for a workout... I guess we should enjoy these "boring" things while it's just the two of us. Once this summer rolls around and we have our little bundle of joy, it will be more difficult to just quickly run to the store, or squeeze in a quick workout. Not that I'm complaining. We are both getting more and more excited to have our little one join us.

Our 3rd ultrasound appointment is this Wednesday. Hopefully Baby will cooperate with the ultrasound tech so she can get good measurements. I think this time around should be great because Baby has grown a ton since the last one, and I feel the occasional kick/poke/shove above my belly button now, so there should be no reason for Baby to be hanging around down low. Can't wait to see our peanut again.

On a side note, I just need to take a moment to mention how wonderful my husband is. He helps me clean, he takes care of me when I don't feel well, and he goes out to get me a hot fudge sundae when I oh-so-timidly ask for one :) What a wonderful man I have!