7 Months and LOTS o' pics

We have had a very busy couple of days, so I am posting my "updates" a day late. For the few who read this--I apologize! But there is lots in store for you, so keep reading!

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

On to the news...yesterday was my 7 month checkup. All is well except for the fact that I did not pass my glucose test at my last appointment. They called and left a message on March 2 which I did not get because my machine ate the message (I have since gotten a new machine). Sooo that means I need to do the 3 hour test as soon as I can. Ugh.

The good news is according to my scale, I am only up 14lbs! Let's hope I do NOT have GD.

Now if you look to the right, you will see I have posted a new monthly belly picture!! And you will also notice how much bigger I have gotten. I am starting to fill out my maternity shirts! I can only imagine how big the next picture will be :)

Don't worry--there is more pictures! I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (my fave store ever) and picked this up for the nursery. It will go on a shelf on the wall next to a little zebra carving.

Next is this. You recall the theme is jungle/safari? Well I found this purely by accident, and it was so perfect I had to get it--and I got it 40% off!! It is a little coat rack thing for the wall.

If any of you are wondering if I have gotten anything set up in the nursery yet, no I haven't and not because I don't want to--it's because the nursery is actually going to be at the house that we are moving into after we sell ours, and it still needs a lot of cleaning out before it's even ready to paint. So that is what we have been in the process of doing...moving furniture and crap. I should be able to paint the walls within the next couple of weeks, then hopefully start putting the crib and wall deco in there at least.

Last but not least!!! Today was my 3d ultrasound and (besides Nick) my friend Sara and my mom came to witness it. Unfortunately, the entire time we were there, Bradley would NOT cooperate at all!! Somehow, he was perfectly content to have his legs AND arms extended in front of his little face. I tried walking around, sitting up, jumping...nothing changed it. He is very stubborn!

We did get a few pictures of his nose when he parted his arms, but that was it!

^2d pic of face profile

^3d pic of partial face...nose and mouth in middle, elbow on right side


^This is pretty much what we saw the whole time...no idea what is what!

Thankfully, they were very nice at the boutique and set up a repeat appointment for next Tuesday. Let's hope he is unfolded by then!!!

Cauliflower and Crafts!

27 weeks is here, and I am considering myself in the third trimester! This has been a big week for baby stuff, but first of all here are the updates:

This week, your baby weights almost 2 pounds (about the same as a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

First and foremost--I finally got my crib bedding! I posted a pic of it previously, and it is the most adorable stuff you have ever seen. I will probably hang the blanket on the wall at least until winter because he won't really need it during the summer, and it has a pocket for a rod already made into it. The colors are just amazing, and it inspired me for my next craft...

I got all the letters from Hobby Lobby, and was originally going to paint them all the same color. But I thought that would be a little bit too boring so I decided to do each one with an animal print! We have giraffe, zebra, cheetah, and tiger prints all handpainted by yours truly! I think they turned out really great. Here is an up close for some detail:

These will go on the wall above the crib. The walls will be a sort of light sage green, and the furniture is going to be white. I also have a wood plaque I painted and am going to decoupage a quote onto.

To end the blog...this is a picture of Nick when he was 10 years old. Isn't he just the cutest little boy? I wonder if Bradley is going to look like this when he is 10!

My Not-So-Little Cucumber

26 weeks is here, and Bradley is growing up quick! Here are the updates:The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

My most recent weigh-in shows that I am up about 11lbs now (and counting). We are very much looking forward to the 3d ultrasound in 2 weeks. In a few days I should be able to pick up the crib bedding I ordered, and I plan to order the crib within the next few weeks. I am going to make a trip to Hobby Lobby today to pick up some crafting ideas I had for nursery decorations!

Ruta-baby and Updates

25 weeks is here, and we are counting down!! Next week we will have less than 100 days until we meet little Bradley. Here are the updates for this week:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

I am still only 9lbs up--don't think I'm not eating though! I guess I might be burning a lot of calories at work or something. I'm sure I'll catch up! He has been moving a lot more, and it is so odd to look down and see my stomach waving around. The girls at work get a kick out of feeling him moving too.

As for his nursery, I finally bought the crib bedding! I will be able to pick it up in about a week. At Target recently, I saw these adorable little pillows, and I had to buy at least one for Bradley's room:

In other news, we got our house listed for sale on Friday. We hope and pray that it sells quickly--we had a bad experience selling our last house. It was on the market for 7 months!! Of course our current house has a LOT more going for it than that one, but we still worry. So if you know anyone looking for a nice house in Norman, OK, let me know!!

I haven't heard anything from my doctor about my glucose test, so I'm assuming I passed it. And we decided we are going to do the 3d ultrasound--probably around the end of this month. I haven't seen Bradley in over 6 weeks now and I'm getting withdrawals!

Wow! 24 Weeks

I am here to the pivotal milestone of 24 weeks, and very excited! If you look to the right, I posted another belly picture. I swear it feels twice as big as the picture looks--maybe that's just cause I'm looking down at it! Here are the updates:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

I had my 6 month prenatal checkup yesterday as well as my glucose screening test. The hubby was able to go with me this time because he is out of school for a few weeks. Hopefully the test results are good! My mom had GD with me. The checkup went good, HR in the 140s as usual. Fundus was measuring at 22 weeks, but she said that is fine. Next appt. is in 4 weeks, then we go to every 2 weeks!! We are getting close :)

In other news, we got Nick enrolled in a second class for the late 8 week term, and corrected his major to the right one. Today we were going to go down to Elmore City to see his family but evidently overnight his sister has contracted some type of GI disturbance and is on quarantine. So instead we are going to go talk to the realtor about listing our house!!

I do have one complaint to vent about...the neighbor behind us is a middle aged woman who lives with her son. They moved in less than a year ago, and haven't been very neighborly to say the least. Blaring music outside, dog barking at all hours...well for the last couple of months her large dog has somehow gotten into our backyard and destroyed some of our lawn furniture. We have tried to contact her several times about it but she won't even answer her door!! So after I went in our backyard and saw the damage it had done, I left a note on her door last Friday telling her she needed to do what was necessary to keep her dog in her own backyard and fix the fence. Her dog has dug several holes under the fence, and has caused the fence to bow in and it has since broken and is laying on it's side!!! Has she done anything about it??? NO. GRRRRRR. I just want to go pummel her. Why are people like that?

On a different note...here's a sunset picture I snapped yesterday while driving to the city.