21 Weeks

I am 21 weeks and going strong!!! We are getting ready for an exciting Thanksgiving. Tomorrow will be Garrett's first Thanksgiving. Even though he won't remember anything, it will be exciting for Joel and I. We will eat lunch with my folks and then we will eat dinner with Joel's family. I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with family and fun.

21 Weeks

~White blood cells are under production. Leukocytes (or white blood cells) form our body's defense sytems. They help fight infections and diseases.
~Your little one's skin has changed from translucent to become more opaque. ~Your infant's tongue is fully formed. If you were able to peek you might catch your son or daughter practicing giving you a raspberry!
~If your baby is a girl, her womb and vagina are formed. Unlike males, females have a limited supply of eggs in their lifetime. At this point your daughter will have 6 million eggs. This amount decreases to approximately one million by birth.
~Baby swallows more this week. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. This is good practice for his digestive system!
~Wake and sleep periods become more consistent. Some research suggests that baby sets her internal clock to match the outside world's even before birth! Your eating and sleeping habits as well levels of light and noise serve as her signals.
~Length is now measured crown to heel.
~Baby measures about 10.51 inches (26.7cm) and weighs nearly 12.7 ounces (360g).

More Facts

~Your beautiful little miracle-gro baby will be putting on a full ounce and a half this week (and weighing up to 16.5 ounces), but that’s just the beginning!

~The beginnings of what is commonly called “brown fat” is just starting to fill in to help your baby retain some body heat, which is crucial as they’re not yet capable of regulating their own body temperature.

How's Mom Doing

~Funnily enough, you may already be noticing some mild uterine contractions—don’t panic, this is completely normal. Actually, your uterus contracts throughout your whole life—only now that there's enough pressure on the uterine muscles you can feel them more distinctly when they contract.

Love To All!!

Megan White

A guy that Joel went to high school with and played football with is going through quite a time right now. His daughter was diagnosed with Cancer and has been undergoing treatment. Please check out her website www.helpmeganwhite.com and view the link below of her at St. Jude when the Today Show was there doing a story.


Giving back at St. Jude’s Children's Hospital

Half Way There

It is amazing to think that I am half way there!!!!! In 20 more weeks we will see our beautiful baby girls face!!!!! I have been feeling fine---thank goodness. I have heard that the 2nd trimester is the easiest part of the entire pregnancy...luckily I haven't had a rough part yet!!! One fun thing.....I have been feeling a number of flutters in my tummy!!!! I tell Joel nightly that his little girl is dancing in my tummy!!!! She really likes to move around when I am sitting at my desk at work and when I lay down at night to watch TV and drift off to sleep!!!

I think I am going to start putting my Christmas decorations out this weekend. I know that Joel has a job this weekend...I don't know if he knows it yet or not though...he is going to be putting the Christmas lights on the house!!!! I absolutely love the Christmas season...the sounds, the smells, the sights...

20 Weeks

~You're half way there!
~The rapid growth stage is about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival.
~The baby's heart grows stronger. Find a quiet place, lay flat on your back. Locate your own heartbeat by finding your pulse. Next lay your hand on your belly. You may be able to distinguish the two heartbeats!
~Her legs are reaching their relative size. With the increase muscle develop occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon!
~Immunities are being transferred from you to your baby now. These immune cells will protect her from viruses you've already had for up to six months after birth!
~The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections.
~Your baby may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, she can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds that baby becomes accustomed to during her development stages often are calming after birth.
~If your baby is a girl, her uterus is starting to develop. She has approximately six million eggs in her ovaries. About one million will remain at birth.
~Baby is about 6.46 inches (16.4cm) and weighs around 10.58 ounces (300g).

More Facts

~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.

~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!

How's mom doing??

~Not that we need to tell you, but your baby may sometimes seem like a kick-boxer in training with no appreciation for your exhausted-pregnant-momma sleep needs.

~Your little independent thinker will continue to operate on their own time table throughout the rest of the pregnancy. And you thought rebellious behavior only started around puberty!

That's all for now. I go to the doctor tomorrow, so I will try and post a report then!!

Love To All!!!!

19 Weeks

It is amazing to think that I am almost 5 months along!!!! I have been gathering some interesting facts from a number of sources. Some of them are quite funny. Enjoy!!!!

19 Weeks

This is something I have been suffering from lately----I call it my "Brain Damage"~What was I doing? Forgetfulness is a common occurrence in pregnancy. Try making lists to remind yourself of your tasks. This is normal and that the tension it causes usually just makes it worse. Take that deep breath and chalk it up to baby-making.

~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. This is us!!!!!
~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).

More Info

~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. (What finally comes out— commonly known as “meconium” to the science world, will be black and sticky, and you’ll be very glad it happens only once!)

~And how's mom doing? Unlike generations of women before you who were taught pregnancy was practically an ailment (10% of women DID die in childbirth back then), we now have scientific evidence that exercise is a good thing when you’re pregnant. In fact, most physicians recommend continuing or starting a pregnancy-friendly proper exercise can do a lot towards increasing your overall flexibility (at a time where your body wants to stiffen up) thereby somewhat reducing the pain and tension during labor exercise regimen.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and your thoughts and prayers during our rough weekend, our wonderful adoption experience, and my pregnancy!!!!!

Love To All!!!!

Pictures

Hanging out with Mom waiting to get ready for church.

My First Halloween

Do I really look like a monster??


I am more like a pumpkin!!!

This is while we were waiting outside the courtroom.

Boy or Girl

Do we start buying pink or blue??? Is the peanut a boy or a girl???We had quite a trip to Colorado. We drove to Kansas City on Thursday. We almost made it to the hotel we were staying at, but then the unthinkable happened!!! We were sitting still on 71 and out of nowhere, BAM. An old man apparently did not feel the need to stop when the rest of the traffic stopped. He actually rear ended a car and then bounced off of her and into us. Luckily we were all safe. Our car is still in Harrisonville and we are now dealing with insurance companies!!!!

Garrett was wonderful on the plane to Denver. He slept the majority of the time. We felt very blessed to have him be so good. We made it to our court appearance and it lasted a total of about 10 minutes!!! The plane ride home was nothing at all like the plane ride going!!! Garrett screamed the majority of the time!!! Poor little guy...actually Joel and I were feeling pretty sorry for ourselves!!!! We did make it home and we are thrilled to not have to go back to Colorado again!!!

I will post Halloween pictures, Garrett pictures, and crash pictures later!!!!

Oh....I guess you are still waiting for the news..........................................
You should definitely start thinking...................................



Pink---Garrett is going to have a baby sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!