21 Weeks: Baby Update

Size of baby: 3/4 lb, 10.5" long, about the length of a carrot.
Baby movement: Lots of it!  Flips, turns, and the ever-increasing stretching of baby's legs up into the bottom of my ribcage.
Cravings:  Jack's Frozen Pepperoni Pizza, WATER!
Aversions:  Tuna
Excitng News: Had our 1st ultrasound!!  Found out whether we're having a baby Gabriel or Baby Holly.  Also Doc said I could take Zantac for my heartburn=heaven.
Not-so-great News: I'm peeing waaaaay more during the nights hours, 2-3 times/night.  NOT fun when there is a flight of 20+ stairs between me and the bathroom. :-(
Looking forward to: Daddy being able to feel baby movements too.  ROTC Formal Ball tonight with my soldier. 
Not Looking forward to: Gaining more weight and belly stretching.
Changes in Mama: Belly is rapidly expanding.  My veins make my body look like a blue highlighted road map.  Soreness of joints if I sit or stand for long periods of time without moving around.  Discomfort from baby movement, though not horrible.  HUNGRY all the time! 

Baby Tusher

     So, I think our little baby was being a stinker this morning by pushing that little tushy right out the left side of mama's belly.  I thought we were going to have an episode from the movie Alien, except through my belly, not my chest.  It hurt!  I finally hollered at my belly to "knock it off and stop being a stinker!" and the pain slowly went away, haha.  Good news: baby is listening; bad news: long legs, big tushy, and lots of movement means mama is in for some aches and pains from now on... 

Preggo Pantyhose

     I don't know why I didn't get some of these sooner!  They are absolutely wonderful!!  They are reinforced in the pelvic region so they don't fall down or rip or whatnot, and the belly part...oh the belly part!  It has panels to keep the belly in place but comfortable, not tight or cutting across the big ol' belly like normal hose.  *sigh* :-)  So perfect.  I don't know why someone didn't tell me about these sooner!  Honestly, they are a comfort-saver when you work in a job that requires no less than business attire- pantyhose are NOT optional.  I should write a list of things that I'm learning and loving, haha...or not.  Maybe after baby is born...

Baby Movement

    As I was slouching in front on my computer at work, I was taken by surprise!  All of a sudden I felt lots of pressure in my diaphram at the point where my ribs meet in the middle.  Let me tell you!  Apparently baby did not like the fact that I was slouching while zoning out in front of the computer screen.  It was such a weird sensation!  It makes sense after seeing the ultrasound pics- the one with those long legs extended.  
  Also, I think the fluttering in my lower belly is not kicks or punches, but actually the baby turning over or switching body positions.  So amazing! 

Ultrasound

    Everything went great!  We got like 8 pictures, a couple 3D and the rest black&white.  So clear, and so pretty!  Baby even yawned for us....so cute!  It's crazy how much our baby is moving and shaking all the time, but I don't really feel it that much.  The ultrasound tech said we should start feeling some major kicking here pretty soon, maybe within a week or two.  I'm excited for Zach to feel it too...but I'm sure I'll be regretting my excitment when I can't sleep with all the kicking and moving, haha.  Oh well. :-)
  So...the sex of baby?  We know....but we're not telling :->  It's a suprise.  Either Gabriel James or Holly Noel, but that's all we're saying.  You'll have a 50% chance if you try guessing- but I still won't tell you.  :-)  You'll just have to be as patient as I have to be in waiting for my due date....which by the way, the tech said should be Sept. 17, not the 2nd as we thought.  Our next appointment for a check-up is in 2 weeks, but we should know have all the results from the ultrasound within the week.  Awesome!

Haircut

   I finally found a salon that does an exceptional job and is definitely worth the money.  Renee Michelle Salon&Spa (Aveda products) in Oshkosh on the corner of 20th Ave and Washburn Rd.  My stylist is Holly, and she is amazing!  If you don't really care for your stylist or you don't have one, please check out Renee Michelle Salon http://www.reneemichellesalon.com/.  The phone number is 920-232-2323.  Best service and experience I've ever had, and it's consistent.  And let me tell you, I work in customer service so I know the difference between good and spectacular service. 

A Little Preg Humor

I searched pregnant jokes and this is what I found, hehe. :-)
http://www.youknowster.com/jokes/view/585-you-know-you-are-pregnant-when

Some of my favorites from "You Know You are Pregnant When..."

4. ...when you can live on peanut butter toast for tw days and think nothing of it...

7. ...you sniff all around your house looking for a smell that no one else can smell...

10. ...when eating a Little Debbie Christmas Tree snack gives you heartburn...

13. ...when you can go through 15 Tums a night and still have heartburn...

Update- 20 Weeks

Size of Baby: 10.5 ounces, 6.5 inches (head to bottom) or 10.5 inches (from head to heel) The length of a banana.

Size of Mama:  Definitely showing now.  People (strangers) haven't made comments or congrats yet, but hubby says it's obvious.

Cravings: Fresh BrewedTea (both sweet and unsweetened)

Aversions: Really strong Garlic, Tuna

Symptoms: Baaaaad heartburn*.  I honestly feel like my espogagus has burned up and Tums aren't working well enough anymore. Aching hips, legs, neck, and shoulders as the day goes on.  Dry skin on my legs.  *if heartburn is my worst enemy then constipation must be it's sidekick.

Baby movement: It seems movement is becoming much more noticeable to me.  Nothing felt externally by hubby yet.  Still a twitch-like movement along with smaller flutters and shakes.

Good times:  Having baby move after Daddy was talking to my belly.  Getting the crib from Zach's mom on Sunday was pretty exciting too.  Now I just have to be patient in wanting to set it up, haha.

Not so happy times: Getting a ton of snow just when we were getting used to our evening walks. And coming down with a cold :-(  Boo! 

Snow in Mid-April....

     What a week we're having!  Yesterday we had so much snow that there was thunder and lightning right along with it.  Now THAT is a really cool occurance!  "Thundersnow"  awesome!  I needed a little exercise, so I helped Zach shovel the driveway (just a little bit, because it was heavy heavy heavy snow!).  Not going to lie though, I did get sidetracked and I threw a few snowballs at Zach, hehe.  Surprisingly, he didn't retaliate :-) 
   When it was warmer outside for the 1st couple weeks in April, I definitely experienced the warmness of pregnancy.  I felt like I had hot flashes all the time :-/  However, now that we've discovered the change in seasons is actually winter, hint of spring, winter, I'm no longer feeling the hot flashes- it's back to popsicle toes.  Silly weather!  Oh, and get this...supposedly we're getting 70s here by next week.  Outrageous!  I never know whether to wear my winter coat and boots to work or to opt for the light jacket and work shoes.  
   Baby is a moving and a shaking right now.  I can always feel baby's movement the best when I'm sitting at work or laying down to sleep.  Almost like a muscle twitch down around where my bladder sits.  It's so exciting!  Less than a week til we find out if we're having baby Gabriel James or baby Holly Noel.  I'm MOST excited for that :-) 
   I was reading in Parenting magazine that babies usually respond to Dad's voice more than Mom's (probably because the deeper voice travels better through the fluids).  So I told Zach, and we tried the theory out.  Zach started talking to my belly and I kid you not, I felt our baby move!  He couldn't feel anything yet, but I totally did!  So cool!     

Colds and Pregnancy

  I am not enjoying my day so far because I just so happened to come down with a cold over the weekend.  Nothing like a nasty cold to make my Monday so much better.  And the sneezing!  I just sneezed 4 times :-(  I feel like I have Fuzzy Brain Syndrome- all the words, knowledge, and memories are there, but their exact location is fuzzy.  And, let me tell you, it's even worse because I already have Pregnant Brain Syndrome :-(  PBS, and I don't mean the learning channel PBS, haha.  This really stinks.  I wish I could just go home, home to my bed, home where there are no customers...

YUM!

I really, really, really want Red Robin's BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado with mayo on a crossiant) and French Onion Soup.  YUM!  Zach and I just went there last weekend, but the craving is strong with me ;-)

Sweet Husband of Mine

    Our baby is going to have such a wonderful father.  He's always talking to my belly and looking out for me and our safety.  On Sunday afternoon we did yard work, and he made sure while planting flowers I wasn't overworking myself.  Such a sweetheart!  He was even the one who suggested I head to Lowes for flowers in the first place- since he knows how much I ADORE flowers.  Thanks to his suggestion, we now have tulips and daffodils to look at this spring :-) 
   Just today he brought me this beautiful, outstanding bouquet of flowers in a vase.  There are purple irises, huge yellow zenias, little purple daisy-like flowers, and some sort of orange blooms.  Gorgeous!  He also got me a card because he knows I'm the Hallmark Queen.  The words were so perfect, and what he himself wrote on the inside was so sweet, I nearly burst into tears (in a good way, of course).  Geez, I feel so incredibly spoiled, but I love it!  What a man!
   I'm so blessed to have a man like him.  Not only do I know he will always do what's best for our family, but I know we will always be and feel loved by him.  I couldn't ask for anything more.   God blessed me with a wonderful husband, protector, and friend in Zach. :-)  Couldn't be happier!

Baby Update: 19 weeks

19 weeks: Baby is the size of an heirloom tomatoYour baby equals a large heirloom tomato in size and weighs 8 1/2 ounces. (length: 6 inches, head to bottom)

That's an Heirloom Tomato...I'm not an expert on tomatoes, so I figured most other people wouldn't know exactly either.  Now we know- about the size of a man's big fist.







Cravings: water!, salad, fruits
    *Dove White soap bar- not to eat of course,
but the smell is AWESOME!
Aversions: Tuna, strong garlic
Energy Level: Increasing every day, though 9:30 pm
usually means I'm down for the count
Sleep: Not so well most nights.  I wake up for hours
at a time to toss and turn.  I want to sleep on my
back or stomach soooo much, but I'm preparing
myself.
Belly motion: I can feel rapid fluttering movements
most of the time.  Occassionally I get a slow, twitch-
like feeling low in my belly.  No movement for hubby
to feel yet.
Nesting: Slightly.  No room to paint or anything like
that yet.  We'll see after the ultrasound :-)  Then I
might go overboard.
Symptoms: HEARTBURN!  At times I can actually
hear the acid gurgling at the base of my throat.  I
think I might very well be morphing into a fire-
breathing dragon.  It's possible.
Headaches! Off and on, not fun.
Exciting News: Zach got a very good job offer,
which he is planning on accepting :-) Big things
will be possible for our little family now.
Not-so-Exciting News: Ultrasound was had to be
rescheduled for the following day, April 26.

Ultrasound date has been changed...

   So apparently the Ultrasound Tech is not going to be in on Monday April 25 @ 5pm.  The issue with rescheduling is that Zach has a very packed schedule and I have to try to work it so I don't have to take time off work.  Of course, Daddy has to be there with me for this big moment.  Hello?!  All in all, after a couple calls and dates/times changed, we have the new date set for Tuesday April 26 @ 7am.  Bright and early!  Thankfully, it's only the day after the original date, so I don't have to deal with too much impatience, just a little :-)  Overall, I'm very happy with the date and time.  I will have to be up really early to start drinking the water....though I have a feeling I'll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed well before the alarm goes off.  Something just tells me the excitment will be pretty immense.  Just a feeling :-) 

Life Changes

   Zach and I are gettng ready to come to a big crossroads in our life, exciting but still new.  I feel like we've been waiting to get to this point in our lives and it's almost here.  Zach will be graduating college and commissioning as an Officer in the Army Reserves, which is a really big deal for us!  This means that our life has the potential of being more "normal" in that he will be the bread winner for our family and I can focus on our family.....
   So.  I just got a call from Zach- HE GOT THE JOB AT OSHKOSH TRUCK!  Oh my goodness!  This is going to open so many opportunities for our family.  Oh wow!  A house, staying home with baby, and sooooo so much more!

Oh my Burning Heart!

    Water gives me heartburn these days :-(  Not cool.  Even worse is I'm sooooo thirsty all the time now that I'm constantly drinking more water.  I feel like I'm eating TUMS allll the time.  I currently have two bottles sitting on my desk at work.  Thankfully it's not a high-calorie food ;-)  I can't even begin to imagine how I'll be feeling even further down the preg timeline when our baby is huge.  That's a scary thought.
    One of my friends is soooo close to having her baby, and it's so exciting!  I was reading all her blogs earlier while we were super-slow at work, and I just can't wait to be where she is.  September seems like such a long way off- though seeing that we found out in January and it's already April, time sure is flying!  Sometimes I get scared about having a newborn baby in my care.  I've never been on to hold newborns because I'm so terrified of hurting them and in 5-6 months I'll have my own!  Ah!  Thankfully, I DO have a wonderful husband who does not share this same fear of breaking newborns as I.  At least one of us is normal, haha. 
   I think I might be showing enough for people to notice my preg belly for what it is and not just a few extra fat pounds.  I don't know though- because no one has really said anything- aside from people who KNOW I'm preg.  I think I'll be one of those preggo ladies who wants to be asked if I'm preg, because I AM :-)  And I'll want to talk about it, and I won't mind if they touch my belly (as long as they ask and aren't creepers).  I'm excited to talk about it!  And I absolutely enjoy talking to other preg ladies about being preg and all that goes with it- SO fun!  I'm very excited :-)

Registries

I think we're finally done setting up our baby registries (sounds like we're registering for babies, haha).  http://www.target.com/ and http://www.babiesrus.com/ I tried to spread the items out between the two, compare prices, etc...but I think most items ended up on BabiesRUs.  It was so much fun!  Not going to lie...yesterday I spent several slow work hours looking at all the toys, clothes, etc on both sites and adding new items to our lists.  VERY fun!  Much more so than making phone calls, haha.  I hope people go together to get us the bigger items...there aren't very many $$ items because we're getting most furniture-type items as hand-me-downs from Zach's mom and through the fam.  I'm just excited!  Soooo much yellow, and I LOVE IT!!!

Achin' Head

I've had a headache for 3 days now...one of those beautiful symptoms of pregnancy.  My head was hurting so badly last night, it brought me to tears.  Thankfully, my wonderful husband was there to hold me and rub my head.  It jsut really stinks going to bed with a headache and waking up with a pounding head the next morning.  I've tried Tylenol, all types- none of it works.  I'm planning on talking to my doctor to see if there is something else I can take, because this throbbing is horrid. 

Owie

    Sometimes there are not so pretty things that go along with being preg.  Like....loving cheese and not being able to go #2 for days.  Or...loving spicy foods and having Tums for dessert and a midnight snack.  And....not going #2 makes for a crampy, uncomfortable belly.  Just a few of my "favorite" things- not really.
   Last night I had a dream that we had 4 kids!!  One was about a 3 month baby boy.  I remember changing his diaper, and he peed everywhere, oops.  Hope this isn't a sign of things to come ;-)