Update!!

Hey, everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this lately. No excuses. Just an apology.

Things have been going well. Unfortunately, our doctor's appointment was canceled this past week. We've been rescheduled for early next week, though. One of the things that had been so much fun about going to the doctor has been getting the opportunity to hear the Bun's heartbeat and know that he/she is still in there and doing well. Early last week, though, the Bun was moving around like a crazy person. We are well aware now of his/her presence and well being. S/he has had some very active days. S/he has calmed down a little bit, though, since early last week; still moving every day but not as much.

Nicole is now housing a wonder-baby who weighs nearly a pound and measures nearly a foot in length. The Bun's perfect little pancreas is now further developed and they’ve also started producing their own hormones! Our baby's future in the circus as a world-famous tight-rope-walker is secure: his/her inner ear is now developed to the point that s/he has his/her own sense of balance. Luckily for our little explorer, balance also promotes physical dexterity, which has him/her actively feeling out their surroundings where skin, body parts, and the resident umbilical cord are the big sensory experiences. Our foot-long baby is looking a bit like an oversized raisin right now as more and more wrinkles are showing up each week. Not to worry, all that excessive wrinkling is just their skin’s way of planning ahead for the time when they’ll start piling on that irresistible baby chub.

We're Halfway There!

YAAAHOOOOOOO!! We are over halfway to the Bun's arrival! It seems like each day we both get more and more excited about that fact.

I know that this post is late, but the picture of Nicole was taken on Sunday. So at least we're staying consistent with the pictures.

We have heard from people recently that the Bun will most likely start to move around at night. Apparently s/he gets so used to the noise during the day that s/he becomes restless at night when it's quiet. Nicole has definitely felt that this is the case. She seems, at least right now, to only be feeling movements at night or when she wakes up in the morning.

We've spent some time this week reading to the Bun, too. Talking to the Bun and reading to him/her is a lot of fun. I don't know why I've enjoyed it so much.

Nicole's cravings have changed recently. She is now craving a bagel a day and Sour Patch Kids. She also got a new maternity skirt (from a consignment store) and shirt. Apparently pregnancy does not cause women to lose the joy they find in shopping.

I thought I'd also include a picture of some of the little diapers that we've bought. They are adorable.

Sonogram Photos!

We just got back from the doctor's office and thought we'd share the sonogram photos with you all!

The Bun's head looks empty but we saw a brain in there. I promise.

The Bun kind of looks like the Terminator in the picture. You all better watch out.

While we were looking at this shot the Bun took a nice, long yawn.

Here you can see that the Bun is going to be a diver. S/he is holding onto his/her foot.



Hopefully, this video will play nicely for all of you.
You can see the Bun's heart beating in the video!!

19 Weeks

We are so close to being halfway there! Next Sunday will be 20 weeks and Nicole will have made it halfway through her pregnancy. Nicole thinks that it's been pretty easy so far (except for her headaches that have gotten progressively worse) so, hopefully, the second half will be as good or better than the first.

In my mind, at least, this last week has been the biggest week of change for Nicole. She is happy, too, because now she feels like she looks pregnant and "not just chubby." She does, however, already miss her favorite jeans. She didn't know that that part would be this hard.

The Bun did keep Nicole up one night this week because s/he wouldn't stop doing somersaults! She thinks of it as a nice reminder that s/he's still there.

We did decide to do the Quad screen so Nicole gave some more blood to Kaiser last week. We decided that if something was wrong we would take the opportunity to learn as much about it as we could so that we could be the best parents for our Bun. The screen came back normal! We know that no screen is perfect but we're happy for the good news so far.

Wednesday is going to be a big day for us. We have our 20 week ultrasound at 10:15 a.m. I am already expecting lots of tears again from Nicole. This is the ultrasound where they may be able to tell us if the Bun is a boy or a girl. We aren't sure yet that we are going to let everyone in on that detail. I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Our amazing little baby is now around 10 inches in length! If this seems a bit shocking, you’ll be relieved to know s/he has not actually grown over 3 inches, but that his/her little legs are now straight enough to be measured. This is when doctors begin measuring fetal growth from head to toe, (no longer “crown to rump” or CR). Lanugo (little hairs) covers his/her whole body now, trapping that charming cheese-like vernix caseosa to the surface to the skin. This week our little Bun 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 Nicole, this nice little lump of baby-poop won’t be coming out while s/he is still in the womb. Some time shortly after the Bun is born, this fun lump will become the first in a long line of baby poops.