Yea! Half way there!

Wow, I can't believe I'm half way through this pregnancy. These few weeks since Thanksgiving have been hectic with work, but I've been feeling great. It'll be nice to have a few weeks off from school to get personal things done. We have our first ultrasound on Tuesday and we can't wait to see how our little cantaloupe is doing.
One website said the baby is about 10 inches from head to foot. There are also teeth forming behind the baby teeth already. Baby's also been busy figuring out how to swallow. He/she can now differentiate morning, afternoon, and night. How crazy! I better get busy making Marc's cookie cutouts for his birthday. He's 26 today!

Busy Lately?

Well, in case you haven't noticed, it's been a few weeks since I've updated my blog. That is due to me taking over the head coaching position for the gymnastics season in the middle of November. I haven't had much time to get much of anything done in the evening. I get home after 6:30 and luckily I have a husband that has been very good about making good meals for me and the baby. By the time I get dinner eaten, clean up, and take a little breather, it's time to go to bed. I'm still on an pretty early bed time however, I can stay up until 10 without nodding off. I just choose to go to bed earlier because I tend to feel better the following day. As for the baby, It's the size of a mango now!
Baby's been busy kicking and grabbing on to the umbilical cord. Most of the readings say it can hear now, so I try to do more singing and humming than usual. I notice more kicking and movement when I'm not moving. That happens to be in the evening and during the middle of the night if I have to get up to use the bathroom. Those stairs to walk back up to bed tend to be a bigger challenge now that I've put on an extra 15 pounds and it must be just enough exercise to get baby stirred up. O well, all the better for the babe.

150 bpm

We had our 3rd baby appointment today. Just as I got in the room I was told Dr. Eichfeld had an emergency surgery, so there was a student doctor that filled in for her. The baby's heartbeat was 150 beats per minute. That's about 10 bpm slower than last time. The student doctor said that was normal and the heartbeat will be getting lower each time.

This week I had to begin my gymnastics coaching adventure. The head coach had her baby on Tuesday. I'll be filling in for her until we go back to school after Christmas Break. This may be a long few weeks because I've got to do a few of the meets, but it's been fun so far so may be it will be better than I'm anticipating. The problem is that I get home with just enough time to eat and then I'm tired. Hopefully the exercise will help me feel more energized. Only time will tell...

Baby's facial muscles are busy working and is kicking and swinging his/her arms like crazy. I haven't really felt a for sure kick...just a little flutter every few days. I'm not going to really count them for kicks until they start coming in a more frequent manner.
We have our 3rd baby appointment on Thursday afternoon. Luckily for me, we don't have school on Thursday or Friday because our girls made it to state volleyball.

Aglio E Olio

Junior/Princess loooooved supper tonight. I made a sauce-less pasta. Lots of garlic, mushrooms, and a few red pepper flakes cooked in evoo and then tossed with linguini. yum-o.

When life hands you lemons...

...make a baby!

Baby is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

Headaches!

So as a way to alleviate my headaches, I went to the chiropractor today after school. I think even my doctor was frustrated because my neck was not moving. He even commented, "I think you need a new neck!" I know...I've been saying that for years! All that body weight bearing on my head and neck in gymnastics wasn't such a good idea after all. I guess my muscles are so tight, my neck just won't adjust properly. I even worked on stretching my neck and working on my sore shoulders this weekend, but it didn't help. Marc was even generous enough to give me a back rub last night that caused his hands to hurt so bad...I had to give him a hand rub! No use. Still too tight. It will be nice when I can finally get this worked out so I don't have to take tylenol on a daily basis, even though my doctor says tylenol is ok, I would feel better not having to take it.

On to the second trimester!

Yea so looking forward to the blessed second trimester. I'm so excited for this nausia to come to a close and to not be soo tired. My usual October head cold has glared it's evil head. I'v had a headache off and on for a week. I tried to not take any tylenol this weekend, but I was in tears yesterday. I gave in and felt much better. I know Marc was extremely happy to have me take the tylenol as well. His Sunday plan was to spend the whole day lazing about, but he hid out in the shop instead. So like I said, I can't wait until the liveliness of the second trimester comes. I'm so ready for an energy boost.
Baby's been busy forming teeth and vocal chords. I even read somewhere that the ears may even begin to hear my voice or humming by now. I guess I'll be singing in the shower every morning...Marc will just love that!

160 bmp

Baby is now the size of a plum. We had our second baby appointment on Tuesday of this week. We got to hear the heartbeat. It was about 160 beats per minute. I've heard people say that means it's a girl, but I've found other sources that say otherwise. Either way, we know it's doing well and is growing quickly. 2 to 2 1/2 inches long already. I told Marc our baby was the size of a plum and he wanted to know when it was going to be the size of a baby...well, we've got a few more months to go before that happens! I'm approaching the end of my first trimester. Apparently I'm going to start feeling more energized and the nausia should be subsiding. I can't wait. I am so tired at night that I am sleeping before 9 every night.

As big as a prune

With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will too.)

It's hard to believe baby's over an inch long now. A bit more nausia has been occuring this last week right at bedtime. On Wednesday night, Marc put on some axe spray. This is normally a smell that drives me crazy...that night, it did just that. I couldn't even go near the bathroom, which meant I couldn't even go into the kitchen to get some water. Too much of a good thing isn't really good right now! Even though I love my kitchen, something about it makes me gag each night as well. This weekend is going to be full of deep cleaning so the entire house smells great. No funky smells anymore. Better get started.

The baby's now about three-quarters of an inch long. A membrane lid covers the baby's eyes. It's muscles are beginning to develop, and she or he can make tiny movements. the limbs are growing, but the arms and hands are forming more quickly than the legs and feet. The hands are actually still known as "hand paddles" and look just like they sound. Ridges have formed on the paddles, which will soon become well-defined fingers. The baby is developing little dimples where the knees and ankles will go, and the elbows are becoming visible. This week is when sex characteristics begin to assert themselves, and ovaries or testes will soon appear (though an ultrasound won't be able to detect specific sex organs for another two months or so). The baby's brain waves can now be detected.

Wow, I'm just amazed at how much of a miracle this all is!


well, it was the size of a raspberry last week, but I didn't get the chance to add any new info. The baby was actually able to move it's little arms, legs, and webbed feet like crazy. Marc put his head up to my belly and said he heard a swish swish sound. I was sure it was the baby saying hey.

1st baby appointment

Marc and I went to our first baby appointment on Tuesday of last week. As I was preparing for conferences all week long, I didn't have a chance to update everyone until now.
The appointment went very well. Dr. Eichfeld and her nurse, Ginger, are both very nice and answered all our pressing questions. Things are progressing well and we look forward to our next appointment in October.

Baby's brain -- both hemispheres! -- is growing fast, generating about 100 new cells every minute. Arms and legs are emerging as joints start to form, and a permanent set of kidneys (baby's third!) is now in place.
Baby's about five to thirteen millimeters long (less than half an inch), and weighs less than a gram. The human blueprints are already visible. Baby still has a tail but is also beginning to form a digestive tract, lungs, nostrils, hands and feet, and a bump of a mouth. The liver, tongue, and lenses of baby's eyes are forming. There are beds for baby's fingernails, and the buds of teeth are forming in the gums. The baby's nerve channels and muscles are connecting, and the body can wiggle when the cells communicate. In just two days, from days thirty-one to thirty-three, the brain becomes one-quarter larger. If you were to have an ultrasound, it would be able to detect the beating heart, which shows up looking like a tiny flashing light.

Oh so tired

These last few days I've been so exhausted. By the time I get home, I just want to go to bed, but I know if I go to bed at 6:00, I'll be done sleeping at 3:30 in the morning. That's no good either.
Tonight I'm preparing for a long girl weekend. Debby's husband got us Rascall Flatts tickets in the cities. It should be fun, but I hope I'll be able to keep up with them. May be I'll have to take a snooze here and there.
Once I get through the weekend, only two more days until my first official visit with Dr. Ickfeld. It's been something I've been looking forward to since she'll be able to tell me for sure that there's really a baby in there! I know that my back could tell you that right now, but it won't hurt to have a professional's say so as well.

Sweet pea

Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate. ~thebump.com


The baby and the yolk sac are about the size of an M&M's candy. A month after conception, the embryo looks something like a newt or a tadpole, and it has gills like a fish! Right now, the embryo of our future baby looks much like the embryo of any other animal—a bird, rabbit, or monkey. It has two tiny cups of pigment on the side of its head that will develop into eyes. Tiny buds that will form the lungs have appeared. The neural tube has closed. One end is flattening and expanding to become the brain, and the other end will become the spine. It's already 10,000 times larger than the fertilized egg. The embryo doesn't have gender characteristics yet, but has little dots where the nipples will be, whether it's a boy or a girl. The heart, a tiny U-shaped tube, will start beating between days twenty-one and twenty-four and is circulating the embryo's own blood. It has a small mouth and lips and fingernails are forming. ~fitpregnancy.com


Cheers to a relaxing weekend (with minimal chores!) Made some homemade waffles this morning. Woke Marc up at 8:30 to enjoy them while they were fresh. He's already taking his mid-morning nap!

Here's some more info about the progress of Baby Walery thanks to fitpregnancy.com

the embryo is about two millimeters long, about the size of a grain of sand. The baby transforms into a bundle of cells organized in a C-shape with a top, bottom, front, and back. A groove has developed on the embryo's back, which will seal and develop into the neural tube (which later will become the spinal cord). At this point, the tube already has a wider, flatter top that will grow into the baby's brain. A bulge has developed in the center of the embryo, which will soon become a tiny U-Shaped tube which will form the heart. The embryo is encased in protective membranes and attached to a yolk sac, which manufactures the embryo's unique blood cells.

Baby seems to be making more room down there as I've had some more cramps these last few days. Being on my feet in flip flops might not be the best for me either as I think I'll be asking for a lower back rub tonight! We rented a movie and are hoping for an early bedtime.

Marc's been keeping busy by dove hunting in the stock dam just past our house. He got three tonight and if we're lucky, he'll get a few more so we can make a meal of it. Yum.

RSS Feed

Use this video to show you how to get an RSS Feed. It's a way for you to get an email to know when I update the blog without having to check on it daily. Enjoy!

Apple seed size

The embryo (looking kind of like a tadpole) is starting to form major organs (heart, kidney, liver, stomach) and systems (nervous, circulatory, digestive).

Poppy Seed...can it really be that little?

So, apparently it is the size of a poppy seed. Not very big, I must admit, but a miracle none-the-less. It's amazing to think the cells are splitting to form into a little marc or lorie...yikes! Scary!

Too many tests...really?

So I took an at home pregnancy test on Tuesday morning; the first day of September. I had taken two others a few days earlier, so I didn't expect too much. So there I am just before 5 in the morning peering at what seemed to be a faint blue line where there was none before. I couldn't tell what to make of it, so I had marc get up to assess the situation. We decided to see how the day went and take a test after school.
Well, I had drank so much water on the way home, to test was "diluted". I again took a test before bed, but there wasn't much change. We decided to save the last test for the morning and as luck would have it, the faint blue line was slightly darker this morning.
When I asked "what do you think?", marc said, "I think you're a momma".
Just to make things official, I made an appointment with my physician and she confirmed the good news. We're so excited and can't wait to see what new things we'll be discovering in the next few months.

As of now, I have no real symptoms bothering me, however, I'm sure that'll change. I've been checking out some websites and will be getting plenty of advice from friends and family once the news is out. Don't forget to check the ticker on the top of the blog to see how the pregnancy is progressing.

Baby Walery

It's really happening. Baby Walery is due on May 8, 2010!