Week 21 Update

Dear precious little girl,
This week, you've grown from a banana to a carrot (in length, that is)! It's kind of funny to compare you to fruits and vegetables, even though your daddy keeps telling me that we're having a BABY, not a FRUIT SALAD. Your daddy is a funny guy, and also a little bit sarcastic (kind of like your mama too, actually). You'll discover this soon enough :).

You have been kicking up a STORM this week, and we are now starting to feel you kicking from the outside of my belly. You seem to pick the most interesting times to kick and punch my insides, usually at around 5:00am, 9:00am, 4:00pm, and 11:00pm. I'm told that your active periods in my tummy will coincide with when you'll most likely be awake and active after you're born- pretty interesting, huh? Most of the time, though, you're just sleeping and growing in there.

Yesterday, your daddy and I went to the Skagit Valley tulip festival with your aunt Marie, uncle David, and cousin Mary. We took a lot of funny pictures in the tulip fields, and we couldn't stop talking about how cute it will be when we will be able to take you with us next year! Your aunt Marie kept taking pictures of my belly so that she can send them to your grandma in New Mexico, because now I'm REALLY looking like I'm pregnant. Because it's been almost a month (I know, we're so bad!) since we last posted a belly picture to illustrate the very pregnant-looking mama you've got here, we took another picture tonight for all the people who keep asking for them:


















We promise we'll post more regular belly pictures in the coming weeks, especially because you are really going to start growing a LOT from here on out!
Love, Mama

Week 20- Banana Anyone?

Dear precious little girl,
We're officially halfway through our pregnancy at this point, can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday we were calling all of our friends and family to give them the good news that we were expecting you! This week has been pretty busy for you, after having your big ultrasound where we found out you were a little girl, and having a doctor's visit where we were told that you were doing GREAT. From here on out, we'll only see the doctor once a month, at least until the month before you're born (when we'll see her every week).

I also took my very first "taking care of baby" class last week! It was all about infant safety and CPR. I learned a LOT, and am now encouraging your daddy to take the class too. I was surprised to hear about all of the things that are marketed to parents that are really not safe for infants! I also learned the best way to introduce you to your furry canine brother and feline sister. I am really looking forward to the rest of the classes that your daddy and I will be taking this summer- we signed up for 16 of them, and they're about all kinds of things, including breastfeeding, childproofing your home, carseat safety, caring for your baby, and there's even a class just for new daddys. :)

One of the most exciting things that's happenned in the last week is that I can feel you kicking and punching my insides like crazy! Your daddy and I are convinced that you're going to be a world class soccer player. Unfortunately, your daddy can't feel you on the outside of my tummy yet, but he's been trying! Every night when we go to bed, he lays down next to me and wraps his arm around my tummy, hoping that he can feel you kicking (since this is when you seem to be most active). And sometimes during the day when I can feel you, he rushes over to try and feel it, but I think you're still a little too small to kick hard enough for him to feel you. I'm told, though, that in a week or two, we will not only be able to feel you from the outside, but we might just SEE your little kicks and punches poking out of my tummy. How weird (but exciting) that's going to be!

You've been doing a lot of growing in the last week too! You're now about 10 inches long (about the lengh of a big banana) and you weigh about 10 1/2 ounces. You're starting to swallow all the time, and even though you're just swallowing amniotic fluid (yuck!), it's good practice for after you're born. You can hear a lot of sounds now, and even though I can't see it, if there's a loud sound near me, you will instinctively put your hands up over your ears (wow). Your hair is growing, and you're even starting to get eyebrows now, and also- your fingernails are starting to grow! This is what you look like inside of my tummy right now:


















(click image for larger photo)
(image from childbirthconnection.org)

My tummy is getting bigger and bigger every week (I'll post a picture soon), and my belly button is almost flat(ack!) because my growing uterus is moving farther up in my belly. I really look pregnant now- there's no mistaking it! From here on out, I will be gaining about a pound a week (yowza) which sounds easy, but that's a lot of extra food! I will admit, though, that it's awfully nice to be able to eat anything I want and not worry about gaining weight, because hey- it's for you!

Love,
Mama

I Think We Have A Little Tap Dancer On Our Hands...

Dear precious baby girl,
For the past week or so, I *think* I've been feeling you move around in my tummy! It's weird, though, because it could just be gas, or my stomach grumbling for more Doritos. But this morning, it was unmistakable.

I was sitting at home working, all nice and relaxed on the couch after having my morning breakfast cereal (with lots of milk, of course, because I know you need your calcium now that your bones are growing!), when all of a sudden.... WHAMMO!!!!!

You totally kicked my bladder and made me pee my pants.

With much love and many thanks,
Mama :)

A word from Papa….

Dear baby,

Today your Mommy and I went to the doctor and found out that you are not just our beloved baby, but our precious little girl. Your Mommy and I are so excited, we already have plans on how we will decorate your nursery and are very close to picking out your name.

We saw your face for the first time today, the ultrasound technicians had your Mommy do a “hula dance” to get you to move, and when you did, we saw your hands crossed over your face. You were sucking on your thumb, and then took your hand out for a moment so you could stick your tongue out, before sucking on your thumb again. It’s funny because just yesterday your Mommy wrote that you are now able to suck your thumb and today we got to see it for the first time! Your Mommy and I were amazed at how much detail we could see, clearly seeing your jaw, eyes, nose..and yes tongue during the ultrasound. Here is a picture of you in profile:















P.S.- Your grandfather Murphy said that knowing your Mommy and Daddy, that he thought it was fitting that you stuck your tongue out during the ultrasound. He also has claimed that he knew you were going to be a girl from the very start. Your grandma Murphy said the same thing a few months ago, as did your Aunt Edith. They can’t wait to meet you, and neither can the rest of your family.

Your Mommy’s ultrasound technician today was so nice and very helpful to your Mommy. I was happy to see that because the last ultrasound tech wasn’t so sweet, I think that one had been weaned on pickle juice. I hope your Mommy gets to have this new ultrasound tech for our next appointment too.

You also have your first outfit now, your Mommy and I stopped off by Babies-R-Us tonight to get your first onesie. It’s pink and green, so it will go with the booties that your cousin Katie knitted for you, and will match the colors we are planning for your nursery. We couldn’t help it, and it will probably be the first of many trips there.

Soon I will be able to feel you move and kick inside your Mommy’s tummy. She thinks she can feel it already but she is not sure, this morning she felt something like a punch inside her tummy, and this afternoon she felt something that she said felt like a hiccup in her tummy. She is probably feeling you move, and I should be able to feel you move in a few weeks. I can’t wait!

Love,

Daddy

Almost Halfway There!

Dear Baby,
Yesterday you hit the 19-week mark! Your daddy and I just got back from a relaxing vacation in the Carribean (specifically, this place), and it was AMAZING. We can now say that you're a little world traveler! On this trip alone, you've been to Miami, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Barbados, in addition to Canouan island. Next month, you'll travel to Greece via London! Your daddy and I are taking a lot of pictures so that we can show you someday all the places you were before you were born.

You've really grown a lot in the last couple of weeks! Right now, you're between 6-7 inches long from your head to your rump (called the crown rump length) and 9 inches from head to toe, and you weigh about a half pound. You're starting to grow hair on your tiny head, and you can even recognize my and your daddy's voices! It's a good thing, because your daddy and I talk to you and sing silly songs to you all the time. You're also starting to produce something called vernix, which is a white sticky substance that will cover and protect your skin while you're spending so much time in amniotic fluid. Incredibly, your brain is already forming the areas responsible for all of your senses, and your nervous system is starting to grow rapidly. You're able to do all kinds of movements, and you may even have started sucking your thumb already! This week, you look something like this:











(image courtesy of parenting.ivillage.com)

My tummy is growing a lot too! Your daddy and I are amazed at how much even my belly button is changing, and we keep joking that we'll start to take photos of the evolving "outie" that's going to pop out pretty soon. But the thing that is the MOST EXCITING OF ALL is that tomorrow your daddy and I are going to get another ultrasound... and we'll find out if you're a girl or a boy!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Mama

Probably Too Much Information, But... Oh Well.

I just found out that if you have an epidural to help with all the pain during labor.... you also.... *gulp*... have to have... a.... catheter.

I have not ever in my life heard one good thing about catheters. I mean, they stick a TUBE up your very private and very narrow (and much smaller than the tube) pee pee place and shove it all the way into your bladder. Which, I've heard, is very painful (although you probably don't really feel it after having an epidural put in). And then, for the fun and amusement of anyone who happens to visit you in your hospital room, you can point to the bag hanging off of your bed and say, "LOOK! IT'S MY PEE!".

One thing that is really curious to me, though, is that I'm pretty sure the whole point of forcing a birthing woman to have a catheter is so that she doesn't pee on the doctors and nurses when she's trying to push out the baby. And yet, most woman POOP all over the doctors and nurses when pushing out a baby, and yet noone has mentioned putting a catheter up someone's butt.

I'm just sayin'.