Ellie Fawn T.

In the next few weeks baby will double (his) weight and add inches to (his) length. Baby is about 5 inches long and 3.5 to 4 ounces. Toenails have even started to grow. There's a lot happening inside as well. For example, the heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as baby continues to develop. "Soooo Big!"

This is baby's first collection of stuffed animals. Alice gave us the yellow elephant. After seeing our blog, she put some thought into it and decided that if it's a girl we should name her "Ellie Fawn T." No, of course we wouldn't, but quite an original thought! The brown puppy is from Gwen (Mommy was cuddling with it this morning). Thank you both.

The chenille teal throw is my mom's from her bed as a teenager. I was looking in the closet for a blanket to throw over the rocker when I came across this. It's the perfect color to go with the baby's room and is really beautiful. We discussed the possibility of incorporating this fabric into a blanket for Baby T.; that would be quite a special piece to hand down to our child. The rocker was my Grandma Martha's. I'm not sure if it will stay in our room or the baby's, but it's sure nice to have.

MOOOO

We had our 16 week appointment today. It was pretty uneventful. We listened to fetal heart tones; baby's heart rate is about 150. I'm growing at the expected rate, and we will schedule our next appointment for four weeks from now at which time we will also schedule an ultrasound. (Yeah!!)

I continue to feel well, although I wish I was sleeping through the nights. I sleep so lightly and there's really nothing I can do about it. Plus the trips to the bathroom don't help; I thought that was supposed to stop by now... I'm getting up at least once to the bathroom and my internal alarm wakes me at 4am with a full bladder. I try to ignore it and sneak it that extra hour of sleep before I have to get up for work, but it's frustrating. Oh well, it's all for a great reason!

I'm really excited. Sandy and Vince gave us their pump- it's a HUGE cost savings, and it's a great model. The dual pump should have these puppies emptied out in about 20 minutes- perfect for when I return to work. The greatest part of the exchange was when my nephews, Shane and Branden, asked me "What's this thing for?". I answered, "it milks the cow" (thinking that would be way over their heads). And with that, Shane replied with a smirk on his face, "And you're the cow, right?!" We were cracking up.

Movement!

I'm really excited! I felt the baby move yesterday for the first time! Christian and I were waiting to be seated at our favorite breakfast place- Egg Harbor Cafe, in Geneva, when I felt two short pulses similar to what it would feel like if I got a vibrate alert from my phone for a text message. I felt them on the lower right side of my abdomen. I got really excited, but to be sure, I checked my phone to see if it was a text. No new messages, no missed calls. I didn't feel anything for the rest of the day; even though I was sure it was the baby I still had my doubts. But then I felt it again today while I was at Jewel! Yeah!! Hooray for baby T!!

I checked on baby's heartbeat this morning. The rate was 144, and very clear. I was midway through the heart rate when the baby moved and I lost it. But I moved the doppler over about an inch and a half and was able to hear it again.

It's hard to believe baby is four inches from crown to rump... Baby's scalp hair pattern has been determined by now and can turn (his) head, open its mouth, and press its lips together. This month we expect to see the most rapid growth yet! I'm not sure if we'll have another ultrasound at our visit on the 28th, but it sure would be nice!!

We went browsing in Geneva yesterday after breakfast and found some really adorable paintings for the nursery. So I believe we have determined the theme of the room, but we can 't purchase any paintings until we know if it's a boy or a girl... there weren't any gender neutral items for what we like so I'm going to call over there today to find out if the paintings I found can be ordered in say... 25 weeks or so!

Oh!... I had another baby dream last night. Despite the fact that Christian and I came to the realization this week that this very well could be a girl, it was still a boy in my dream. He had such a round little head and beautiful face!! (He was probably about 9 months old in my dream). He even looked like a Polpino!! I should mention that we are certainly not hoping for one sex over another, its just that all along we've both said we think it's a boy while most everyone else thinks it's a girl... 'Till this weekend when we talked about how our certainty of it being a boy is diminishing... We'll see, won't we!

Thank you to our friend Dawn for lending me some maternity clothes. The capris are especially helpful to get me through the next few warm months without spending too much money!

Go USA!

We just can't get enough of the Olympics! As I was cleaning yesterday, Christian presented me with my gold medal and requested I put on my swimming gear for a photo shoot. (Come on, I know you all do this stuff, I'm the only one willing to admit it!) Our gym has a lap pool in it and over the winter I decided I would start to use it... I also decided I didn't want my hair to be destroyed by the chlorine, so I bought a swimming cap. Christian can't let it go. So here is the 2008 Pregnant Women's Swimming Champion... (Baby's gonna be so proud of mommy and daddy some day).

Introducing... the full front panel!

I did it! I jumped over to the other side and purchased some maternity clothes... Christian came with and helped me pick out some cute stuff. I got a pair of jeans and a bunch of casual shirts, nothing too dressy since I really don't need dress clothes for work. The jeans are the best things since sliced bread. They have the full front panel that is so light and comfy over my belly; I can turn it down or leave it up. I LOVE them!! I wore street clothes to work today instead of scrubs. I thought I could get away with wearing my regular grey cords with one of the longer tops I purchased over the weekend... I should take a picture and post it. Ridiculous. I couldn't even zip them. So I think I'm going to pack up my skinny pants and just forget about them for at least the next 9 months instead of wasting my time trying to find a way to make them work. Anyway, I look forward to picking up a few more items to get me through the next couple of months; especially pants!

Last weekend Christian, my mom, and I went shopping for a friends baby shower gift and decided to pretend we were the three bears in the glider section of the store... We all agreed that this glider was "juusst right". The pillow on the back is soo soft and it is upholstered in chenille. It is a glider and even has a gliding ottoman. It is amazing. I told Christian we may want to have it upholstered in a color to match our family room; I'm not sure I can leave it up in the baby's room! We also found a crib set we liked, but we'll keep looking around for the perfect one.

Christian came to visit me at work today. We listened to baby's heartbeat together. Last week when I listened, I found the heartbeat all the way over toward the right side. Today when we listened it was all the way over to the left side. Sounds nice and strong! We look forward to our next appointment on the 28th so we can see how big baby is getting.

Thank you Kim and Logan for baby's first stuffed animal-so soft and cuddly!

At last... we are on to the second trimester!

Hooray!!! We have made it through the first trimester. Yesterday was a big day for us. I have been looking forward to August 2nd for a long time; I only have to take my shot once a day now. I've been giving myself shots in the bootie twice a day for about four months now. In addition, I was able to stop taking my oral prescription yesterday. Ahhhhh... now the next big day is August 16th when I have NO shots at all!! What a relief.

So the questions I'm being asked are "Do you feel any better?" and "Have you gotten some energy back?". Well, I certainly have been feeling better. The only times I get nauseated are if I wait too long to eat (which is back to a near normal schedule, not every 90 minutes!) or after I take my multivitamins. I can't change that. I take them at night, and I try to have something in my stomach before I take them, but they still get me every time. As far as more energy- yes I am less tired than a few weeks ago, but I still need a nap after work. And I've finally got it in me to study for my CNRN exam (to become certified in neuroscience nursing) so that's a great sign. I should have been studying for months now but these first few months left me feeling anything but interested in studying. My test is in October, so that will have me very busy 'till then.

Baby is about the size of a peach now. The intestines which have been growing inside the umbilical cord are now moving into their permanent position in the baby's abdomen. The muscles in the walls of the digestive tract are now functional so baby can begin "practicing" the movements required to push food from one portion of the tract to another. The baby's vocal cords are developing this week and the hard palate that divides the mouth from the nose is formed.