Weeks 21 & 22: Over the hump (bump?)

(words by Meg. gifs by Kate)

Well folks, we're more than halfway there (assuming baby Curtis takes after her non-bio mom and arrives on time or a little early- Kate was over a week late...). We're over the hump! The first couple of months went by super slowly, but the last few have flown by.

We don't really have too much to report, which I suppose is good news. Here are some quick updates:

1. We've now had two 18 week ultrasounds (one at 19 weeks, one at 21 weeks) and baby girl is still enjoying her comfy position facing backwards which makes it impossible for the ultrasound tech to get all the measurements she needs. The tech was able to get all but two views last time, and everything looks good.We go in for ultrasound #3 next week, so hopefully she'll cooperate this time. Not that we're complaining about getting to see our baby every two weeks...

When you first feel the baby kick

2. Kate has been feeling the baby move for several weeks now, but I finally got to feel a tiny little movement the other day- very exciting! It was just the tiniest little swell, which from the inside apparently feels like a kick. I guess a one pound human's kick is not going to feel like much through amniotic fluid and all that other stuff (*science!*).






3. Kate has "popped" and is pretty pregnant looking. Even though Kate has been losing weight (for real),she's having a hard time fitting into a lot of her per-pregnancy clothes (mostly the shirts don't come down far enough). 




And she's having a hard time sleeping at night because...well...she's pregnant! No position seems comfortable.

4. We got a TON of hand-me-down baby clothes from friends and family over the last couple of weeks, which I've organized with military precision, of course. This little girl has more clothes than I do, and they're much cuter. I'm partial to these ridiculous legging with built-in tutu:

And just in case you were afraid our little one would have cold feet....

And we all know the feeling of walking into a store and seeing a cute baby outfit and realizing it's almost the same cost as one month of cable.

We're very grateful for all of the hand-me-down clothes and gear, but we're especially excited to see baby girl Curtis wear some of the same outfits we loved when her older cousins Reese and Kalli wore them! Oh, the photo ops.






5. I (Meg) have become obsessed with the nursery. I guess it's my way of being involved with the pregnancy...but I also just love to organize. Thinking about how to best fit a million onesies into our small dresser and where to store the diaper supplies in a closet that is barely deep enough to hold regular hangs is actually fun for me. I know, it's a sickness. It's just starting to come together, but we have purchased a rug, curtains and a ridiculously cute lamp. We'll do a whole post on the nursery at some point.





6. Last, but certainly not least, we have two wonderful groups of friends and family throwing us baby showers in September (thanks, guys!!) so we finally finalized the registry. It's kind of a relief to stop worrying about which car seat or high chair or stroller is just right. We must have changed our minds about what we wanted at least 3 times. Everyone we talk to about baby gear offers very thorough information...that almost
always directly conflicts with what the last person told us! Now that it's out there and public, we're done! Is it what it is, and I'm sure it will be great.

Week 12: Guys, There's Really a Baby in There!

So here we are at week 12 y'all!

Sorry for not posting last week, but not a whole lotta new stuff was going down and I ran out of gifs to properly demonstrate my eternal struggle with nausea and my faithful relationship with dairy.  So let's talk week 12!  The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. The baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod my abdomen, the baby will squirm in response, although I won't be able to feel it (believe me, the ultrasound tech did it a lot). From crown to rump, the baby-to-be is just over two inches long (the size of a kiwi) and weighs half an ounce.

Today we went to have an early risk assessment test done.  It is a noninvasive test that combines blood work with an ultrasound of the baby to identify risk for specific chromosomal abnormalities, including Down Syndrome Trisomy-21 and Trisomy-18.  Another portion of the test (known as the nuchal translucency) can assist in identifying other significant fetal abnormalities, such as cardiac disorders. #googledit




We were able to see our baby!

On a big screen squirming, waving

and even giving the U-N-I-T-Y fist.

The baby looks good (all the limbs accounted for!), strong heartbeat (164) and both hemispheres of the brain even.  They were able to see a slight view of the nuchal translucency, but our little nugget wouldn't lay quite in the right position to get a clear picture  (thus the nurse pile driving my abdomen with the ultrasound wand) so they want to get a better pic, which means a return visit this Friday.  

Then we wait all the way until June 19th to find out the sex!

Checking your calendar for your next ultrasound

I opened some champagne for Meg and we celebrated our last Cinco de Mayo (Baby-o) sans-kiddo.

Pre-Pregnant Cinco de Mayos

Pregnant Cinco de Mayo

WE'RE HAVING A BABY Y'ALL!

Week 7: Morning Sickness, Mother Nature's Hazing Ritual

Hey team.  We are at the 7 week mark and our little nugget is the size of a blueberry.  It is producing brain cells at 100 cells a minute and developing arms, legs, and the mouth!




I'm still exhausted at all times of the day and have now successfully slept on all modes of transportation, in two time zones and through half of a conference call.



I'm also starting to feel things expanding and stretching.  It's like your uterus is tired of living in a studio and it has decided to flip this house into a duplex.  I struggle with the internal desire to start showing and I can't stop thinking about what I will look like.  For right now I'm just gonna say I'm carrying it in my ass.




The "crazies" are starting to surface a little more each day.  It feels like forever until you have your first ultrasound so there's nothing but blood work to calm the psycho within and remind me that yes, I'm still pregnant.  So I maaaaay have taken a couple more pregnancy tests through the past couple weeks. ( I know, I know).


I've been experiencing some food aversions this week and, sadly, nausea.  It's a weird thing to feel as I had gastric bypass when I was 18 and I think I've only gotten sick once since (tequila is a beast from hell).  So my body basically fights the urge to get sick- it's a vicious cycle.  The first real bout of "morning" sickness hit on my plane trip back from Virginia.  You don't know fear until you feel morning sickness at 33,000 feet.

Monday we went in for our first ultrasound at 7 weeks + 2 days.  It was both awkward and amazing at the same time.  The ultrasound tech located the baby quickly and, in all honesty, it looks like someone sneezed on the screen.  It's a little blip, but it's our little blip.  We were able to see the heartbeat and I really can't describe what that's like.  Imagine meeting Barbra Streisand, Idina Menzel and Bette Midler at a Nutella bar.  Then imagine your future child's beating heart.  That's all I got.  All things looked good- heart rate at 137bpm and is measuring out for its due date of November 15th.

Meg and I agreed not to buy any baby things until we're at least 3 months along, but man is it hard to resist! Since we graduated from the reproductive clinic (yay!), the next step is to see the OB next Monday. Stay tuned!

5 Weeks Pregnant, or, I'm Just Gonna Nap Right Here

Since our last post I have traveled to Cincinnati, Kentucky and New York (twice in one week) and in somewhere in there I've been stuck with a needle not once, but twice.  Go hard or go home right?  At least I got to be in the same room as Idina Menzel this weekend <swoon>... but back to the blog about our baby.  The Monday following our good news, and then again today, the doctor had me come in to check my HcG levels (the pregnancy hormone your body produces when a fertilized egg attaches to your uterus #science). Let me break it down for ya'.




Week 4 (3/8-3/14)- The baby was as big as a poppy seed (Meg referred to it as Poppy).

Week 5 (3/15-3/21)- The baby is as big as an apple seed (I nicknamed it Lil' Mac... like a Macintosh apple #nerdalert).

On Monday I went into the doctor's office first thing in the morning, had blood drawn and ran home to finish packing. Then I grabbed a cab and headed to Logan airport to fly out for a business trip all week.  Said trip was planned before we got the good news.  Cause, honestly, the last thing I wanted to be doing was sitting on a crowded (and delayed) Delta flight with a 1oz bag of complimentary nuts.  The office called me right before I boarded the plane to inform me that my HcG levels had been 81 on Friday and they were up to 191 on Monday! That's definitely within the "normal" range. Awesome news.

I spent most of last week in Cincinnati for business meetings and had to tell my boss and accompanying co-worker that I was pregnant for multiple reasons.

1. Business trips are code for little bit o' meetins, then lot o' bit o' drinkin', on the company dime.  And I couldn't.







2.You're going to constantly be rubbing your chest. (sorry, boss)  When they say that your boobs are gonna hurt, they mean it.  Scientifically speaking, your jugs are preparing to become milkin' machines.  They also begin increasing in size sometimes as fast as a cup size in the first week/2 weeks.(you're welcome, boss).


3. You're gonna be exhausted. I never take naps.  Ever.  Meg has even stated that she has never seen me sleep when it's light outside.  I am now falling asleep everywhere.  I slept on a plane with a "frequent leg crossing shifter" behind me that kicked my chair like they were trying to try out for the World Cup.

When you're trying to make it to a
bathroom with a full bladder.

4. Bathrooms.  You must always know where one is.  Because you're going to have to go all the time.  You will wake up at 12:59am (aka last night) and fear you won't make it. There's a lot happening in that nether region and it is starting to take over the neighborhood putting pressure on your bladder, so that's fun.

5. Emotions.  You haz them.  Not to mention hot flashes.  I was in NYC during 15 degree weather and someone said I look like I got a sunburn in a matter of 10 seconds.  I'll enjoy it now before it gets so hot I try not to move from the wall A/C unit unless food or peeing is involved.

Today I went in for more blood work and my levels increased to 2,341!  Woohoo!  Next is an ultrasound on March 31st to see how Lil' Mac is doing.  If all looks good our reproductive clinic will discharge us to our OB/GYN!  Stay tuned.