Week 16

4 months already! The time sure has been flying by so far. This week the baby is now up to 3-5 ounces and 4-5 inches long. The baby's back muscles are strengthening this week, allowing it to straighten out a little more. It also has eyelashes and eyebrows and the eyes can now move around and perceive some light even though they're closed still.

We had Tom's parents to our house for a visit last weekend. Tom and his dad put together our baby crib and it's beautiful and making the room look more baby-ready! We also celebrated Tom's birthday this week on the 25th and it was weird to think this is the last birthday with just the two of us (well 3 if you include Marty of course!).

This week I also started physical therapy to help relieve my sciatic pain and found it very helpful. It was really a huge learning experience for me. I have scoliosis so I'm used to my back being out of whack, but I am now equipped with a brace to keep my hips in alignment. With pregnancy, your ligaments loosen up more, making it a lot easier to slip out of alignment. So that was encouraging to finally get something to help the pain so I can continue exercising like I like to.

To end, here's week 16's baby bump. I can definitely no longer hide the fact that I'm pregnant as you can see!

Week 15--It's an Orange!

That's right, this week Baby G is the size of a navel orange this week--about 4 1/2 inches in length! And it weighs about 2-3 ounces which seems super light to me, but it's got plenty of time to grow till the due date. This week the baby is also moving around a lot (though I won't be able to feel anything for awhile still), the ears have moved now to the sides of the head, and the eyes are moving to the front of the face. So in other words, it's starting to look more human :) The baby's also starting to practice to breathe too, which is super neat.

This week Tom and I have also been working on the nursery. Tom got on a kick this past weekend that he wanted to start painting the baby room. So we picked out a pretty light green color called "Mint Condition" and painted over the brown color that was there from our office. We just finished the painting tonight and we both really like the result. Check out the pictures of the room so far with the dresser and nightstand that we have bought. We also have our crib already, but it's waiting in a box to be assembled.

So far, pregnancy has been a bit funny in the way that when some symptoms leave, others seem to appear. I'm really thankful that the nausea seems to be completely gone, but in its place I've been having a ton of pain in my sciatic nerve. My doctor said the baby's tilted toward my back and pressing on my nerve which is causing a lot of pain in my lower back and leg. I'm looking forward to starting some physical therapy soon to help relieve some of the pain (hopefully). Luckily my doctor also said that when the baby gets bigger it will tilt more vertically and should not be pressing on that nerve any longer. On that note, I'll leave you with this week's baby bump picture :)

Week 14 and the Baby Heartbeat!

Greetings all! To start the 14th week of the pregnancy we had our 2nd prenatal appointment with my doctor, Dr. April Sherren. I love my doctor and at this appointment we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! It was beating strong at 150 beats a minute. The baby was also moving all around causing my doctor to have to chase it around my belly to find the heartbeat. My doctor said this is a good sign that the baby is active which means it's getting plenty of oxygen. And I'm not one for folklore, but I've heard that if the baby has a higher heart rate (like ours did) it means it's a girl!

We've also scheduled our next ultrasound appointment for April 7th and that's where they can determine whether it's a boy or girl. We've decided that we're definitely going to find out the gender. Being a huge planner, I'd just like to know better what to expect. I have great respect for those who can go without finding out, I just don't think I could stand the anticipation!

Speaking of being a planner, we have already gotten a lot prepared so far for the baby's room. Currently the room next to our bedroom is a guest room/Tom's office. So unfortunately for Tom, he's gotten demoted to the basement for his office. We gave away the desk he had in his office since it doesn't down our narrow basement stairway. We also already ordered a crib which was delivered yesterday (and still needs assembly) as well as already got a dresser and nightstand. They are all in a beautiful cherry wood color and we love all the pieces. We're planning on painting the baby room a light green color regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl and are still deciding on the specific shade of color that it'll be.

As far as Baby G goes, here are more of the amazing developments this week:
The baby is now the size of my fist! This amazes me because it seems so big already. I know weeks from now this will seem tiny but for now that's huge! This week the baby has also sprouted hair on its head, eyebrows, and body. Closer to the point of delivery the baby sheds the body hair as it accumulates more body fat to keep warm. Otherwise we might be born with a monkey looking baby!

As for me this week, I'm feeling more energy and the nausea has almost completely disappeared (yay!). I've always struggled with acid reflux and that's been getting worse lately, but was something my doctor prepared me for, since that's a common pregnancy symptom. And of course, last but not least, is my weekly baby bump picture!

Week 13: The other side of the story!

Greetings to all readers from Mr. Tom! :) Jackie and I have had a great time sharing this great news with all our friends. Just this evening, I had the opportunity to share this baby news with my Epiphany choir. They were very excited and had tons of questions. Luckily, I don't have to field the "where do babies come from question". I'll leave that to the parents of those children. And speaking of Epiphany choir, you can check out their latest performance on YouTube. I'm so happy to be working with these children, but even more excited to have a child of our own.

Make sure you check back later this week to see ultrasound pictures from our next appointment. We have an ultrasound picture this Friday with Jackie's OB/GYN. Now that she's in the 13th week our fetus is about the size of a peach, or 3 inches long. Our baby's head is about half the size of its body and its intestines are also moving to its abdomen.

As usual, here is the weekly picture of Jackie and the baby bump. Until next week, or sooner!

Tom