17 Weeks/SA Zoo

Today I am 17 weeks! I still feel great! I have been a little more tired lately because my thyroid levels are off track again. My Synthroid dose is being increased by the doctor. Hopefully, that will have me feeling up to par again. I have been feeling the baby move for a few weeks now :) Cody felt it move last week for the 1st time! He still thinks it is a girl and I strongly believe it is a boy! We will find out next Thursday!!

17 Weeks:

Your baby's weight has doubled in two weeks and now weighs about 3.5 ounces! The crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 4.4 to 4.8 inches. If you spread your hand out opened wide, you can see about how big your baby is. 

Huge changes continue to take place within your developing baby. This week fat begins to form and will continue to do so until he is born. Fat is important to the body's heat production and metabolism. Right now, at 17 weeks, water makes up about 3 ounces and fat 0.018 ounces of your baby's body. In a baby at term, fat makes up about 5.25 pounds of the total average weight of 7.7 pounds. The placenta is continuing to grow at an amazing rate. The placenta will continue to develop in tandem with the fetus and it will weigh more than a pound at birth! By this week, the placenta is large and well established with a network of blood vessels that exchange nutrients and waste.

The eyes are facing more forward. The ears are now close to their final position.

Your baby is more flexible with ability to move head, mouth, lips, arms, wrists, hands, legs, feet, and toes.

Fingerprints are forming now.

Reese:

This past weekend Aunt Ashley & Victor came to visit us! We had a lot of fun going to the SA Zoo, Papasitos, San Marcos outlets and to a few baby stores =)

SA Zoo:

Reese Reading ABC book at 14 Months

Guess the Gender!

Here is the 16 week sono that the OB did very quickly. Guess the gender before May 6th! (click on the photo for the full size image)

16 Weeks

Today we had our 16 week appointment with a new OB. I personally did not care for her. She is much different than what I am used to. Her personality was very "dry". I begged for a sono, which she did herself in a rushed manor (b/c she had a surgical case to go to). She guessed it "might" be a boy. 

I have already scheduled my next appointment with another OB who was highly recommended to my by a fellow L&D RN (thank goodness for friends)! We will find out the sex for sure on May 6th at 9:15am  ;)

Today I did blood work to check my thryoid levels and to detect for genetic defects (usual testing). My blood pressure was 100/60 and I had gained 3 pounds since my 12 week appointment.

16 weeks:

At this point of your pregnancy, your baby is approximately 4.3 to 4.6 inches long and weighs 2.8 ounces. Not only is your baby growing, your uterus and placenta continue to grow to accommodate the growing baby inside of you! Just six weeks ago, your uterus weighed about 5 ounces. This week it now weighs 8.75 ounces! The amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby is increasing and there is about 7.5 ounces of fluid. You will easily be able to feel your uterus approximately three inches below your navel.

At this time, your baby is holding her head erect. Because her muscles are developing, she can make some faces now. Your baby is able to squint, frown and open its mouth. There is enough calcium in the bones that they will show up on an x-ray. Your baby's fingernails are well formed now and the legs are longer than the arms. Because your baby is moving well now, you may begin to feel his movements! Some women say that the early movements feel like gas bubbles or a slight flutter. If you have not yet felt the baby move, don't worry. Fetal movements are usually felt between the 16th and 20th week of pregnancy.

Reese:

Poor Reese, this last week we had like 4-5 days of straight rain! We were stuck inside :(

Once it finally cleared up, we went shopping and Reese got her 1st pair of sunglasses!! She loves wearing them! She would always try and put the Mr. Potato Head sunglasses on and they were too small, so we got her a pair that fit!

We went to a wonderful county park: Orsinger Park

Uncle Jason came to visit and took us to lunch!

...and we got a black eye! She banged her eye on a cabinet pretty good :(

All About Reese

Last night Reese begged for me to put her into her Round-About baby toy...and this is what happened!

Today Reese and I went to Gymboree Play & Learn for a trial class and Reese LOVED it! We are now members and will be going to a scheduled class once a week with instructed play along with open gym times, where she can play on her own. She had a lot of fun! She climbed right up the rock wall with no hesitations, crawled through tunnels, parachute play and lots of bubbles!

15 Weeks/Little Gym Trial

Today I'm 15 weeks along. It's going much faster this time. I have absolutely NO symptoms. My craving this time is SOUR CANDY- I can't get enough!! Sour skittles are my new favorite for the time being. With Reese I only craved Cookies & Cream ice cream. I wonder if this is a boy ;)

15 Week Belly

15 Weeks:

Your baby's crown-to-rump length is approximately 4-5 inches and she now weighs approximately 1.75 ounces. Your baby is close to the size of a softball and you can easily tell that you are pregnant now! The hair on the eyebrows and head continues to grow. Your baby's ears look like normal ears and continue to develop externally. The bones that have already formed continue to get harder and retain calcium. The baby is very mobile and flexible at this point. She can bend her arms at the elbows and wrists and she can also make a fist with her hands. 

Reese:

Today Reese went to a trial class at Little Gym and we both had a lot of fun! We sang songs, ran, jumped, popped bubbles, bounced balls, bounce on inflatable bounce mat, "surfed" over padded rolling mats, and climbed  rock wall.

This last weekend we took Reese to La Cantera for some shopping fun! She saw bluebonnets...

Played on a slide....

Got her 1st pair of Crocs...

Played in a sandbox (she didn't like the sand touching her feet)....

And started eating with a fork...

Reese has made a lot of progress this week! Today is day 3 with NO BOTTLE!! She drinks her milk thru a straw sippy cup at breakfast and dinner. Her appetite has finally started increasing and she now loves to eat because she gets to use her own fork!

14 weeks & 14 months!

Today Reese is 14 months and baby #2 is 14 weeks in the making =) I think its funny how they both timed out to be "14" on the same day. I know-I'm easily amused! 

Baby #2: 14 Weeks

Our baby's crown to rump length is 3.2 to 4.5 inches long and he weighs approximately 1 ounce now. Our baby is about the size of the average fist. 

At this time, our baby's face is becoming more developed. The cheeks and bridge of his nose appear and the ears move from the sides of his neck to much higher on his head. The eyes continue to come closer together. A big development from this week onward is the development of lanugo. Lanugo is the fine hair that grows over almost our entire baby. The hairs grow in whirled patterns that follow the grain of his skin. These patterns later give way to our baby's fingerprints. The lanugo will be shed before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser hairs. Our baby's thyroid gland has matured and starts to produce hormones. If our baby is a boy, the prostate will appear and the ovaries descend from the abdomen into the pelvis in baby girls. 

The embryo`s soft cartilage is now being replaced with ` real` chalk bones. Our baby has eyebrows, but no eyelashes. Fine, light hair also begins to grow.

Reese: 14 Months

Reese is developing her verbal skills each day! She can now say "shoes" and "what's that?" She also knows what "let's go outside", "go nite nite" and "blow your nose" means. If you tell her to blow her nose, she will blow into the tissue with her mouth...it's hilarious!! If I say "do you want to eat", she runs to the fridge for me to open the door! We are working on "ABC" right now. She can now point to "nose/mouth/eye/bellybutton".

Her hair is finally starting to grow! She has one little curl in the back =) Unfortunately, she currently has double ear infections! We have been battling fevers for a week and a very fussy toddler. I thought it was her molars cutting at first but I caved and took her to meet her new pediatrician yesterday. She was started on Amoxicillin (which she hates) for the next 10 days. I'm glad I took her in! We all hope she starts feeling better soon!

Update on Cody & I:

I have been officially accepted into the University of Cincinatti Women's Health Nurse Practitioner distance learning program. Classes start June 21st.

Cody has been working at CVS for almost a week now and he is doing awesome! The location is great, less than 5 minutes from the house! Graduation is in May and his board exams are this summer.

Happy Easter!

The difference a year makes is amazing! Happy Easter!!!

2009

2010

Easter Egg Hunt @ Concordia Lutheran Church

Today Reese got to go to an Easter egg hunt at her future church/school. We began by practicing holding the basket and putting eggs into the basket.

Egg Hunt @ Concordia

She wanted to collect more eggs!