19 Weeks

I can't believe I didn't update last week! It was very busy and crazy around here, I just didn't seem to find the time. But it's INSANE to me that I'm already 19 weeks.... and according to The Bump.com, the baby is the size of a mango! I also read on another site that the baby is the size of a Subway 6 inch sub.... and of course, I read that the evening after devouring one that day, ha ha. Gotta love it being compared to food every single week.

The very exciting news is that we have our BIG ultrasound tomorrow afternoon! I am so unbelievably excited, but also very anxious and nervous. I'm VERY much looking forward to knowing if this is a little boy or girl, but I'm mainly focused on making sure our sweet child is healthy. I just want to know that everything is okay in there. So I'll feel much better when we know that everything is developing as it should, etc.... and finding out the gender is just icing on the cake! Both Eric and I are completely thrilled at the prospect of either boy or girl. Unfortunately, I feel like I've been getting a lot of pressure from different sources that they're hoping this is a girl. It's bothered me quite a bit since I could care less of the gender since this baby is a BLESSING, regardless of the gender. I guess I'm just super sensitive these days, so I'm trying to brush it of and remain focused on just me, Eric, Jackson, and this little one. I can't wait to know that Little Turkey is happy, healthy, and enjoying its time in Mommy's tummy!

Otherwise, everything else is going great! I have been feeling the baby move more and more with every passing day. The movements are getting much stronger, which has been fun! Last night, Eric put his head on my tummy and started talking to the baby. The second he started talking, the baby kicked me HARD.... the hardest I've ever felt it! It was pretty awesome and a very special moment. :) I love feeling it move!!!

We'll be getting a DVD of the entire ultrasound, so I'll definitely be posting it after we announce to the family what we're having! Wish us luck tomorrow!!!

The Nineteenth Week:

• Your baby has the same awake and sleep patterns of a newborn. He has a favorite position for sleep and recognizable active and rest periods.
• Throughout baby's body, nerves are being coated with a fatty substance called myelin, which insulates the nerves so that impulses can flow smoothly.
• Scalp hair becomes apparent this week. It has sprouted and continues to grow.
• The milk teeth buds have already developed and over the next few days the buds for the permanent teeth will begin to form behind the milk teeth.
• If baby is female the uterus starts to develop. If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place.
• If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable.
• Your baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and his or her kidneys are making urine.
• Your little one's size is around 6.02 inches (15.3cm) and 8.47 ounces (240gm).

17 Weeks

So Little Turkey is the size of an onion this week. Lind of creeps me out since I just made potato soup last weekend that I had to cut up a whole onion for it! Pretty astonishing when I think about it though.... holding an onion in my hand and imagining that's how big the baby is now. CRAZINESS. How is time seriously going this quickly??

This week has brought along a LOT of growing pains and just general discomfort. My lower back has been hurting quite a bit which has been no fun at all. I can only imagine how bad it's going to be when I'm 38 weeks and praying for the baby to make its appearance! But every single pain and frustration is worth it because it's all happening so this miracle has a place to grow big and strong. I would do it all a million times over in a heartbeat.

Speaking of heartbeat, the baby's heart rate is still averaging around 160 beats per minute. I've rarely heard it any slower than that, and if it was, it was at 158! Even though I know all the old wives' tales about faster heart rate meaning girl, slower heart rate meaning boy.... it still is fun to guess! Although I'm starting to feel 100% positive that this is another little boy! Everyone that I know (women on my message boards) that are due in November are having boys! Seriously.... I think we're at 15 boys and only 5 girls so far. It's pretty strange! And it certainly makes you wonder if there truly are "girl seasons" and "boy seasons". Guess we'll find out in another three weeks or so!

The anxiousness has started creeping in about the ultrasound. Don't get me wrong, I am SO excited to finally see our baby on that screen again and to find out if we're having pink or blue! But it's hard to think about those things because I'm just so focused on the baby's health. That's ALL that is important to me. I remember starting to get nervous around this time with Jackson too.... in the end, you just want to hear that your baby is healthy and doing well in there. But I have faith that all is well and I just can't wait!!!

The Seventeenth Week:

• By week 17, your baby weighs about 4.97 ounces (140gm) and is 5.12 inches (13cm) long.
• He or she has a much more normal "human" appearance now. She holds her head more erect and her body and limbs are longer in proportion to her head.
• Pads are forming on his tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent.
• Her eyes are looking forward now, but they are still firmly closed.
• Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. This black gooey substance will become your baby's first poop!
• The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger and continues to rush blood and nutrients to your growing baby.
• If your child is male the prostate begins to develop.
• Her skeleton is transforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.

16 Weeks

Once again, time is going so fast I'm having a hard time keeping up! In many ways, I love it because it means each day is another day closer to meeting our little miracle. But at the same time, each day is another day closer to when our little miracle will BE HERE, and that's really overwhelming! So much to get done in such a short amount of time!

This week has been pretty non-eventful, other than the common stretching pains that seem worse this time than with Jackson. Mainly my right side has been KILLING me. But I can feel the top of my uterus just below my belly button now, so things are definitely stretching and moving in there! Plus, anytime I listen to the baby with the doppler now, I find the heartbeat WAY up high now, so goes to show that it's no longer in my pelvis anymore.

I haven't been feeling the baby move as much as last week, but I've read that's totally normal. I'm sure it completely depends on the position the baby is in. It's hard to believe that in about THREE weeks, we'll be finding out if this is a boy or girl! Of course, Eric and I are thoroughly convinced it's another boy, which we'll be just as thrilled with! I do LOVE the thought of Jackson having a little brother to roughhouse with and teach all of his tricks to. ;) So we're in a win-win situation because we'll be so happy with either! But it's just hard to believe that we're already almost to this point.... it feels like YESTERDAY when I was telling myself that we have about 10 WEEKS until the big ultrasound. Now it's only a few weeks away.... crazy!

Fun facts about Little Turkey this week:

The Sixteenth Week:

• Fat begins to form underneath skin, providing your baby with insulation for the coming months.
• Did you know that both baby and placenta are now about the same size?
• Your little one has reached 4.57 inches (11.6cm) and approximately 3.53 ounces (100gm).
• His head and neck are held straighter now.
• This is a week of "mights!" You might hear the tiny thumps of his heartbeat with an external monitor now. The genitals are developed sufficiently that an experienced sonographer might be able to determine if your baby is a boy or a girl.
• Her heart is pumping as much as 6 gallons of blood a day and beats at a rate about double your heart rate.
• If you could take a peek inside, you would witness your child's reflexes in action! (Sucking, swallowing and blinking are now evident.) She is probably even hiccuping even though you don't feel it yet!
• Your baby has learned to breathe! This is apparent from the regular movements of his chest. Isn't it amazing that he is able to breathe "underwater," inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid? These actions help the lungs to develop and grow.

The scale is moving.... DOWN?!?

So I stepped on the scale again this morning and I'm officially down SEVEN pounds since I found out I was pregnant. Now normally you'd NEVER hear me complaining about losing weight! But it seems so strange to me, especially since my appetite has pretty much gotten back to normal. Eric is just guessing that my metabolism is quicker, which would be awesome! But I can guarantee that I am NOT trying to lose weight while carrying this baby.... I'm definitely trying to keep my weight gain at the maximum of 20 pounds for the whole pregnancy (since I started with some extra to begin with!), so I keep waiting for those pounds to start creeping on. I believe I was already up 15 pounds or so with Jackson at this point, so I'm hoping this means I won't gain 65 pounds like I did with him! ;) But as long as my doctor isn't concerned, I won't be either! I'll just continue to make sure I'm getting the correct amount of calories and nutritious food and be happy with that. But let me tell you.... once this little angel arrives, the weight loss game is ON!!!!

15 Weeks

I think it's so funny when I see my little baby compared to a piece of food.... it seriously makes it difficult to eat that food that whole week! So Little Turkey is now the size of an orange.... crazy to think about when I hold an orange up to my belly and see how big that actually is! But it's understandable when I look at my tummy now.... there is NO mistaking I'm pregnant anymore, especially when I'm wearing maternity clothes. Yet I'm still down around 6 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy! I suppose that's a good thing since I started the pregnancy with some extra fluff. ;)

We had our doctor's appointment last Thursday and it was short and boring, just how I like it! That means everything is normal and fine. We went in, they took my weight and blood pressure, and then just sat with the doctor and talked more in depth about my VBAC plans. I would truly like to do everything in my power to avoid another c-section. My theory is this: as long as everything is fine with me and the baby, I will not consent to a c-section. I will be doing this birth all natural with no epidural. I plan on laboring upright as much as possible, including LOTS of walking and squatting. This birth will be so much different in terms of who will be there.... it will just be me, Eric, and our doula throughout the entire labor. If it looks like everything is going to happen, I will have my mom come in at the end right before the baby comes out. Otherwise, I truly feel like I missed out on that bonding experience with my husband when Jackson was born. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED having everyone there supporting me.... but it was just too much pressure. I started feeling guilty that everyone was having to wait around, and that should be the last thing on my mind during that time. So it's a very deep and personal decision that I've done a lot of soul searching on. Needless to say, I'm so excited yet terrified at the same time!

So our next appointment is on June 17th, and from there we will schedule our BIG ultrasound!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm going CRAZY not knowing if this is a little boy or girl! I've felt from the very beginning that it's a girl, but deep down I'm thinking it's probably a boy! Either way, I could care less.... I truly just want a healthy baby in my arms! After our two losses, it definitely put things in perspective on how much I don't care what the gender of our next child is.... I'm just so ready for our family to expand and I know God has a plan for this little one inside of me.

The Fifteenth Week:

• You may begin to feel some fluttering movements as baby kicks, flails, twists and turns (but don't panic if you don't yet). She can also grasp, squint, frown, grimace and maybe suck her thumb!
• Your baby's legs have grown longer than the arms and the body is now longer than the head.
• And you'll be happy to note that he is moving those arms and legs often!
• His skin is very thin -- so thin blood vessel are visible. It's covered by a fine, soft layer of hair called lanugo. Lanugo comes from a Latin word meaning "down." This hair is thought to help insulate your little boy.
• The three tiny bones in his middle ear have begun to harden. The auditory centers in your baby's brain haven't developed yet, so she might not really understand what you say but her hearing capacity is in the process of developing.
• Fingernails and toenails are growing.
• Eyebrows are beginning to grow and even the hair his head is sprouting. It will probably change color and texture after birth.
• All this and your little one is an amazing 3.98 inches (10.1cm) long and may weigh 2.47 ounces (70gm).