22 weeks 4 days

Krewson has started getting hiccups almost daily, and I love it. There's this rhythmic "bump bump bump" that I can even feel from the outside by pressing my hand on my belly. It's so awesome. I just read about them in a pregnancy email I get, which helped confirm that that's what I'm feeling. :)

"Have you felt a light, repetitive thump thump thump in your belly yet? Soon you may feel the odd sensation of your baby having hiccups. When babies swallow a little amniotic fluid, they sometimes get hiccups as a reflex. Some babies hiccup a lot during the second and third trimesters, often daily, while others do so only once in a while. Both are normal, and a charming reminder that yes, there really is a baby in there."

It was funny the other day...I think he had hiccups, and so I was pressing my hand on the left side of my belly to feel all the bumps.  Then suddenly I felt a kick on the complete other side of my belly.  It caught me off guard...it's amazing how big he is getting!

The other thing I really enjoyed reading this week was the following:

"Unborn babies at this stage typically like to lie in a transverse position (or crossways inside your belly), with their feet and bottom on one side, and their head on the other side. Your baby's placenta is now processing about 1 litre of blood per hour (or 50 pints every 24 hours) and by 40 weeks this increases to about 12 litres per hour (600 pints in 24 hours)."

I love having a general idea of how he's laying in my belly.  The transverse position explains why I felt hiccups on one side of my belly and the kick on the other. :)

Pregnancy symptoms are really going pretty well.  I get swelling in my feet and ankles at night, which stinks, but hasn't really caused any pain yet.  I do have to be careful to not wear tight shoes or socks.  I also get horrible heel pain...my heels throb at night.  I have to wear slippers or crocs around the house any time I'm on my feet.

I guess the other news is that my belly has expanded to the point where I'm nervous about wearing my pre-pregnancy shirts.  I'm scared that I'm going to stretch them and then not like the way they fit after the baby is born.  So, I'm doing my best to switch to wearing all maternity clothes (unless I have pre-pregnancy clothes that don't get too stretched when I wear them).

Oh, also, my friends Jaclyn, Ashley, and Michelle visited this past weekend, and they brought a baby gift for me and Dave...a movement and sound baby monitor!!  I was so excited to open the gift...the movement monitor is something I wanted but didn't want to have to purchase on my own.  In case you're not familiar with them, the movement monitors sense baby movement, including breathing.  If all movement stops for 20 seconds or more, an alarm sounds.  So, essentially, it alarms you if your baby stops breathing.  This helps limit the number of times you run into the nursery and quietly stare at your baby until you see his chest rising and falling (which I can envision myself doing quite a bit).  This particular model also has a sound monitor, which works like any other baby sound monitor.  I'm pretty psyched about the gift. :)

Also, while us girls were shopping (which we did a LOT of!), Jaclyn and I fell in love with this one particular baby boy long-sleeved onesie. After arguing with myself for quite some time, I decided that I shouldn't spend any more money on baby clothes right now.  Well, Jaclyn couldn't handle walking away from the onesie, so she went back and grabbed it and bought it for Krew.  It was sweet. :)  I'll have to show a pic of it in another post, since I haven't had a chance to take a picture of it.

Alright, well, Dave and I are flying down to Florida tonight for his ultimate frisbee nationals, so I probably won't be doing any more posts until next week.

God bless!

21 weeks 4 days

Last night Debbie gave us an adorable stuffed animal alligator for Krewson that she picked up at Ikea.  It totally fits our personalities...Dave and I think it's great.  And it makes us giggle, hehe. 


Dave said we had to put the alligator on a pillow "like he is hunting" (???). Haha, um....ok, hunny. :) So here is the "hunting" alligator. :)



Isn't it so cute?? And the colors will go well with what we're doing in the nursery. :)

Thanks for the gift Debbie!

21 weeks 3 days

Krewson now weighs about a pound!! He has hair and eyelashes and can hear our voices. And if I poke my stomach to wake him up, he'll often respond with a kick. It's fun being able to somewhat interact. :) He also loves to bounce around while I'm eating, which is entertaining.

Last Tuesday night I felt my first kick above my belly button, and it really threw me off. I had NO idea he was taking up that much of my abdomen already!! But sure enough, I pulled out a ruler and measured the length that the doctor said my uterus was measuring right now, and it went to about an inch and a half above my belly button. Crazy!

Here's a little tidbit I read about the umbilical chord a bit ago and found interesting: "The umbilical cord is so well engineered that the blood stream travels at four miles an hour and completes the round-trip through the cord and through the baby in only thirty seconds."  Pretty impressive, huh?   I love learning things that they don't tell you in all the normal pregnancy books. :)

Other than that, I guess the big news lately is that Dave and I purchased the mother of all strollers...a Bugaboo.  Dave found it in the Charlotte Craigslist listings.  I was pretty against buying it at first, but he talked the seller down on the price quite a bit to the point where it was hard to turn down.  Plus they had purchased a bunch of extra amenities that were included with the price.  Dave was itching for a nice stroller anyway, so I gave in.  We'll see what I think.  The stroller is apparently supposed to do just about everything.  You can read about it here: http://www.babygizmo.com/news/bugaboo.php.

To finish out my update, here are a couple pictures (and slightly different angles) of my current baby belly.  Enjoy. :)

20 weeks 3 days

I finally took the time to take pictures of all the clothes I got in my $30 tub off of Craigslist.


This is all the clothes I got in the tub.  You can see them in batches below. (Click on the pictures to see a more close-up image.) :)












Isn't that a crazy amount of clothes?

We also received some cute baby items from some friends of ours, including clothes, toys, and baby towels, which was greatly appreciated.  You can see them below. 


On another note, I wanted to share the state of my disappearing belly button.  As you can see below, it's getting pretty flat!!



My view. :)

And finally, a tidbit I read today that I found interesting:

"Now that his digestive system is fairly sophisticated, your little one can swallow amniotic fluid, which makes for a surprisingly nutritious drink that helps fatten him up. The steady fat gain will help keep him warm, while the act of swallowing preps his digestive system for the hard work it will do once he's born. He can taste what he ingests, thanks to taste buds that have developed on his tongue."

So cool. :)

19 weeks 6 days

Last night I purchased a 20-gallon tub of baby boy clothes off of Craigslist for $30, and holy jackpot.  Krewson is set.  Talk about bagillions of little onesies and outfits and sleepers.  Ages 0 through 6 months, and most of them in great condition, too.  (There were a few I put in my Goodwill pile due to stains.)  There were even some cute overalls and pants in there.  And a couple caps and bibs.  It took me three whole loads of laundry to get through them all. Crazy!!

I also purchased a Bumbo off of Craigslist last night.  For any of you who are now wondering what a Bumbo is, let me enlighten you:

This, my friends, is a Bumbo.  You stick your baby in it so he can sit on his own once he can hold his head up.  Parents rave about them...I guess babies really like them because they can sit propped up and see all around. Hopefully Krewson will share in the enthusiasm. :)

19 weeks 5 days

I made my first clothing purchase for Krewson last night.  Ever since we found out he's a boy, I've found myself wandering into the little boys' section in every store and digging through the clearance clothes.  We've got to start somewhere!

Last night I saw this adorable little newborn onesie with a hippopotamus on it for $2.  Then I found matching little brown sweats for $2 also.  I couldn't resist...had to make the purchase. :)


You can't tell from the picture, but the outfit is so itty-bitty!!


I like the hippo. :)

19 weeks 4 days

Dave got to feel Besido Krewson move two days ago!!! I was so excited. :)  It's nice to get to share the feelings with my hubby!! We were watching a movie together when I felt the baby start to wiggle, so I told Dave where to put his hand.  Krew gave him a couple good kicks.  It was great!

On a separate note, today we purchased our car seat for Krewson from Albee Baby.  After a lot of researching and reading, we decided we preferred the Graco SnugRide in Milan.  I found it on sale on Albee Baby, and after much discussion, we decided it'd be best to just go ahead and purchase it.  I can't wait for it to come in the mail! (Although I'm not quite sure what I'll do once it arrives...stare at it?)

Here's a picture if you're interested:

19 weeks 2 days

I felt the baby move from the outside for the first time yesterday!  I was sitting down in the morning when I felt him start to wiggle, so I stuck my hand on my belly.  Within a few seconds, I felt a couple bumps on the palm of my hand.  It was so exciting!!!  I can't wait until Dave gets to feel him.  It's so surreal.

He's been quite the squirmy baby lately.  I feel him quite often now.  In fact, on Saturday as I was driving to Charlotte, he was twisting his body in some crazy way that kept putting a really weird pressure on my bladder.  I didn't even need to use the restroom, but I was sooo uncomfortable!  I have no doubt it's only going to get worse.  But at least it's so exciting and comforting to feel him. :)


Here are a few tidbits I picked up from various websites:

**This week, eyebrows and head hair are growing.

**The baby now sleeps and wakes at about the same ratio as a newborn, which is approximately 6 hours awake and 18 or so hours asleep per day. When the baby sleeps, it characteristically settles into its favorite position or 'lie.' Some babies always sleep with their chins resting on the chest, while others tilt their heads back.

**From week 14 to week 22, the placenta weighs as much as, if not more than, the baby because it must deal with the metabolic processes of nutrition. The fetal organs are not yet sufficiently mature to process food.

**Generally, the baby will be born about 147 days (plus or minus 15 days) from the time the mother first feels the baby move. (This puts the baby's birth at February 10th, plus or minus 15 days.   So from January 31st to March 2nd.  I sure hope he doesn't come on January 31st!! That's too early!!  He needs some fat on those bones!!)


And, finally, I wanted to share the most recent additions to our ever-growing collection of baby supplies:


We purchased this changing table off of Craigslist for $40, and it came with the pad and three Pottery Barn pad covers (pink, green, and blue).  We're going to paint it to match the crib. (You can see the crib here.) I think (hope) the curved design of the sides will help it blend with the crib. :)


This is a bouncy seat my mom and dad are letting us borrow. I think it's pretty cute. :) It also lights up, vibrates, responds to the baby's movements, and plays non-annoying sounds (score!). Pretty cool. :)


And finally, here is a swing to match the bouncy seat, also being lent by my parents. Once again, a very-much-appreciated item!! I've heard swings can be great lifesavers.

Our collection is coming along!!  Dave and I are going window-shopping tonight to figure out what type of stroller/carseat combo we want.  (Travel system or separate items?  What brand?  How much do we want to spend?  What are important features??)  I'm kind of excited to go. :)

18 weeks 6 days

Man I'm excited for this little stinker to be born now.  Like I'm really psyched about it.  I just can't wait. :)

But since I have to wait, I thought I'd share a few pregnancy tidbits from www.welcomebabyhome.com:

**Your total weight gain at this point is between 8 and 14 pounds. Of this weight, only about 7 oz is your baby. The placenta weighs about 6 oz, the amniotic sac weighs another 11 oz. The uterus weighs 11 oz; your breasts have increased in weight by about 6½ oz each. The rest of the weight you have gained is your increased blood volume and other maternal stores. Your heart is working twice as hard as it did during your pre-pregnancy days due to your vital organs increased needs for blood. Your uterus and skin need twice as much blood as they did before you became pregnant and your kidneys need 25 percent more.**  (My weight gain is probably around 8-10 lbs at this point, depending on what time of day you measure it.)

**Your waste system is working doubly hard and that includes your sweat glands. Progesterone will increase your sensitivity to CO2. Your body responds by working harder to expel CO2 from your system and so your rate of respiration increases.** (And yes I do sweat a lot now!!)

**Your body is retaining more fluid and that means more weight to lug around. The volume of your blood increases by around 40%. The increase in blood volume can be more from blood plasma than from red blood cells. Feelings of tiredness can be attributed to pregnancy anemia known as physiological anemia. You will need more red blood cells to maintain your hemoglobin levels and for that you require sufficient iron.**  (Ooooh.  Interesting.)

**Lower blood pressure is very common during pregnancy. This is the result of your heart having to pump larger volumes of blood each minute to keep up the extra demand on your body. Dilatation of blood vessels causes the lower BP.**  (Yup, I got the low blood pressure.  105/53 when I was sick, about 2 hours after nearly passing out.  I wonder what it was when I almost passed out!)

18 weeks 5 days

Well, now that we know Besido is a boy, I guess we can start calling him by his real name...Krewson. :)  Dave had picked this name out for his son long ago, probably before we were married.  It's his mom's maiden name.  I was happy to comply, as I think it's a pretty cool name.  We're going to use Krew for short. The middle name is still to be decided on.  We're having a hard time finding something that flows the way we want.  I'll let you know when a decision is made. :)

Yesterday at the doc's office, I weighed myself while we were waiting to be called back for the ultrasound.  I've been ravenous lately, so I was a little nervous about what I might see on the scale.  To my shock, I hadn't gained any weight since my last appt.  Nothing in two weeks.  I'm like, "Holy cow, where has everything I've been eating been going???"  The only thing I can come up with is that our little boy requires an insane amount of food.  Just today, I had a giant glass of milk and a piece of high fiber toast in the morning.  By 10 am my stomach was growling horribly (and I was actually hungry far before that).  So I ate another piece of high-fiber toast with peanut butter.  Still hungry.  So I ate another piece of high-fiber toast with peanut butter.  Still hungry.  I'm like, this is ridiculous.  I'd been drinking tons of fluids all along, too.  I didn't let myself eat anything else until 11am, at which point I gave in and pulled out some soup and chips and salsa.   I'm eating these items slowly, hoping they'll last me a little longer than the bread.  I'm about halfway through the bowl of soup and I think my stomach is finally starting to feel full (which will last for about, oh, 5 minutes).  At least I'll feel satiated for a short while.

On another note, this pregnancy also appears to be killing my teeth.  I'd heard that women tend to start getting more cavities when they're pregnant, but I never worried about it happening to me.  Until I went to the dentist on Tuesday because of tooth pains.  Lo and behold, I have two, possibly three, teeth that need fillings.  I'm not exactly thrilled about this.  I barely ever get cavities.  I had one when I was really little, like third grade, and then I had a bunch at once when I was older because my sealants on my molars leaked (which means the cavities were unavoidable and had nothing to do with my personal hygiene or brushing habits).  So I wasn't sure whether to be disappointed in myself or not when I found out on Tuesday that they need to drill into my head in several places.  I think I'm going to vote no, that I shouldn't blame myself.  If anything, I've been healthier lately in regards to my teeth.  Less sugar, less coffee, stringent brushing.  So I think I'll blame the pregnancy.  Yay for raging hormones and a baby sucking all the calcium out of your body.  Pregnancy is AWESOME!!!

But really, now that I've seen Krew and we know his gender, I feel like I can identify with him more.  He's more real now.  And now I just want him to come out and be born.  I want to see him again and hold him.  I feel like 5 months is forever to wait.  I'm sure it will fly by, because there is tons to do before then, but man I wish it was closer.  If anything, I wish I could go have an ultrasound every week so I could look at him and watch him grow.  It's like you get this little peak at what's coming, then you just have to wait.  And wait.  You have a baby, but he's unreachable, because he's stuck inside of you.  How bizarre is that.

At least I have his kicks to give me a little pick-me-up.  They're getting stronger and more frequent now.  Definitely not all the time, but I usually feel him at least once or twice a day.  Sometimes there will be a whole series of kicks and I get really excited.  He's actually quite the active kid.  He was moving all around during the ultrasound, making it hard for the technician to get good pictures.  So once he's stronger, I'll probably be feeling a lot of movement.  Which will probably be fine with me. :)