22 Weeks Along (Friday, 10/17/08)

Saturday was a beautiful day so we took a drive to East Lansing. We went to Ted Nugent’s book signing, wandered around Grand River, and had dinner at Amy and Wynn’s house. I can’t believe that it has been 10 years since I graduated from MSU. It sure flew by.
Sunday my parents came over for our final basement organizing session. Yes, it is finally done and it looks great. It feels so good to finally have everything done in the basement.
My dad fixed the phone problem (apparently a mouse chewed through a cord outside the house killing all but the main phone line in the kitchen) then he and Paul installed the new bathroom fan light that I bought about 6 months ago. We got to take a little break because we had a surprise visit from my Aunt Robin and Uncle Lee. They were nearby enjoying the beautiful day at a cider mill and decided to stop over. It was good seeing them and we were grateful for the rest it gave us.
The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. I have pasta cravings now. I can feel her kick lightly every once in a while, or it could just be gas. Who know?!

News from the womb…
During this week, the baby’s brain will begin to grow rapidly. This rapid growth continues until the child is five years old. The lungs begin to secrete surfactant- a substance that permits them to inflate. The eyebrow and head hair are more visible. No matter how dark the hair will become, right now it is completely unpigmented. Currently the baby is very lean, only about 3.5% of its body weight is due to fat. This proportion will change over the next few weeks and months as baby accumulates fat to become energy and food reserves to draw on after birth. The baby’s uterus is completely formed now and has just wrapped up its most rapid period of growth. Even though the eyelids are fused, the baby is now making blinking movements. The spine, ribs, and long bones of the arms and legs have hardened into bone. The bone at the base of the baby’s skull has begun to form. At this point, the skull plates that cover the forehead, temples, and top and back of the skull are present and made of cartilage. The size and strength of the baby’s hands have improves so that by now, it can grip with some force. The uterus now reaches the belly button and the baby inside now measures about 7.5 inches in length and is about the size of a Barbie doll. The baby weighs about 1 pound.

21 Weeks Along

Paul abandoned me for the weekend to try to kill Bambi with a bow and arrow. The past few times he has left me home to go hunting bad things have happened so I was very nervous. Last year during bow season, the dog got sprayed by a skunk (what a disgusting time that was) and I got in a fender-bender. This weekend I did not leave the house and was paranoid every time I let the dog out after dark. Nothing bad happened other than having to chase a bumblebee out of the house. Saturday I chilled, caught up on my shows on the DVR, and cleaned the house some. Sunday both my parents came to help with the basement. Dad also worked on trying to fix our phones (they have been acting up) and mowed the lawn for me since the baby doesn’t like the bouncing of the riding lawnmower. Mom and I worked on organizing the play area and put all the organized toys on the new shelving unit. We got the play area completed and it looks great. We could open a day care with all of the toys we have. We also moved some bookshelves and set up the family room area. We are almost done and it looks so good! Paul came home just in time for dinner with all of us. He didn’t get a deer which doesn’t make me sad at all.
Monday I was pretty tired from all the work in the basement on Sunday. I wanted to go to sleep after work but we had a funeral visitation to go to for my good friend, Carol’s grandfather. He was such a nice man. After the visitation in Davison, we went grocery shopping and got home at 11:00pm. We only put the perishable food away then went straight to bed. Wednesday we got to do what Paul has been excited about since October began- decorate for Halloween. I am in charge of the inside and he loves making the front porch into a scary scene of a giant spiderweb and tons of spiders. He even has a new sound-activated one this year that will drop down. I am sure the little kids will just love that. Wednesday and Thursday we went for 40 minute walks. I was pretty much exhausted all week but couldn’t sleep well for some reason. Friday I had a little scare. I had some mild spotting and called the OB nurse in a panic. She reassured me that since it was just a little bit and not bright red that it is probably just from strain and to take it easy. I pray that it does not worsen. It is way too early for little Lily to arrive and I don’t want to have to go on bed rest right now because I have way too much to do!

News from the womb…
The baby’s legs have approached their final relative proportions. The baby’s heart is growing stronger and stronger and now the heartbeat can be detected by a stethoscope. The arms and legs move with noticeable more force now as the muscles strengthen and the bones become stronger. By now the baby looks like a miniature newborn. Its face looks peaceful with closed eyes, nostrils, and a nicely formed mouth.

20 Weeks Along (Friday, 10/3/08)

I am five months along now!
Saturday we went to the Midland Antique festival on a quest for a beautiful antique oak dresser for the nursery. We found and bought one. It is a highboy with a curved front made of quarter sawn oak in perfect condition with a beautiful mirror on top. We are really happy with it. It was super hot at the fairgrounds so I pooped out pretty quickly once our mission was accomplished. I also got kind of crampy but I think it was from the heat and dehydration because once I relaxed in the air conditioning and drank lots of water, I was fine. We stopped in and visited my dad on our way out of town since he was in Midland at an American Legion convention. Then we drove down to Davison and took my mom out to dinner for her birthday. It was a busy day!
Sunday my mom came to help clean the basement some more. We spent the majority of the time sorting through Rachel’s old clothes, donating many and putting the rest in Space Bags by size in case I have a girl. My asthma did okay with the new medication which I was very grateful for.
The rest of the week was fairly unnoteworthy with the major exception of the ultrasound on Tuesday. I have already done an entry about that. The only note is that if one more person says how Paul must be sad that we are not having a boy I am going to scream. Paul says that a healthy baby is a wonderful thing, no matter the gender. Besides, biology lesson here: the sperm determines the gender. Apparently his girls are better swimmers. Anyway, we can’t wait to have a cute little girl and we sure have a lot of clothes for her already!
Thursday my parents came and set up another great shelving unit in the basement. Now we have one full wall of shelves which greatly helps with storage. The Indian food craving is waning. I only had it twice this week.

News from the womb…
The baby’s eyebrows have begun to form as well as fine scalp hair (permanent hair, not lanugo). The vernix caseosa is more noticeable. The baby now sleeps and wakes as much as a newborn does. When the baby sleeps, it characteristically settles into its favorite position. The baby is now 6.33 inches long and weights about 11 ounces. Lily was 9 inches long on Tuesday so she is obviously ahead of the curve!

Today was the big ultrasound!

The big ultrasound finally arrived. I invited my mom to come with us since she had never seen an ultrasound before and was fascinated by the tale of our last one. The baby was definitely awake and active for this one which made it a bit hard for the ultrasound tech to do all of the measurements and assessments. The heart, brain, and spine were looked at in detail along with the kidneys, bladder, and other organs. Per the report, all of the following were found normal on the fetal anatomical survey: calvarium (top of skull), choroid plexus (part of the brain where the cerebrospinal fluid is produced), neck, palate, lips, sacrum, aortic arch, ductal arch, chest wall, kidneys, genitalia, forearms, fingers, lower legs, toes, intercranial anatomy, cisterna magna (space in the brain), nuchal fold (space at the back of the neck that, if too large, can indicate Down Syndrome), face, cervical spine, four chamber heart view, cardiac axis, lungs, ventral wall, humeruses, hands, femurs, feet, umbilical cord, lateral ventricles, midline falx (division in the brain), profile, thoracic spine, right and left ventricular outflow tract, cardiac position, diaphragm, stomach, bladder, cerebellum, cavum septum pellucidum (a cavity in the brain that is present in all fetuses but closes by 3-6 months in healthy babies), orbits, nose, lumbar spine, fetal heart motion, ribs, liver, and bowel. Nothing was found to be abnormal which is a relief. The baby is big for its gestational age measuring 9 inches tall, in the 96th percentile. The due date per the ultrasound is 2/19/09.

And the question on everyone’s mind is- what is the baby’s gender?
We are proud to announce that we are having a girl! Her name will be Lilia (Spanish for Lily) and we will call her Lily. Her middle name will be revealed after she is born.

Here are some pictures:


a side view of Lily, her hand was always by her face



a cross section of the nether regions: a lack of anything sticking out plus the three white areas apparently = girl



a 3D image of her face tucked up against the wall of my uterus

19 Weeks Along (Friday, 9/26/08)

The weekend was spent doing stuff around the house. Saturday I mowed the lawn for the first time in forever. Finally getting rain brought it back to life. The baby did not appreciate the bouncing of the riding lawn mower. I tried to go slow but it didn’t help. It caused some cramping which resolved after lying down and drinking lots of water. We gave the dog a bath as well. I wanted to clean the house but I was just too darned pooped. Sunday my mom came to help clean the basement again. For some reason, it gave me a lot of trouble with my asthma. We must have kicked up a lot of dust. My asthma was still really bothering me on Monday. I did a breathing test on myself and compared it to the one I had done last week as part of regular quality assurance at work. My numbers were way down. I talked to Dr. Flaherty about it and he changed my Pulmicort to Symbicort. I hope it works for me. He also suggested having Paul go into the basement and do a bunch of dusting and vacuuming for me before I go down there. I asked for that prescription in writing but I believe he thought I was joking. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. My craving for Indian food is still going strong. I bought a bunch to go then ate it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Yummy. The ultrasound to find out the baby’s gender is on the 30th. I can’t wait! I still have no premonition or preference other than I want a nice healthy baby.

News from the womb…
Lanugo (temporary downy hair) now appears on the baby’s head and body. This helps hold the vernix on the skin. The vernix caseosa is a creamy looking substance that now covers the baby’s skin in order to protect it and its developing glands and sensory cells. If the baby is a girl, mature egg cells now exist in her ovaries. From now until the baby is born, the placenta will grow in diameter but not thickness. Heat-producing brown fat has begun to form at the base of the baby’s neck, by the breastbone, and near the urethra.

18 Weeks Along

Saturday it rained like crazy. I slept in then we went to Nicholas Kafkakis’ 1st birthday party. He was so cute. We grocery shopped and thus ended our eventful day. Sunday it rained like crazy as well. My mom came over to help me clean out the basement. She will be helping me with this enormous task for the next two weeks. Although we worked for nine hours and got a lot done, we still only got through about 1/5 of the basement. Gladly I sent a Suburban full of stuff with her to be donated to Salvation Army. One of the cool things we went through were five totes of my old toys. It was fun reliving the memories. Most of it I reminisced about and then put in the pile to donate but some I set aside for my baby to have. When we were going through some of my old dolls and their clothes, we found an old onesie that was actually mine when I was a newborn. It was so tiny! I was only 5 lbs 6 oz when I was born but still it looked so little. It was a green sleeper with Pooh on it. I saved that as well. It would be cool to have my baby wear the same thing but it would have to be pretty small to fit into the onesie. All in all, we got 8 inches of rain over the weekend.
We took an hour walk most days of the week for exercise. I was pretty hard to motivate but was glad that we did it. My reflux has finally gone away. I think because my stomach is jutting out now the baby isn’t pressed against my esophagus anymore. Over the week I had an incredible craving for Indian food. I had it for lunch Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The only reason I didn’t continue was that I was working in Ann Arbor Thursday and Friday. Now I am craving it again! Ooh, and Honey Nut Cheerios.

News from the womb…
By now, all of the major elements of the lungs have formed except those involved with oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange. Thus, breathing air is not yet possible. Pads have begun to form on the baby’s fingertips and toes that will develop the characteristic swirls and creases of the fingerprints and toeprints. The external ears now stand out from the head and are in their final position. The eyes look forward rather than to the side. Most of the endocrine glands secrete hormones that now appear in the baby’s bloodstream. Myelinization has begun which is the coating of the nerves with a fatty substance called myelin to speed nerve cell transmission and to insulate the nerves so that messages are not interrupted. The baby now measures 5.5 inches in length, big enough to cradle in the palm of my hand.

17 Weeks Along (Friday, 9/12/08)

Saturday we spent the entire day crib shopping around the Novi area. We saw lots of high end and lots of low end cribs. I fell in love with a crib at our first stop, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, but Paul insisted we keep looking. Being short, I need a crib with a drop side. I was amazed at how crappy and loud the drop mechanism was on a lot of the cribs. The majority of the high end models didn’t have drop sides which would apparently mean that I would have to toss the baby in. Not a good idea. After spending the entire day shopping (always Paul’s favorite activity), we decided that the crib at MHC was indeed the best so we went back there and bought it. It is made of hardwood (we refused to get one made of pine), has a super smooth drop side, and is sleigh style with beautifully carved legs. Plus it is normally about $800 on sale for $498. We ordered it in a medium oak color to match the rest of the furniture. Now we have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to come in. I hate waiting! I can’t wait to set it up.
Sunday we cleaned then spent the day relaxing. We had Vince over to watch the Lions lose. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. I spent a lot of time researching baby items for my registry from my “Baby Bargains” book. I have already registered for most everything I need at Target and Babies R Us. I know it is a bit early to register but I am such a planner, I just can’t help myself. Plus, for Christmas I just want people to get us things for the baby so in case they are early shoppers, I am all set.
Although my pants have been growing increasingly tight, they have still been wearable. Then all of a sudden on Tuesday morning, my pants didn’t fit at all. My shirt was even tight. Paul commented that evening that I instantly looked pregnant. Luckily the maternity clothes I ordered online from Old Navy arrived that day so I had stuff to wear the next day that wasn’t painful! I love the maternity pants. Elastic waistbands rock! Some of my shirts still work but I ordered some maternity shirts too. They make my belly look a little bigger than it is but I don’t care. For once, I don’t care if my stomach looks big. I want to show it off!
Thursday I had a new symptom, edema in my feet. I know that this happens due to the increased blood volume. I had a really busy day at work so I was constantly on my feet. It took until the second loosening of my shoelaces to figure out what was going on. I was just so puzzled as to why my laces kept getting tight. Needless to say, I spent that evening on the couch with my feet up. At least this time, I had a good reason. :)

News from the womb…
During this week, the baby grew rapidly, with growth setting the stage for development later in the month. Existing structures became larger and more developed but no new structures were formed. With the help of the placenta and the umbilical cord, the baby’s system operates as it will after it’s born. The baby has its own circulation, pumped by the heart, which at this stage pumps the equivalent of 25 quarts of blood a day. The placenta helps with protection, digestion, respiration, waste removal, and hormone production. These functions will be taken over by the baby’s digestive system, lungs, and kidneys after it is born. The baby and placenta are nearly equal in size but the baby will soon grow larger than the placenta. The baby is practicing the reflexes of blinking, sucking, and swallowing as well as others. The kidneys have reached their final mature position in the body.