17 weeks

Sunday Best - Augstana

Earlier this morning (only about an hour ago), I declared today a good day because I didn't vomit. I'm still vomiting every morning, mind you (with an extra-large puke fest on my birthday this past Tuesday. Thanks, Baby!). I shouldn't have spoken so soon. I guess Baby didn't like my yogurt and banana breakfast.

So, I'm 17 weeks along now. In addition to still puking every morning and getting that unbearable wave of fatigue in the afternoon, my face still looks worse than any "before" shot from a Proactiv commercial that I've ever seen. I in-all-seriousness look like I have some mutant version of the chicken pox and while my face may be the worst victim, it's not the only victim. I have weird piles of acne popping up in strange places: my neck, my scalp, my arms. This all convinces my mother that I'm having a girl but it convinces me of nothing other than the fact I very well may be having a Chuckie doll.

It's getting closer and closer (but not quickly enough!) to our February 24th anatomy scan. Last night, I had an extremely vivid and specific dream that Baby is a girl. This is only the second time I've pictured Baby as a girl this entire time. Girl, boy, whatever -- I just want it to be February 24th already!

As far as Baby goes, he or she is the size of...

...an onion this week!

I look forward to the fruit and vegetable comparisons each week and it always is the same thing: I can't believe how big Baby got and I can't imagine he or she getting any bigger. (Yeah, I know. This is nothing!)

Over the next four weeks, Baby's weight will increase approximately six times! His/her fingernails and toenails are beginning to grow from their nailbeds. Baby is perfecting his/her sucking and swallowing reflexes (and no matter what this says, I feel like Baby is practicing a kickboxing routine in there, too). Baby weighs five ounces this week and is a little over five inches long!

Baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone. The umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker, too. Baby can move his/her joints now and even sweat glands are starting to develop. Baby's limbs are almost at their proper proportions and will now continue to grow evenly with his/her body. Baby is now capable of hearing and reacting to sounds even though hish/her ears are not yet structurally complete or fully functional.

16 weeks

Today I am 16 weeks along. Let's just say that all I want for my birthday (which is in five days, but who's counting?) is to not puke. Just for that one day. Is that asking too much?

I am a lot less sleepy now, which I'm thankful for. I've been managing to run errands without coming home in between for a recharge (see also: two hour long nap). I've gotten that pregnant-woman-sniffly-nose thing but don't mind it too much. After four consecutive months of vomiting my throat raw, there's not much that bothers me these days. I'm still speckled in acne like a teenager -- okay, who am I kidding? My teenager sister and her friends don't even have close to this much acne -- but learning to deal with it and focus on the bigger picture. The bigger picture, of course, being baby.

Baby is the size of an avocado this week. Not going to lie...when I read avocado, I thought, "guacamole!" From there, I sat here at the computer for a solid three minutes just salivating over thoughts of tacos...and am still fighting the urge to drive to Chipotle as fast as humanly possible. Mmm, Chipotle.

If Baby is a girl (which my gut still says HE isn't), her uterus is fully developed and the ovaries already hold primitive egg cells. Baby's skin is wrinkly and translucent, kind of like an old man's. Right now, all of his/her veins are visible underneath his/her skin. Baby's heart is also now pumping about 25 quarts of blood per day.

In the next couple of weeks, Baby will double in weight and add inches to his/her length. His/her ears are closer to their final position and his/her eyes have moved to the front of the face (well, that's a good thing).

I'm still going with my gut that Baby is a boy...though I'm in the minority. Still, the majority of my friends and family insist that Baby is a girl with only a handful of people joining me on "team blue." Do I have a preference? Absolutely not! I just can't wait to find out and start preparing Baby's nursery.

15 weeks

Today, Baby, I am 15 weeks along. Is the morning sickness wearing off? Well, maybe a little bit. Today, though? Not so much. I reeled in my 15th week of pregnancy hunched over the toilet in a sad kind of tribute to my nightmarish 1st trimester that just won't fully quit. It's okay, though, because it's so worth it. I'll live off of Saltines and Ginger Ale as long as I need to. Bigger picture!

Bigger picture, bigger baby! Baby is approximately the size of a naval orange today! That is a huge jump from last week's lemon. According to the professionals, I should be remembering that I need my sleep (check!) and I'm probably finding it uncomfortable to fall asleep. Check times ten. Thank goodness for my Snoogle and my ultra patient husband who puts up with my blanket pulling and pillow shoving and fussing until I get comfortable enough to actually drift off to sleep.

They say I should feel you moving, Baby, in just a couple of weeks. I can't wait!

Baby's head is now resting on his/her nicely formed neck. He/she is beginning to grow eyebrows and eyelashes this week. Also this week, he/she is beginning to grow hair on his/her head! (I am already anticipating one hairy, hairy baby.) Even with eyelids fused shut, Baby is able to sense light. His/her eyes and ears look like eyes and ears this week. Baby is practicing swallowing and may even be hiccuping soon. He/she is busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. His/her legs are growing longer than his/her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs.

This week, I still think Baby is a boy. The rest of the world? They think it's a girl all the way.

Baby's Heartbeat

I'm 14w5d today, which meant today was my 15 week appointment. We got to hear Baby's heartbeat and, of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to record it.



We also set up our anatomy scan! On February 24th at 8:30 a.m., we will be finding out if Baby is a BOY or a GIRL! My mommy-instinct is telling me BOY. I will be legitimately surprised if Baby is a girl!

We also set up a (tentative) c-section date...or, more excitingly, Baby's birthday! July 7th, 2011. 7/7/11. Thursday, July 7th, 2011. I love the sound of it! How exciting it is to know that Baby has a (tentative) birthday!

How I Met Your Father

Otis Redding - Everclear

Dear Baby,

There's nothing that I love more than listening to my parents tell me stories about when they were younger or how they met -- even if it's a story I've heard so many times before that I have it memorized. I think these stories as a whole are important because they help those who weren't there (me) put together so many of the pieces of how life as we know it came to be.

On that note, I want you to know that I fell in love with your father on August 27th, 2001. I remember that day not only because it was the first day of school during my 10th grade year (your dad's 11th grade year) but because it was the first time that I ever saw his face. I was standing in front of Building 7 waiting for the bell to ring for my first period class (it was typing class). Five minutes before the bell, your father walked past me to get to his class (it was guitar class). He was wearing his school football jersey with khaki shorts, argyle socks to his knees (yes, really) and puffy black Vans. My friend, Meghan, knew his name because he had done a project last year with her brother. Back in those days, we didn't have Facebook or an easy way to e-stalk people (I can admit it! I was a creeper!). Instead, we had AOL profiles. I somehow found his and swooned with every Operation Ivy, Rancid and Bouncing Souls quote that lined his profile. I also found out that he played bass guitar in a local band. Your uncle Mike had a local record label at the time. It seemed only natural that I beg Mike to send an instant message to Aaron and ask if he could have one of their demo CDs. Your uncle Mike went to a different school, so he made it "coincidentally" work out that his cousin (that'd be me!) would pick up the CD for him before school one morning. I'm not usually a go-getter by any means but, Baby, I declared after the very first day of school that year that I had found the person that I was going to marry. You can imagine the reaction that got because I was only 15 years old at the time and everyone was quick to tell me that I didn't know what love meant and he certainly wouldn't be the person I would marry.

I'm not trying to deprive you of any details, but there really weren't any. For months I pined over your father while convinced he didn't have any feelings back for me. Thanks to your uncle Mike and his nifty record label trick, your father and I became friends. We'd talk before school and after school and, a lot of times, online or on the phone until the wee hours of the morning. For Christmas 2001, he gave me an Ataris CD and, let me tell you, Baby, I went to sleep listening to that CD for months until it was so worn out.

This is a photograph of us taken that Christmas after we exchanged gifts (I had gotten him a Volcom t-shirt):


On January 17th, 2002, Punxter36 (that's your dad! Yes, really!) sent KissMeImEmo12 (that'd be me!) and instant message with five simple words that'd change the course of life as I knew it: will you be my girlfriend? Baby, before you smack your dad for asking me out online, let me tell you that it was one of the biggest joys I'd ever experienced. Our first date was to see Stretching FM play at a local park. He was so nervous to even hold my hand and barely spoke two words the entire evening. It didn't matter, though, because I had confirmed everything that I already knew: he would be the person I would marry.

This is a photograph of your dad when he came to pick me up on our first date:


Baby, I got the most wonderful gift in the world: the chance to grow up alongside your father, the love of my life. I had the chance to experience sweet sixteens and driving tests and master's degrees and first mortgages with him. And, Baby, ever since we were kids together, he and I always wanted you.

When your dad had to go away to college (I was still a senior in high school), we went to this new park in Boca Raton that wasn't done being built yet. It was late in the evening and we laid down a blanket and watched the stars. "Tell me about your dreams," your dad had begged. I was admittedly a wreck those few months as talk of colleges and shipping off and long distance came to the front of my mind. We talked about our dreams for hours and, Baby, it all came down to one thing: you. After the selection of colleges, the courses signed up for, the silly details...we shared one common dream: having a family. There were sacrifices we were both willing to make and, Baby, I moved right up there with your dad as soon as I could -- despite the fact that Orlando and I share nothing in common at all other than a mutual hatred for one another. Each bad day that I had, I knew at the end of the day that we were making these sacrifices to bring ourselves closer to having you. Your father and I were never apart, we were never not together, starting nine years ago today. We never didn't love one another and, Baby, we never didn't love you.

On the 9 year anniversary that your dad and I have been together, I want you to know how much we always loved you. I want you to know how I met your father and what he will always mean to me. I want you to know the love that you were brought into and the love that will always surround you.