Week 25

This week bring some important developments in baby growth land. He's now 9 inches in length and has surpassed the pound and a half mark! He has capillaries forming beneath his skin and air sacs in his lungs developing. Also his nostrils which have been plugged up until this point, are starting to open. And last but not least, his vocal chords are developing in preparation for lovely crying.

This week also marked my 27th birthday! I got some baby items for gifts which thrilled me! Below you'll see our cute diaper bag and my parents got us a pack 'n play which will definitely come in handy. The pack 'n play even comes with a changing table and infant napper so we plan to keep that handy in our basement for when we're hanging out watching TV downstairs and don't want to go upstairs to change him. And it'll also come in handy when we bring him to our parents' homes.

We've also been in process of planning our first vacation as a family of three. Tom has an annual work meeting every year and in April 2011 it so happens to be in Hawaii! Well you can believe I wasn't going to let an opportunity for a vacation there pass me up. So we're using frequent flier miles (one of the perks of Tom traveling a lot) and "purchased" 2 tickets for me and Baby G to fly there for a week's vacation after Tom's work trip is over. It's a great deal because it only cost us $10 to book the tickets using frequent flier miles and Tom's tickets are paid for my his company. So low cost Hawaiian adventure here we come! The long trip in a plane will definitely be a challenge with a baby, but it'll be really fun to have baby's first trip to Hawaii!

This week we also had another prenatal appointment. They drew blood to check my glucose level to see if I've developed gestational diabetes and if I'm anemic (routine tests at this point in pregnancy) so I'll soon find out the results of those tests. I've been really fatigued lately so my doctor did advise me to up my iron-intake since they suspect I may be slightly anemic. We also scheduled the rest of our prenatal appointments right up through the day before our due date. That was crazy to do because it makes it feel like it's coming so soon! But at the same time these days it also feels a long way away. As I get bigger normal easy things become more challenging, so I know there will be many days I hope the due date comes quicker. But in the mean time it gives us a lot of time to prepare everything we'll want ready before he comes!

Week 24 and 25's belly pics:

Week 24: A White Haired Baby

That's right, it might sound weird, but Baby G's hair is white at this point because there's no pigment in the hair yet. On a less odd note, he's 8 1/2 inches long and a pound and a half in weight (approximately). He's now growing 6 ounces per week and that weight includes baby fat, organs, bones, and muscle. His facial features are also developing into what I know will be an adorable face...not that I'm biased or anything :) For the past 2 weeks I've been enjoying one of the most exciting parts of pregnancy....feeling the baby kick! I hadn't felt it for a long time which didn't surprise my doctor for a few reasons. One, with first pregnancies it can take awhile to feel the kicks. And two, the placenta has grown in front of the baby so acts as a cushion to his kicks which makes them less noticeable. But I sure do notice them now, especially when I'm sitting still. Tom has tried to feel them and they don't seem to be strong enough yet for him to feel them, but I'm sure that won't last long. I'll be adding the baby bump picture tomorrow probably but wanted to post an update in the meantime. Enjoy!

Week 23: We're all outta fruit!

Hi everyone,
Baby Boy G has now graduated and is past the size of most fruit. So now he's just teen-baby size :)

Today we had another ultrasound of our little guy as at our last ultrasound they didn't get good pictures of his spinal chord. But this time he'd developed a bunch more and was looking cute as ever! The trend continues with everyone telling us that he's REALLY active. He was constantly moving around during the ultrasound. And I promise, I don't drink any caffeine, so he must be naturally high energy! Another really neat thing during the ultrasound....we could actually see him drinking fluid which was quite amazing. And his heart beat was beating nice and strong at 146 beats a minute. Also this week (though not something we could see on the ultrasound) the baby's organs and bones are visible through his skin, which has a red hue due to developing veins and arteries beneath.

Today we also got a delivery of our nursery bedding (see photos below) and we love it! The frog theme fits right into the room. I'm still going to paint a frog on one of the tree limbs of my mural (probably with it trying to eat a dragonfly) to complete the theme.

We don't have a mattress yet so for now I just laid the fitted sheet in there to show the cute polka dot pattern.

Week 22: Almost human size!

Sorry this post is coming late. As luck would have it, I got hit with a crappy cold which delayed blogging time. I'm pretty amazed that I made it through the entire winter without getting a cold, so I'm surprised and bummed to be getting sick now. But I went to the doctor and they think it's just a virus and possibly a sinus infection. Luckily I got both the flu and H1N1 vaccines, so they don't think it's either of those. With being pregnant, though, the only real safe medication I can take is Tylenol so that's really limited me in medications to help me feel better. Even cough drops aren't tested for baby safety, so that's a bummer too.

On a happier note, this week Baby Boy G is the size of a doll! Also he weighs a whole pound and is 8 inches long! He can also perceive light and dark, hear voices from outside the womb, hear my heartbeat, my stomach noises, and even my blood circulating.

During this past week we also had 2 exciting baby shopping trips. The first was to my church's garage sale. They have a HUGE sale every year and this was the first year I went. With my church having a lot of little kids I knew it would be a great place to find some deals. I walked away with 10 baby outfits, some baby books, a little baby piano (which Tom is excited to play with too!), and a couple other toys---for just over $20! Also my friends Becky and Jeromy helped us score our 2nd great deal. Their neighbors were planning to sell a lot of their baby items since they're baby boy is now over a year old. So we got to go over to their house for a pre-sale. We got 18 outfits and a baby swing--for only $25! I'm so excited about the good deals we found. It's been really fun slowly adding things to the nursery and seeing it come together. I'm also anxiously awaiting getting our baby bedding in the mail. I ordered it this past week and can't wait to put it in the room. We went with a frog theme with blues and green colors since it works with our room decor so far. I'll post pictures once we get it all in.

Lastly, here's week 22's baby bump pic: