29 weeks today...

Good gracious, these weeks are going by so fast...29 weeks today!

This is what babycenter.com says has been happening this week:

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 mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, 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 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

And whattoexpect.com said this:

 

At 29 weeks pregnant, your baby is almost 17 inches tall now (nearly as tall as he will be at birth), and close to three pounds (a weight that will likely more than double — and may even come close to tripling — by delivery time). His wrinkled skin is smoothing out as more fat is deposited under the skin surface. This fat, called white fat, is different from the earlier brown fat that your developing fetus accumulated. Brown fat is necessary for body temperature regulation while white fat (the fat you have, Mom) actually serves as an energy source.

Which explains why your energizer baby feels so…well…energized! Space in your baby's living quarters is now at a premium, so you'll be feeling jabs and pokes from elbows and knees mostly. But those kicks will be more vigorous than before (and also less erratic) because your baby is stronger and excitedly responding to all sorts of stimuli — movement, sounds, light, and that candy bar donut you ate half an hour ago.

Luckily, your baby doesn't have teeth yet that would need a brushing after that sugary treat, but it won't be long before you'll need to buy that first baby toothbrush! You'll recall that your baby's baby-teeth buds formed weeks ago, but now the buds for permanent teeth are forming in his gums as well.

And back to those kicks, who's counting? Actually, you should be. Now's a good time to start doing a kick count twice a day to make sure baby's doing just fine (plus, it's a good excuse for a rest). Lie down (preferably after a snack) and keep track of your baby's movements. You're looking for at least ten movements in an hour's time (don't forget to count movements of any kind — kicks, flutters, swishes, rolls, and so on).

 

doctor's appt #10...

I had another doctor's appt today -- I'm now going to my OB every 2 weeks (instead of 4) -- crazy!

Today's appt went well.  My blood pressure was relatively normal and according to their scale, I hadn't gained any weight in the last 2 weeks so that's great!  I feel like I have been gaining weight like crazy so that part of the appt always worries me.  I'm always afraid someone is going to mention it and tell me I've got to slow down.  So far no one has said a thing about my weight, God bless'em.  :)

I saw Dr. Vogel -- and a PA student -- today.  I think I may be getting close to meeting all the doctors now.  There may be 1 or 2 I haven't met yet.  And it always seems like there's a student following the doctor I'm going to see.  :)  I don't mind that, though.  Seriously, I think I've met 3 young girls in PA school.

Ashley (the student) checked my fundal height -- I'm measuring right on, she said -- and listened to the baby's heartbeat with the doppler.  She actually pointed out the heartbeat and the sound the umbilical cord makes -- never had anyone point out the subtle difference before, so that was kinda neat.  Both sounded very healthy.

Dr. Vogel mentioned that at this point in the pregnancy I need to be taking count of the fetal movement at some point each day.  Nothing official but just to count at least 5-6 movements within an hour's time at some point during the day when I know he's awake and will be active.  No problem there -- when this kid is awake, it's at least 5-6 movements, if not way more than that.  Even so, Dr. Vogel said that if at any time I can't count at least that many in an hour's time, I should give them a call.  After that, he looked over my chart and said everything is looking great -- "don't change a thing!".

Roger that.  :)  

23 weeks today...

I'm 23 weeks today.  There've been some exciting things happening this week.  :)

Whattoexpect.com described this week's development this way:

Your little doll-sized babe is about to chub up a bit. His saggy skin will start to fit his frame as fat deposits fill things out. Beginning this week, he'll start to pack on the pounds (which means you will too!) and by month's end he'll be double the weight he is now (though you won't be — whew!). Right now, your baby's organs and bones are visible through his skin, which has a red hue due to developing veins and arteries beneath. But once those fat deposits settle in, he'll become less transparent.

And here's what babycenter.com had to say:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he'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 him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him 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 him when he hears them outside the womb.

Yeah, our baby boy has been hearing the vaccuum quite a bit recently with guests visiting this past weekend and the one before.  All that sawdust that Jeff tracks in... :)

And as I said in my last post, he's been moving around a lot.  As a matter of fact, Jeff finally got to feel him move this past Friday!  We were sitting on the loveseat together, he was checking Facebook (on his phone) and I was reading.  I started to feel Deacon move around and start kicking so I watched for a little while and then told Jeff to "look here".  He didn't see the kick at first, but then Deacon kicked again and he saw that one.  He got a big grin on his face and said, "I saw that one!" and immediately put his hand over on my right side.  Jeff got to feel him kick a few times before Deacon figured out he was "performing" for us and stopped.  :)  I think Jeff was really excited to finally feel his boy kick.  I've been trying to stay conscious of when he's moving so that I can tell Jeff and he can have another chance to feel the movements.  Jeff gets kind of impatient sometimes and pokes my belly to get Deacon to "wake up" -- he talks to him, too, saying things like "wake up, buddy!" or "hey, Deac!"  It always makes me giggle.  :)

We had my brother, sister-in-law (who, by the way, is pregnant with baby #2!) and my niece here this past weekend and we had a good time with them.  Brandi and I were able to do a little shopping at the Clothes Mentor -- the place where I had pretty good success finding maternity clothes.  I was successful once again, finding another pair of capris and a couple of tops.  It's a good thing about those capris -- I can't seem to find any shorts and I only had the one pair of capris before.  I feel like I'm wearing the same 5 things every week, just in differently matched ways!

I had a few people comment this past week that I'm "starting to show".  I think everyone's all excited to see a belly on me -- not sure why.  Maybe it's because they've all been waiting a LONG time for us to start a family.  I feel like I've been out there for awhile but all the comments have been, "Oh, look!  You're FINALLY starting to show!  It's about time!" or "Oh, I can see a little bit of a belly now...'bout time you start looking pregnant!" 

21 weeks today...

I'm 21 weeks today.  And here's what babycenter.com has to say about what that means:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now...

As far as the "flutters" go, I have been feeling what I think could be some movements.   Starting last Sunday, I felt a few things that I could only describe as the "flip of a deck of cards".  Just here and there, on both sides of my belly.  Some days I would feel it a lot, and other days I would hardly feel anything.  That trend has continued throughout the week.  I'm not sure if it's him or not, but I'm sure it won't be long before I'm feeling things that can't be mistaken!

I wanted to post this video of what's been happening with our little guy for the last 6 weeks, from week 15-20 -- I love these visuals!

Today is Father's day and I'd like to wish my dads -- mine and Jeff's -- a very happy one!  We were able to go visit with my family this weekend so we got to see my daddy open his Father's day present:

It looks good on him, right?  And the shirt looks good on him, too.  :)  Happy Father's Day to you both, Daddy & Duane!  Love you guys bunches!

**UPDATE**  I found a photo of Jeff's dad in HIS father's day gift and wanted to post it here:

Another proud Grandpa!

Also?  Jeff and I are celebrating 12 years of marriage today.  :)  Love that boy to pieces and am so excited to do this parenting thing with him.  We're gonna be a great team, just as we always have been.  Love you, babe!