The FINAL countdown!!!

So we are almost 35 weeks!!! I cannot believe we are so close to meeting this little peanut! This week the baby's kidneys and liver are completing development. Peanut will be up around 6 pounds and 18 inches long by the end of the week. Every week from here, baby will be gaining about half a pound a week.  The majority of baby's growth is done and now Peanut's main job is to just keep gaining weight!  Peanut continues to be very active and still loves it when daddy reads books and talks.  This is a short post, but there isn't much more to blog about...we are really in the final countdown!  Hopefully one of the next posts will be an update on when baby actually arrives!

So it's been a terribly long time since I've posted! My work schedule has been crazy lately...I'm trying to work as much as I possibly can while I still feel "good." The wonderful part is that I do still feel great, although I have been noticing that it takes me longer to walk down the halls at work and bending over is getting alot tougher! I am 30 weeks now...which feels very strange to think we only have around 10 weeks left. I feel like we have so much to do and not enough time! Some of my friends threw me a surprise shower this last Sunday which was totally unexpected and very very sweet. They blessed us with lots of bathtime goodies and I can't wait to give Peanut his/her first bath in their new bath tub!

The update on Peanut this week is that he/she is about 16 inches long and by the end of the week will be near 4 pounds!! Peanut is moving around so much! My midwife says an active baby is a healthy baby so that's good! Jerad reads books to the baby a few nights a week and Peanut knows daddy's voice and is so active when Jerad talks. So far the baby really seems to like Dr. Seuss books. :)

I'm including a picture of my belly at 30 weeks...my goodness how we've grown! Again, it just boggles my mind at what a miracle this little life is. We are getting so anxious to meet our little person! Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!!

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted! One of the reasons I've been waiting is because I've wanted to update some pictures and now I have some to share with you. We've been trying to keep up with the belly pics and this last weekend some great friends of ours took some pictures for us so I'll post those! (If you like them, make sure you check out weenophotography.com) 

This week we are entering week 27! It's unbelievable how fast this is going! The baby is around 15 inches long and just a little over 2 pounds! Baby's eyes are now able to open and close and Peanut can now recognize voices...that explains why whenever Jerad talks to my belly, Peanut kicks! I guess that tells us that this baby already loves their daddy!  Also just an FYI: we had a follow up ultrasound at 23 weeks to check out some things and the report is that everything looks perfect!  Thanks for all your continued prayers and support! 

Ultrasound!!!

So we went in for our ultrasound today!!! What a neat experience to see the baby moving! We got to see pretty much everything from the heart beating to the hands and feet moving. We actually saw the baby kick the umbilical cord. We were able to see the blood flow through the umbilical cord and placenta. We saw the brain and spinal cord and according to the tech everything looks great! I'll post some pictures for you all to enjoy! We still don't know what we are having although the tech said she knew....what a tough wait we have ahead of us!!

Here's our baby's first portrait! The hand is right up by the face (it kind of looks like it's coming off the nose!) :)

Okay, I know this picture looks a little weird, but this is with the new 3D imaging...they don't look very "baby-ish" yet since they still have so much development left. But I did think it was neat that you could see the baby in 3D with their hand by their little face!

Here's a picture of our little family!

Here's me, enjoying my little baby belly at 19 weeks...

And finally one of just my belly, again at 19 weeks...

Okay, that's the update for now!! Thanks for sharing our love and excitement for our precious new life!

Almost Halfway!!!

By the end of this week, we will be halfway done!!! That is so crazy to me! Peanut is now about 6 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 10 1/2 ounces.  Peanut can also hear sounds from the outside world now and can cover his/her ears if the sounds are too loud. He may even "jump" if any sounds are too startling!  Jerad and I started playing music for the baby this week and so far I think they like it! I feel lots of movement when the headphones are on my belly.  I'm definitely feeling a lot of movement especially at night around the time I get home from work.

Liz (our midwife) said I look the picture of health. My blood pressure is great and I have been getting plenty of fluids and nutrition!!!! I have gained just under 5 pounds since I got pregnant and am definitely sporting the maternity jeans with pride.

Oh, Peanut just kicked! Lol. At our appointment today, the heartbeat was 145 which some people will tell you is the "boy range."  For anybody confused I will explain: some people believe that girls typically have a faster heart rate in the womb, approximately between 150 and 170. Boys heart rates are then believed to be a little slower; about 130-150.  It's definitely not an exact science. Liz says she tested this for about a year...she would predict the baby's gender based on the heart rate and she was only right 60% of the time.  So it's definitely still going to be a surprise what we are having.

Our ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday, so come back later this week and I will upload pictures...also I promise, the much awaited pictures of my belly will be up too!!!

So we have completed 18 weeks and are moving right along into the 19th.  Here's what is developing this week...Peanut will be about the size of a large tomato; around 6 inches long and weighing 8 1/2 ounces!  This is a very important week in terms of sensory development (smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision).  

Another very exciting thing is that last week I felt the baby move for the first time! I was sitting and all of the sudden felt this little poke in my belly! Now since then, I feel Peanut moving alot, mostly at night once I am laying down and not really moving much.  This is pretty common because the baby is usually rocked to sleep by mommy's movements during the day. I am loving every moment of this; it's really special because it will be a few weeks yet until other people are able to feel the baby moving from the outside so I get a few weeks of enjoying this for myself. Pretty soon I know I won't be able to keep people's hands off my belly.  I think I'm actually ok with people touching my tummy, unless I don't know them and then I can't really guarantee what my response will be!

Jerad and I went shopping for cribs last night-who knew there were so many options! I think we found one that we like, but we are going to wait another day or two until we make any decisions so we can think about it.

Our ultrasound appointment is next week so I will keep you all posted after that!!!

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. I am feeling much better now and I know this baby is doing well because of all the prayers!

Auntie Shay here!!

As mentioned in the last post, I get the awesome privilege of sending out the latest update. There are two reasons for this: 1) Peanut (and mom, and family, are currently in Europe and I am house sitting) and 2) I was lucky enough to fly in on the day of their last doctors appointment. Lets talk a little about both of those things, shall we?

Yes, our precious little Peanut is a world traveller!! After coming to visit me in Canada just before Christmas, Peanut is off again, this time visiting Ireland and Rome. What a lucky little Peanut.

I arrived a few days before Peanut and the family left for a few reasons. Obviously I needed the run down of the house since I'm house sitting for the week, and even more obviously, I wanted to spend some time with my "bestie" before she left, but most importantly by arriving a few days early I was able to be taken straight from the airport to Shanna and Peanut's doctor's appointment. Last Thursday, I joined Shanna, Peanut and Jerad to hear Peanut's heart beat. It's was amazing!!! Here's the run down of the appointment:

-Shanna did not eat or drink enough the day of the appointment and got busted!! Why do I tell you this on Peanut's blog?? Because as Peanut's trusted blog readers I assume you all love Shanna and Peanut very much. Now, we all know how easy it is to get caught up in the busyness of a day and forget to drink enough water or eat an extra snack when needed, but this is so important when you're preggers. Although Shanna is usually quite good at keeping up, you officially have Auntie Shay's permission to check in and see how many bottles of water she has been drinking etc :)

-I'd love to tell you what Peanut's heart rate was, but quite frankly, I don't remember the number. I'm sorry Shanna can plug it in when she gets back. I will however tell you, the heart rate can still go either way right now, in terms of determining gender. Their midwives exact advice to Jerad was to be ready to buy a pink snowmobile helmet, so who knows!!! Nevertheless, the heart was healthy, and even more importantly, really really cool to hear. It really did blow me away!!!

Here's a few pics, of Shanna at the doctors, Mommy and Daddy, and the BABY BELLY!!!

Hope you enjoy!

New Jeans

So I know it's been awhile since I've posted a blog...please forgive me!  Life has been a little crazy lately.  We are now starting our 15th week! This week Peanut will grow to the size of an apple and will weigh around 2 1/2 ounces. (That's pretty huge in comparison to a few weeks ago!) Peanut's legs are now longer than his arms and bones are developing and strengthening. It's still so amazing to me what can happen in just a few weeks...

On my side of things...I had the enjoyable experience of buying new jeans!!  Some of my friends kept warning me that one day I would wake up and suddenly have a little baby belly. I refused to believe it could simply happen "over night." But, it did. I woke up Friday morning and found that I could not button my jeans!  The funny part is, I've only gained 1 pound so far. But at this point the baby is growing at such a fast rate, there isn't any more room inside! Part of me is really excited to start "showing" so the whole world knows that we are expecting, but the other part of me is a little nervous to start this sixth month journey of non-stop growing!  I guess I don't really have a choice though so I might as well enjoy it.

Our next doctor's appointment is this coming Thursday so I will try to post a blog after that...or maybe Auntie Shay will want to post since she is coming for a visit that day...  :) We're hoping we get to hear the heartbeat again. Our midwife wants to wait until we are 20 weeks along to do the first ultrasound and that would be in early February, but in the meantime I will try to take some pictures of my growing tummy and post them for the world to see. 

The next big adventure for us is our trip to Ireland and Rome! We leave a week from Monday.  This baby gets to travel young!  I'm praying for quick flights and room to stretch out on the plane, since our recent trip to Canada was not the most comfortable I have experienced.  But we had this trip planned before we found out about our little one so we are going to go and have a great time! 

Allright, I will keep you posted on our next appointment!