Week 21 - Bump-ity Bump!

Little Avery Jo! We are at week 21...can't believe it...although everyday I wish you were in my arms already! There's so much to talk about this week - our trip back from Colorado (yikes!), my belly size (you!), you moving around in there and I'm sure there's a few other things along the way too! Here's what's up with you this week:

At about seven inches in length and almost 11 ounces in weight, you are about the size of a large banana (wait...you were a banana last week....I guess you have graduated to the "large" banana this week!).

A 21-week fetus (not you)

You swallow at least several ounces of amniotic fluid each day — not only for hydration and nutrition, but also to practice swallowing and digesting — skills you will need as soon as you arrive in my arms. And get this:: the taste of the amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what I've eaten (spicy enchilada one day, sweet carrots another). Your Daddy and I were joking tonight that you would be doing a "hot" dance in my belly for dinner because I had some spicy salsa! And that smorgasbord of tastes won't be lost on you either. That's because you have very developed taste buds already. In fact, researchers have noted that babies who were exposed to certain tastes in utero via the amniotic fluid were more eager to eat foods with that same taste after birth. I guess I better start loading up on the broccoli and spinach now that I know this!

You still have a great deal of room in my womb — though like anyone who lives in one space for a long time, you will soon begin to feel cramped. Until my uterine walls start closing in, however, there's plenty of space for twisting, turning, and even an occasional somersault.

With all that belly dancing they say you've been doing, it's hard to believe you ever get any sleep at all! But believe it or not, you sleep as much as a newborn, perhaps 12 to 14 hours per day!

I have been feeling bigger each day and LOVING IT! No matter what I wear now - blousy or tight shirts - you pop through! You (as my baby bump) arrived around week 16, but you are now much more definite. I don't think a stranger would quesiton whether I am pregnant anymore. In fact, I had a "first" this past week. While we were in Colorado on our last day in town, we went to a festival in Golden, CO with your Uncle Joe, Aunt Nora and your cousins JD and Cameron. There were booths set up selling stuff or advertising. At one of the booths for a local church, they were handing out free water bottles, so we hopped on that! While I was getting mine, the guy there at the tent said something like, "It looks like you are pregnant." That is the first that a stranger has asked or said anything. I love it! And consider it a milestone. Also, while we were in a gift shop a little later, I had to pee really bad and your Daddy asked the lady behind the counter if there were any public restrooms. She said, "No, but come back to the office area and just use this one". While I was in the restroom, your Daddy thanked her again and she said, "No problem, that baby has got to be pushing on her bladder!". I went from never having anyone (outside of family and friends) notice my baby bump, to two people in two hours! Well, I know for a fact that my baby bump grew leaps and bounds while in Colorado...so I guess this makes sense!

And due to that ever-growing bump-ity bump, I wasn't sure how much longer I would be able to run. I still run (very slow, promise - doc says it's okay!) when I work out, but like I said, VERY slow compared to before you were in there. I ran a little on vacation, but did more walking...so I wondered how running on the treadmill would be when I got back. I ran today and it is a bit harder (but heart rate is still in the safe zone), but I cranked out 3.4 miles! I was so happy about that. It is a little harder and my belly tends to touch the bar in front of the treadmill display more often, but other than that...I'm still good to go! =) I'd love to keep it up for another month or two...but we'll see how it goes.

And I have yet to really feel you move, which truly sucks because everyone and their sister talks about feeling their babies moving all over the place online (even their hubbies feeling a kick from the outside - what?!). I've been patient and not worrying (the whole anterior placenta thing, blah blah blah), but it still sucks. Today, I was laying in bed on my back, kind of propped up, working on my computer when I felt a BUMP right below my belly button....then one to the left of it and another in the same spot as before. I think I would have passed this off as digestion or gas or something normally, but I started wondering...is this what you feel like? Maybe it's you?! The next 10-15 minutes, I felt some more of these things happening, and I think I am almost convinced it's you. I got the doppler and put it on the spot where I felt the thumping and there those wonderful squelchy noises were - the ones that I love to hear because it's you moving around! You were going crazy in there too moving around. So, that really made me think more that I felt you after all! Keep thumping away in there and I will see if I feel similar bumps in the next few days! So excited!

Our trip to Colorado is over - we were gone for two weeks!  My blood sugars (like I mentioned before) were a little crazy in Colorado.  Now, since we have been home a couple days, I am wondering if the altitude and climate affects my blood sugar numbers, because they have been wonderful since I have been back...even low at times.  Nothing seemed to get them down low enough while we were in Colorado...and now things seem to be good...really good.  I have done a little research on this and it does look like there is a connection to higher altitudes producing higher numbers.  I am going to the doc on Thursday, so I am going to ask them what they think.

Our trip - all of it - was WONDERFUL.  We had such a great time with everyone.  I truly can't wait until you can meet each and every one of them!  We left for our trip home on Sunday morning - bright and early -around 5am.  The drive was going great (my feet were even not swelling too bad!) until we hit the Arizona border (from New Mexico).  There, on I-40, were pot holes the size of Texas.  I am not kidding you, these suckers were HUGE...probably 1.5 to 2 feet deep.  Semi's with trailers were swerving all over the place to miss them (which was SUPER scary to watch!).  Well, we hit one and it was a hard hit.  A few minutes later, the car was pulling to the right and guess what?  We had a flat.  In fact, it hit so hard both the rims on the right side of the car were damaged too.  Ugh!  Luckily, only one tire went flat and your Daddy is a stud and was able to change to the spare (which looked so wimpy compared to the other big tires!).  Long story short, we drove the rest of the way home, 4-5 hours, on the spare going 55 mph.  It was not a fun day, but we made it home safe and sound and that's what counts!  Your poor sisters had to practically sit on each other's laps in the back seat too due to the regular tire not fitting in the spare tire spot in the trunk so your Daddy had to shift everything around and lay a seat down from the trunk to fit everything.  Oh well!  Like I said, we made it home and our beds never felt SO GOOD that night!  Here are a few more pics from the trip too!

Your crazy Daddy a the Denver Science and History museum - his "twin" is in the background if you can find him!

Your Sisters with a bear at the museum - they had a hard time facing forward and not looking back to make sure the bear was still in the case - they don't like stuffed dead animals too much!  =)

Your big Sisters messing around with the camera as we are driving somewhere  - your Mommy in the background doing who knows what.

Megan, Grandma and Kyndall

Your Daddy, Grandma and Mommy before we left Colorado

The festival we went to where everyone noticed you in my belly!

This horse was dancing to music, no lie!  There was a mariachi band playing and the horse was literally dancing to the beat!

Free sno cones!  Your cousins, Cameron and JD...and Sisters,  Kyndall and Megan

Kyndall and Bella - your Aunt Nora and Uncle Joe's adorable doggie!  Everyone loved her - including your Dad, which was a little abnormal for him  =)  Bella seemed to love you too - she would come and sit with me with her paws on my belly and would sniff my belly too!

Well, baby girl, that is all for now!  I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday (no sonogram - boo!) and then next week we get to see you TWICE!  The first will be at the outside sonogram company that we used to find out you were a boy (yeeeaaaaah....not so much) - we get a free "make up" sonogram for their little mistake.  And then later in the week we get to see your heart in detail at the fetal echocardiogram to make sure it is nice and healthy. 

Keep kicking - I want to feel more!  Your Daddy and I are going to relax and watch movies - sounds great to me!

A Shower, Swelling And A Banana

Baby girl, we are at least halfway there (if not over the halfway mark, depending on how long they let me go!).  What a busy week we've had!  You have made your presence known by literally feeling like a bowling ball in my belly lately!  For 2-3 days I had a constant feeling of pressure in my lower tummy.  I assume this was because you are growing away in there, since this is your big growth spurt stage.  Here's a little more about you this week:

You are about 6.5 inches and weighs around 10.5 ounces (almost a pound - woot woot!).  You are now measured from head to toes, instead of head to rump, since you can lengthen your legs now.  And that means from your head to your toes you are the length of the average banana!  Your rapid growth stage is just about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival. Your heart grows stronger and stronger this week too. "They" say that I may be able to distinguish between your heartbeat and mine at this point by putting my hand on my belly while finding my own with the other hand at the same time.  I'll just use the doppler though, much easier! Your legs are reaching their relative size. And with the increase muscle development occurring as well, I am supposed to start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon...although I have an anterior placenta, so I am preparing not to really feel much for another couple weeks.

Immunities are being transferred from me to you now. These immune cells will protect you from viruses I've already had for up to six months after birth!  Crazy, eh?! The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections. You may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, you can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds you become accustomed to during you development stages often are calming after birth.  "They" tell me that you probably recognize my voice...and Daddy's too!

Your mommy's belly, is, well....out there!  I think coming to Colorado really made it stick out more!  And as much as this is what I have been waiting for, it's still a strange thing to see my body changing like this...I almost can't still believe that this is really happening!  The outfit I wore at the shower your Aunts and Uncles had for you really, REALLY made me look like the pregnant mama that I am!  Whew!  It's like it all came out of the blue from one day to the next.  It makes sense with the weird pressure I have had this week and all the growth you are having...still surreal for your Mommy!

Your mommy has also had her first bout with swelling.  Right after we got to Colorado last week, my feet were all swollen up from the car ride.  Your sister's were too (and she normally has BONEY feet - so she looked a little funny!).  I didn't worry too much about it then, after I had my feet up a while and had a good night's sleep, they were back to normal.  Yesterday, though, I noticed during dinner that the swelling was back.  I had been on my feet a lot that day, I guess.  Luckily, it's just the tops and sides of my feet (no more knobby, boney thing on the outside of the foot!).  It's not my ankles at this point.  I called the doctor today and talked to a nurse and she thinks it's just normal pregnancy stuff...not anything diabetes related.  Luckily, your Daddy and I bought a blood pressure cuff and brought it with us, so I know my blood pressure has been great (104/61), and I told the nurse that too.  Also told her it was just the tops of my feet with no other symptoms...so it's just pregnancy stuff.  I'm just a little worried about the drive home...I may have to invest in some stockings to wear to keep the swelling down during the drive.  I did have a weird blood sugar day yesterday too - two times I was in the 200's - which never happens...and it's not explainable (not that it usually is!).  Today has been great though...my increase in basals have basically done it's job.

Enough of that Debbie Downer stuff...the fun stuff of this week is that we had our first shower for you!  Your Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Kenny really went all out and had all the family over here in Colorado for a cookout.  Your Aunts and Uncles all brought some gifts for you too!  We got so many cute clothes for you, as well as some adorable hooded towels and washclothes, some cute little mittens so you don't scratch yourself and even some diapers!  We can't wait to use them all on you!  We had such a good time, and it was great to have everyone together!  They were all so generous...you are already spoiled!  Here are a few of the things we got for you.

The most yummy cake EVER!

A cute sleeper from your Aunt Nora (and Uncle Joe, JD, and Cameron)

Another ADORABLE outfit from your Aunt Nora (and Uncle Joe, JD, and Cameron)

A newborn onesie from your Grandma Frances...and the best part of it is.....................

there are ruffles on the bum!  I am IN LOVE with outfits with ruffles on the bum!

Really cute hooded towels and washcloths from your Aunt Soila (and Uncle Manual, Andrew and BJ)

From your Aunt Rhonda (and Uncle Kenny, Zach and Bailey) - have to admit this is one of my favorites - just read it.  =)

I love little sister outfits too!  Also from your Aunt Rhonda (and Uncle Kenny, Zach, and Bailey)

How cute is this from your Grandma? 

And for the grand finale today, I'm going to post my 20 week belly picture...as well as the 16 week one so you can see how big you are getting!

16 weeks

20 weeks

I think that's about it for now, little baby girl.  We love you so much!  I can't believe we are already over halfway there...I'm hoping this half goes even faster!  We can't wait to hold you, smell you, kiss you and just plain love on you!

Week 19 - I'm thinking we are halfway there!

Hey there little girlie-o-mine!  We are now 19 weeks in!  And depending on we both do at the end of the pregnancy, it could be the halfway point this week.  Many times, if induced or c-section, they will do this at 38 weeks....so we are halfway there!  =) I am sitting here writing this in the Rocky Mountains with you in my belly!  The Fall Valley River is flowing right outside our open screen door.  Love it!  Can't wait to sleep with our screen open tonight too...with the sound of the rushing river putting us to sleep!  I can pretty much feel you getting bigger!  So here's the scoop on you!

Your reproductive system is already well established. The vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place, and your ovaries contain more than 6 million primitive egg cells (wow!). When you are born, that number will have shrunk to about 1 million, which is all the eggs you'll ever have. Your arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of your body now. Your kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on your scalp is sprouting. Around this time, your skin starts to produce a creamy substance called vernix caseosa, which is made of oils secreted by the skin, dead cells, and lanugo, the fine hair that covers the body. This waxy coating protects your skin from the effects of floating in amniotic fluid (I am imagining what my skin would look like after swimming in a pool for nine months - so thank goodness for that covering for you!). Most of the vernix will disappear before birth, unless you arrive early. Preterm babies are often born still covered with a lot of vernix. Even full-term infants will have a bit of vernix in the creases of their skin. You most likely measure about 7 or so inches and weighs anywhere from 7 to 9 ounces (you measured in last week at the doctor's office at 8 oz.). You are about the size of a mango!  There's a definite upswing on the fetal growth chart now, so we can expect some big gains in the coming weeks.

We are still adjusting to the fact that you are a girl!  All in a good way!  We catch ourselves sometimes saying "he" instead of "she"...still getting used to the change I guess!  We took back most of the boy-ish clothes and exchanged for some super cute girlie stuff instead.  Can't wait to see you in it all!

I am feeling great...definitely have a belly and love showing it off now more than ever.  We are in Colorado this week seeing your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, etc.  I am definitely showing you off to everyone around here!  Plus, we have all your latest sonogram pics that we are showing everyone too!  They love them.  They are throwing us a little shower on Saturday, which will be super fun!  I'll tell you all about it next week!

That's it for now I guess.  I feel like there should be more, but nothing is coming to mind.  I'll post some good pictures of our trip soon.  In the meantime, kick away!  I still need to feel you!  Love you baby girl!