Your pregnancy: 22 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
21 weeks
Your pregnancy: 21 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth
How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Since You Asked...
Ok folks, here he is. This is a profile. The white spots are his spine and his nasal/sinus cavity.
Maybe this is easier. See its TOTALLY my chin. And he has his lips all puckered too. And from this angle it appears to be Matthew's neck...
Maybe this is easier. See its TOTALLY my chin. And he has his lips all puckered too. And from this angle it appears to be Matthew's neck...
Friday, December 14, 2007
20 weeks
I am sure you have all heard by now, but Baby is a boy!!!!!
Your pregnancy: 20 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces (or 13oz) now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).
Your pregnancy: 20 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces (or 13oz) now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I am so freaking tired. I just cant catch up on sleep, no mater how early I get to bed. At some point (usually around 4) I wake up for an hour because I am too worried about something, that I cant do anything about at 4 in the morning anyway, so why worry about it... But its always something and always am and always an hour. And the hockey games dont help much, cuz we dont get home till 10 pm... I am thinking about not going tonight... Blasphemy, I know ( dont tell my husband) but I just want to go home and go to bed. I could be asleep now, cuz I dont have to be at work for another hour and a half. I could get an hour in but instead I am here, typing this, and listening to Bob and Mark. Nope I am going to tale a nap. Its 8:40 in the morning and I am going to take a nap. Sweet.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
I actually have a ew moments to sit down and jot some things down... I am feeling pretty good but the aches and pains of pregnancy are starting to really set in. I am having more ligament pains and my feet hurt a lot of the time. (Work is really good about lettingme sit down when I need to.) And my fingers swell up by the end of the day, so I havent been wearing my wedding ring for fear that I wont be able to get it off. There have been a couple close calls, so I quit wearing it. I need to get a chain or something so I can wear it, I dont like not having it. We are all ready for Christmas around here, presents are being wrapped and meals planned... Too bad we have so long to wait!!! Friday is Baby Day, as we refer to it around here. And the days cant pass quickly enough... My appoinment is at 9:30 so at least I dont have to wait all day, but lets wait to see if I get any sleep the night before!!! LOL. Thats pretty much it. Tomorrow I hope to finish up my shopping and get the gifts sent off in reasonable time, otherwise you'll just have to wait, I guess. OH! Matthew had his Promotion Ceremony on Friday. It was kind of fun to go to and hear all thedifferent cheers. he Communications Flight had some REALLY funny ones. OK, have a good week and if I dont post anything before Friday, I'll do it then! HA!
Friday, December 07, 2007
19 Weeks
Your pregnancy: 19 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing 6 million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.
How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing 6 million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Christmas
I read a comment left on Amanda's blog about her real Christmas tree post. http://epigone.blogspot.com/2007/12/it-feels-lot-more-like-christmas-with.html#comments
And I feel kinda bad about the comment I left after... I know that it was a pseudo-hormone rant, and I say pseudo cuz its not as bad as what was going through my head. And I know that the reason I got so defensive is because I don't like anyone questioning or judging someone else's traditions. And that's what I felt like was happening. (its also what I am probably about to do, but I am blaming my hormones because this really upset me, and I am about to illustrate why)
(Now I don't know this girl and I am sure that's not the case, but its how I felt.) Because since I can't be home for Christmas every year, like I would want to be, those traditions are all the more precious to me. My memories of Christmas make this holiday more than just a day to me. We used to go, as a family, in the cab of Greenie to pick out the perfect tree. No matter what, we went together. Whether dad was working, or Amanda was embarrassed of her family, or I didn't want to go...We always went together and we sang carols the whole way. They would take our picture at the tree farm... and we would have cider and cookies. Then come home and decorate the tree. Playing Christmas CDs throughout the house, we would do it together. The house would be decorated and the lights put up outside...and that night I would lay on the couch, in the dark, with the tree lit up and just cherish those moments. Even as a child, I knew that this was special, and I would want to remember it forever. And I am so glad I used to do that because now I have those pictures of that tree in my head. Every year, on the Sunday before Christmas, we would have the Ervin family Christmas gift exchange where we would eat too much and gather everyone in Grandma's living room to open presents and play with new toys, and play games and take naps... Then on Christmas Eve we would go to church, then go to Grandma & Grandpa's in between services and have soup and crackers and Christmas goodies. And I would try so hard to stay awake to go to the Candlelight service, lol, when I was younger it was quite the challenge, but I loved the candle light service. "Is your Heart Prepared for a King?..." My favorite Advent Choir song. And when we got home from church, we would go to bed, and I would lie there, looking at the lights reflecting off the snow, and listening so hard for the sleigh bells to ring. And sometimes I was convinced I could hear them. That's the magic right? And Christmas morning, we would wait till everyone was up and dad had set up the video camera, and we would go downstairs to do stockings. We would sit around the sunroom and do stockings while mom drank coffee, and everyone made stupid jokes about the underwear the was inevitably in everyone's stocking. Then we would wait while dad (or Lew) set up the camera in the living room... And we would open presents. I love watching people open the presents from me, because when I pick out a present I put a lot of thought behind them. And I love to see their reactions to the gifts that I spent forever thinking of and finding. I would rather watch people open their presents from me, then receive anything myself. And we would stop in the middle somewhere for hot chocolate and tea ring. then commence with the presents. And then we would have Christmas dinner of crab legs and twice baked potatoes. And then we would get ready and go to Grandma Whitmer's house and visit with family there for the afternoon. Usually getting to bring one of our new toys to play with.
And I just want to ask, isn't it better that this real tree is decorated with love and family togetherness. Instead of sitting in a box, molding and forgotten? This real tree is decorated with love and ornaments that reflect a time, a year, in the life of the child who hung it on that branch, and every time it is hung on a tree, it brings back that time and that tradition. That soon to be discarded tree is never really 'DISCARDED" because it lives on, to this day, in the memory of the adult who was once that child with the magic of Christmas reflecting in her eyes. That's not sad...that's Christmas.
I love Christmas. And all of those memories don't lessen my Christmas's here, they just make me appreciate the traditions and magic of the season all the more. And I know that Matthew knows how much I value being with my family this time of the year, when we are not able to do that, I worry that he feels inadequate, like he cant make our Christmas live up to my memories. And I know that he cant, but I don't want him to try either. I want to make our OWN traditions and memories together. And when our baby gets here, I want us to make our own traditions so that someday, our kids can value those traditions like I do mine.
And I feel kinda bad about the comment I left after... I know that it was a pseudo-hormone rant, and I say pseudo cuz its not as bad as what was going through my head. And I know that the reason I got so defensive is because I don't like anyone questioning or judging someone else's traditions. And that's what I felt like was happening. (its also what I am probably about to do, but I am blaming my hormones because this really upset me, and I am about to illustrate why)
(Now I don't know this girl and I am sure that's not the case, but its how I felt.) Because since I can't be home for Christmas every year, like I would want to be, those traditions are all the more precious to me. My memories of Christmas make this holiday more than just a day to me. We used to go, as a family, in the cab of Greenie to pick out the perfect tree. No matter what, we went together. Whether dad was working, or Amanda was embarrassed of her family, or I didn't want to go...We always went together and we sang carols the whole way. They would take our picture at the tree farm... and we would have cider and cookies. Then come home and decorate the tree. Playing Christmas CDs throughout the house, we would do it together. The house would be decorated and the lights put up outside...and that night I would lay on the couch, in the dark, with the tree lit up and just cherish those moments. Even as a child, I knew that this was special, and I would want to remember it forever. And I am so glad I used to do that because now I have those pictures of that tree in my head. Every year, on the Sunday before Christmas, we would have the Ervin family Christmas gift exchange where we would eat too much and gather everyone in Grandma's living room to open presents and play with new toys, and play games and take naps... Then on Christmas Eve we would go to church, then go to Grandma & Grandpa's in between services and have soup and crackers and Christmas goodies. And I would try so hard to stay awake to go to the Candlelight service, lol, when I was younger it was quite the challenge, but I loved the candle light service. "Is your Heart Prepared for a King?..." My favorite Advent Choir song. And when we got home from church, we would go to bed, and I would lie there, looking at the lights reflecting off the snow, and listening so hard for the sleigh bells to ring. And sometimes I was convinced I could hear them. That's the magic right? And Christmas morning, we would wait till everyone was up and dad had set up the video camera, and we would go downstairs to do stockings. We would sit around the sunroom and do stockings while mom drank coffee, and everyone made stupid jokes about the underwear the was inevitably in everyone's stocking. Then we would wait while dad (or Lew) set up the camera in the living room... And we would open presents. I love watching people open the presents from me, because when I pick out a present I put a lot of thought behind them. And I love to see their reactions to the gifts that I spent forever thinking of and finding. I would rather watch people open their presents from me, then receive anything myself. And we would stop in the middle somewhere for hot chocolate and tea ring. then commence with the presents. And then we would have Christmas dinner of crab legs and twice baked potatoes. And then we would get ready and go to Grandma Whitmer's house and visit with family there for the afternoon. Usually getting to bring one of our new toys to play with.
And I just want to ask, isn't it better that this real tree is decorated with love and family togetherness. Instead of sitting in a box, molding and forgotten? This real tree is decorated with love and ornaments that reflect a time, a year, in the life of the child who hung it on that branch, and every time it is hung on a tree, it brings back that time and that tradition. That soon to be discarded tree is never really 'DISCARDED" because it lives on, to this day, in the memory of the adult who was once that child with the magic of Christmas reflecting in her eyes. That's not sad...that's Christmas.
I love Christmas. And all of those memories don't lessen my Christmas's here, they just make me appreciate the traditions and magic of the season all the more. And I know that Matthew knows how much I value being with my family this time of the year, when we are not able to do that, I worry that he feels inadequate, like he cant make our Christmas live up to my memories. And I know that he cant, but I don't want him to try either. I want to make our OWN traditions and memories together. And when our baby gets here, I want us to make our own traditions so that someday, our kids can value those traditions like I do mine.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Christmas Blues
I guess its the season, or my hormones. But I have been pretty bummd lately. It is so dumb sometimes, like I was sittingin the living room, by myself, and I started crying cuz I was all by myself. And (putting Matthew aside for a moment, cuz knowing I always have him, is too logical of thinking for hormone induced fits) But I just feel all by myself... Jen is going to be leaving for Florida soon. Now that Charles is back from Iraq, they wont be here too much longer... I guess I am just bummed out. Tis the season.
I am still waiting to feel the baby move again. Sometimes I think I have and I am never sure. I wont worry too much, Cricket had a very strong heartbeat, and I have 11 days till our ultrasound. No word on the blood tests, so I am taking that as a good thing. (Remember it was the Quad Marker [for Downs or neural tube defects] and the CF screen) I am just ready to have my baby. I want my baby. I am ready to have the labor over and just have my baby. Anyhoo....
I also so want to be able to share this with my mom. Having my baby... I just value our relationship so much more now that I am going to be a mommy too. My mom is one of my best friends inthis whole world and it kills me that sh isnt a bigger part of this. But at the same time I am SO excited to make her and dad grandparents. It makes me so happy to do that, and to give them that gift. And that happiness helps fade the saddness. And when I have my baby in my arms, I know that all of that will disappear. Sometimes I feel guilty that I didnt keep my promise to wait till we were closer to home to have a baby, but the time was right for us and I couldnt change that. I could have put it off, but I wouldnt have been happy about it. This makes me happier than I have ever been in my whole life.
I am still waiting to feel the baby move again. Sometimes I think I have and I am never sure. I wont worry too much, Cricket had a very strong heartbeat, and I have 11 days till our ultrasound. No word on the blood tests, so I am taking that as a good thing. (Remember it was the Quad Marker [for Downs or neural tube defects] and the CF screen) I am just ready to have my baby. I want my baby. I am ready to have the labor over and just have my baby. Anyhoo....
I also so want to be able to share this with my mom. Having my baby... I just value our relationship so much more now that I am going to be a mommy too. My mom is one of my best friends inthis whole world and it kills me that sh isnt a bigger part of this. But at the same time I am SO excited to make her and dad grandparents. It makes me so happy to do that, and to give them that gift. And that happiness helps fade the saddness. And when I have my baby in my arms, I know that all of that will disappear. Sometimes I feel guilty that I didnt keep my promise to wait till we were closer to home to have a baby, but the time was right for us and I couldnt change that. I could have put it off, but I wouldnt have been happy about it. This makes me happier than I have ever been in my whole life.
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