Halfway and a Sex Change

We are 20 weeks!

"This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicate bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!"

We went for our big ultrasound last week and found out that momma and baby are healthy and growing. But we also found out that our son is actually our daughter. It's a girl! It took a little while for my brain to switch gears but we are super excited.

So hopefully in (less and not more than) 20 more weeks we will be meeting our little Stella Marie.

I have a feeling it's going to be a long summer. The heat is already killing me and it's only June. We have a lot of painting and housework to do before she gets here so my plan is to stay busy until November!

19 Weeks

"Your amazing little baby is now around 10 inches in length! If this seems a bit shocking, you’ll be relieved to know they’ve not actually grown over 3 inches, but that their little legs are now straight enough to be measured. This is when doctors begin measuring fetal growth from head to toe, (no longer “crown to rump” or CR). Lanugo (little hairs) covers their whole body now, trapping that charming cheese-like vernix caseosa (see week 18) to the surface to the skin. This week your lil’ fetus will start on an appetizing diet of amniotic fluid which they are now capable of swallowing, digesting, and passing the fluid as far as their tiny “large” intestines. Fortunately for you, this nice little lump of baby-poop won’t be coming out while they’re still in your womb. Some time shortly after they’re born, this fun lump will become the first in a long line of baby poops."

I can't wait for my big ultrasound on Thurday - my birthday! They said it will be about an hour long so I will get lots of different views of the little one and hopefully lots of great pictures as well.

Nursery

I have looked on a lot of websites lately to find crib bedding that I like. Katie sent me this one and I think she found the best one out there:

Isn't it cute? The best part about it is that it's affordable too! A lot of people pay $500 to $600 on their crib bedding so I was pleased to find this at such a good price.

And since my birthday is coming up (June 18th, write that down)....................

What do you think?

Baby Plus

The 18th week also means that I am starting to wear the Baby Plus monitor. Mary and Juan gave it to me (thank you so much!) and they used it with Zoe. Apparently Oprah did a show about it and Juan thought it was a must have for Mary.

Here is what it is:

"The BabyPlus curriculum is a series of 16 naturally derived sounds that resemble a mother's heartbeat. The rhythm of the sounds increases incrementally as the pregnancy progresses. The BabyPlus sonic pattern introduces your child to a sequential learning process, built upon the natural rhythms of their own environment.This "auditory exercise" strengthens learning ability during the developmental period when the advantages will be most significant and enduring for a child. BabyPlus is the first educational tool designed for prenatal use that has been proven effective. BabyPlus children have an intellectual, developmental, creative, and emotional advantage from the time they are born. Your baby can very clearly hear these patterns. She/he learns to discriminate between the sound coming from the mother and those from BabyPlus. In other words, learning has begun."

Benefits of BabyPlus®
BabyPlus® parents report babies at birth and infancy:
More readily nurse
Display an increased ability to self-soothe
Are more interactive & responsive
Are more relaxed & alert at birth

And later in life demonstrate:
Earlier developmental milestones
Enhanced intellectual abilities
Longer attention spans
Improved school readiness
Greater creativity & independence

Juan and Mary saw a huge difference between Zoe and Dominic and obviously that could just be the difference in children but they are believers in this device.

You are supposed to wear it for two hours a day - one hour in the morning and one hour at night. I have been setting my alarm an hour before I have to be up and putting it on - I have to turn the sound machine up very loud so the sound of the monitor doesn't keep me up! Then I put it on for another hour when I get off work in the evenings.

Who knows if it really works but I figure it can't hurt!

18 Weeks

"We have two more ounces! Your "getting bigger-n-better by the minute baby" is already up to 7 ounces and 6 inches! This is a big week for their baby skin. There are now two distinct layers—the epidermis (or the surface skin) and dermis. Currently, their skin is covered with a greasy, waxy, cheese-like substance, known as vernix caseosa. Sure, it sounds pretty nasty, but this mixture of fatty secretions covering your little swimmer from head to toe is the best way to protect their oh-so-thin skin from bruising and abrasions as well as chapping caused by amniotic fluid exposure (and your little one is swimming in that stuff!). Still don’t like the fact your little darling is currently slathered in fatty cream like a greased pig? Well, you know the birthing process? Where you have to push something the size of a watermelon out a hole the size of a grape? That adorable little greased piglet would have a lot harder time getting through the birth canal without the vernix caseosa. Fun fact for momma’s with baby girls: it’s a uterus within a uterus! Your little girl will have developed a uterus and vagina canal by the end of this week."

Ok well that was a gross update......sorry people....

17 Weeks

"Don't be too shocked but... your baby is EVEN bigger than it was last week, not to mention getting cuter, and smarter every day! As you’ve come to expect, there’s no shortage of growth and development this week: your fantastic little bean stalk has added yet another half inch to their overall height-- making them nearly half a foot long! Their little limbs have reached (or are within one week of) their relative proportions, and will continue to grow evenly with the rest of the body after this week. Reactive listening has begun for your baby, even though their ears are not yet structurally complete or fully functional. Meanwhile, different parts of their astonishingly complex brain are developing to process your little one’s hearing and other senses, (you know, sight, smell, taste and touch). Mind boggling factoid of the week: if you’re having going to have a little girl, her ovaries have already produced millions of primordial egg cells, which, within a few weeks, will develop into actual eggs! Phew… just wait till she’s a teenager eh?"

Cuter and smarter every day- sounds good to me!

So am I having a girl? We will soon know! Hoping to find out tomorrow. I can't wait - I just want to see the little one and make sure everything looks healthy.

We will be taking the girls with us so they will get to enjoy the moment with us. Let the countdown begin - tomorrow around 6:00 pm I should be laying on the table getting ready for the news.