How does your baby grow?

It has been so fascinating to learn what is going on inside my belly with this new little life!  Each week I get to read about what is being made for the very first time, what is growing, moving and changing, it is mind blowing!

I'm sure those of you who are Mom's out there have heard a lot of these things before, but I would like to share some of the discoveries that have been the most insightful for me.

Did you know that the intestines don't actually start growing in the baby's belly, but up in the umbilical cord???  Apparently their belly is too tiny during the period the intestines are supposed to start, so the momma's body helps along by storing them a few weeks until the baby's belly is big enough for them to move in!

I also just learned that a baby goes through like four sets of kidneys before it settles on the pair it will keep for the rest of its life!

The little eyes and ears don't start out where we think eyes and ears should be.  The eyes start on the sides of the head, not the front (think like above your ears), and the ears start down almost on the neck!  As these develop and 'finish' they are pulled into their 'proper' places, how crazy is that!

The baby's skeletal system doesn't start out as bone, it starts out as cartilage!  This cartilage hardens as it sequesters calcium and other minerals and the baby's bones become their final shapes and proportions.

Four inches is a lot bigger than it sounds!

I am 15 weeks today and this week our little one is 4 inches long from 'crown to rump' and weighs roughly 2 1/2 ounces (not quite two regular Hershey's bars).  Jelly Bean's lungs are developing at a rapid pace and he/she is practicing 'breathing' pretty much all the time.  It's legs are finally catching up to and exceeding it arms and although the eyes are fused shut, he/she is becoming sensitive to light!  Finally, new little taste buds are growing on his/her tongue!

Well, that's all my updates for now!  If anything else crazy comes up I will let you know!

Goodbye Carpet!

Well most of it anyway!  We have been struggling to keep the carpet in our dining room clean since we moved in (everyone knows what a messy eater I am, right?) and finally decided to ask our land lady if we could replace it with... ANYTHING!  I was really hoping to replace all the carpet with something like wood patterned Pergo, but wasn't going to be picky since we weren't paying for it!  She was happy to replace the carpet in the dining and living room, but didn't want to take it out of the bedrooms because so many people preferred carpet in those rooms (who exactly are these people?). 

In order for the workers to come in we had to get everything out.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, and Pandora had a blast!  She thought we were making a new Jungle Gym just for her when we took the TV out of its stand!

  And she was very concerned for the safety of 'Her' chair as Chris moved it into the other room!

While we are still wait to get the carpet off the wall under the bar (what you see in the above picture to your right), we are thrilled with the new floor and how much cleaner it feels!  I plan to put more pictures up when we get the rest removed and painted!

Second Trimester!

Hello second trimester!  Chris took this for me on the 11th, the first day of my second trimester!  He took one a few days before that, but I was so bloated at the time that I looked quite a bit bigger than I usually do!

I have been looking forward to this trimester since pregnancy symptoms began.  Fortunately, I never had really severe morning sickness but the little I did have is all but gone!  In addition to diminishing morning sickness is an increase in appetite.  Hunger pains have become more frequent and sudden!  I can go from okay to starving in just a few minutes!  My energy has been slower coming back, but it is working back up to normal.

At our last appointment we were finally able to hear the heartbeat!  It was so fast! (158 in case you're curious!)  I tried to include a clip but it didn't want to work...

Lots of body changes have been going on, most of them unexpected for me!  Sometime in the future I plan to post about how the reality of pregnancy has differed from my expectations.  For now I'm thankful to be feeling well and that everything is going normal!

 

So, maybe Florida has seasons after all...

I hate to admit it, but as I get used to the sights, feel and flora of Florida I have to admit it might have seasons after all - Other than hot and hotter! 

For example - Late June through August is sort of Florida's 'Rainy Season'.  You can count on rain at least a few times a week if not every afternoon.  Personally this is a favorite of mine because this rain is usually in the form of a thunderstorm and I love watching thunderstorms and listening to the rain!
- While there is Hot and Hotter, there is also Humid and Really Humid as well!  We are currently in the Really Humid period, which seems to pass along about September or October.
- I am starting to recognize patterns in the flora around and anticipating certain seasons of flowers.  While nothing can replace the Northern flush of Spring Bulbs, I have really enjoyed watching the perennial peanut and lily pads bloom during this time of year.  It is also a pleasant surprise to see Amaryllis bloom outside in December!

Perennial Peanut makes a beautiful orange carpet this time of year.

- Seasons are also recognizable at the beach!  Growing up I only knew the beach in the winter time, and I didn't like it much either!  Now we get to visit during the Summer and I finally see the attraction.  The water is warm enough that you don't squeal and run for your life the minute your toes touch the water and the breeze off the ocean is refreshing instead of bitterly cold.  Apparently it wasn't the beach I disliked, just the beach in January!
- Down here summer isn't the busy garden season like it is at home, that is reserved for Spring and Fall.  I am slowly learning what fruits and vegetables should be in season by Florida's schedule instead of Kentucky's.  This means Tomatoes start coming on sometime in March (Crazy! there should still be snow outside right???) and then again in September, Sweet Corn is ready in early August (Not complaining about that!), and as you know Peaches are ready in May.  Like I said, an adjustment, but not all bad!

While I still miss brisk fall weather and the chance of snow in the winter, I am slowly beginning to recognize and appreciate the subtler changes in Florida!

Things I'm Thankful For...

It is time for another thankful Thursday!  I promise to get some other posts up about life in general and baby in particular, but for right now this is all I've got!

Having Options for Prenatal Vitamins
It sounds silly, but I can't usually take those One-A-Day vitamins, even when I'm not pregnant, they just turn my stomach no matter how much I eat.  Fortunately I have a liquid multivitamin that meets all the prenatal requirements, this was a life saver during the weeks of severe nausea.  I have recently found a gelcap that doesn't upset my stomach which has been great for on the go mornings and I have had fun trying the plethora of vitamins that I received during my first appointment.  Ultimately I am thankful there are so many options for prenatals!

Having AD to Squeeze my Hand
This week I had to get my blood drawn for all of the various tests that need run during prenatal doctor's appointments.  Honestly I could have done this at any time since my last appointment, but I was dreading it!  I don't like needles, pain or getting poked.  Since my next appointment is only a week away I really needed to get this over with so they had time to get the results to the midwife.  Fortunately I didn't have to go by myself!  Adrienne came along and distracted me while the nurse did her business... I'm so happy this doesn't have to happen every visit!!!

Chris Comes Home
Need I say more?  He will have been gone two weeks by the time he gets home.  I knew we shared a lot with each other throughout the day, but when you try to condense all of that down to a conversation before bed it really dawned on me how much I usually communicate with him... and how much I miss by not getting to keep that up throughout the day.  Needless to say I'm super excited that he is coming home soon!

Rain
We are finally starting into Florida's 'rainy season', which might sound awful to some, but I really enjoy it.  It is usually sunny in the morning, building up to an afternoon or evening thunderstorm.  As long as I can be inside I love these because I enjoy watching storms and listening to the rain.  Additionally, everything green was really beginning to suffer from our recent lack of rain and it has been amazing to see how quickly color can come back to the plants here!

Awesome Neighbors
We are slowly beginning to meet more people around us and one couple actually works in the same department as me.  They were busting up an aloe plant and brought some to share!

What are you thankful for this week?

A Late Thankful Thursday

Sadly I haven't been very consistent with my Thankful Thursday posts. They have frequently been on my mind, but usually after Thursday!  This week I decided to post anyway and hope that you would understand!

This week I am thankful that Chris has been safe on his trip.  He is doing two sets of classes this summer where he has to be on campus for a week for each class.  In an effort to save a lot of money he experimented with couch surfing, where people all over the country allow fols to stay on their couch for free.  I was very nervous about this because these people are strangers to us and we don't know many people who have experience with this.  I ultimately had to trust his judgement and the fact that he is a third degree black belt and fully capable of fending for himself!  He has had a great experience so far.  The first place he stayed didn't have central air but his host was congenial while not pressuring Chris to act the guest.  The person he is staying with for the second week has central air (yay!) and is giving Chris one of his spare bedrooms to use, oh and did I mention this second person is a Star Trek fan and has a pretty nice DVD collection?  Let's just say Chris is glad he doesn't have any homework this weekend!

I am also super thankful that my friend Adrienne came down to stay with me for most of this time!  I'm usually okay during the day when Chris is gone, but after dark I get really anxious, especially if I know he won't be coming home... so until Adrienne got here I had been going to bed very early!

Something I'm quickly learning not to take for granted is feeling good and good health during my pregnancy.  I am so thankful that the little morning sickness I had continues to let up and that all body signs indicate that our little jelly bean is developing normally!

What were you thankful for this week?

There is a Baby in my Belly!!!

After our huge, scary, earth-shaking decision in January, we moved on as we said we would and, ahem, used other forms of control, with plans of re-addressing this issue come July.  Oh the plans of mice and men... 

Before I made my trip in May we were suspicious that something was up, but not ready to think about that or tell many people either.  I informed Mom and Dad while I was visiting, but I was still convinced my body was just acting weird, Chris on the other hand was convinced I was the big 'P' word already.  I took a test and low and behold, he was RIGHT!  I was still convinced it was a fluke (it was a very faint line after all) and thought I would prove him wrong with the second test... which also turned out to be positive!

So when I got back we scheduled an appointment for after our trip to Arizona, and in the mean time I started all of the precautions I've heard given to pregnant women (no raw sushi, continue with vitamins, rest, be careful about the spray schedule around the orchard and most of all OPT FOR THE PAT-DOWN AT THE AIRPORT!).  During this time I started experiencing the morning sickness and some body changes associated with pregnancy.  It was still hard for me to accept that this was really happening in spite of the physical evidences.  Part of this denial difficulty was that I hadn't had time to stop and fully process everything (please remember this was all happening smack in the middle of my huge, excessively busy month).  Additionally, whenever I did stop to think about it all I got very stressed out about how all of this was going to work with both Chris and I still in school, feeling very convicted that daycare was not an option, and what would happen when I told my adviser (I know, terribly small-minded and non-trusting of me, but hey, you've been reading this blog for over a year now, surely you know I'm not the sharpest tack in the box with this whole trust thing right?).

After our out west adventure we had our first appointment... with really no idea what to expect, but thinking I was far enough along to maybe hear the heartbeat.  The first appointment was not exactly what I expected, but it was good to have Chris there for the whole thing.  We did not get to hear the heartbeat and I was surprised at how disappointed I was.  The doctor said it was probably just because I was earlier than she thought and ordered an ultrasound to double check... but the ultrasound wouldn't happen until two days later!  Those were two really long days! 

During that time I started considering the possibility that I might have a miscarriage.  Talk about a sobering possibility.  In spite of how nervous I was about the timing of this pregnancy, the thought of losing this little life God had entrusted us with brought me to my knees.  I asked for forgiveness for my selfish, narrow-mindedness and fear and began really praying for this little person for (I'm ashamed to say) the first time.  While I'm still worried about what the future will look like, I now have a peace to temper that fear.  I don't have answers, just reassurance that the Lord knows what He is doing, that's why we trusted Him with this in the first place.

Ultrasound day finally came and we got our first glimpse of our new baby!

For the first time it became real that there was a tiny person inside of my belly!!!!  In these pictures we found out that I was 9 weeks and 4 days along and that the baby will be due January 7th.  I was so overwhelmed to watch the fast little heartbeat, kicks and squirms of this one inch long little person! 

After the ultrasound we met back with our doctor who confirmed that everything looked completely normal and healthy for a pregnancy that early along!  We also found out that our due date will never change because early ultrasounds are really accurate.  We are now 11 weeks along and the morning sickness is starting to let up, though I am still way more tired than usual.

Sorry for the book of an update, but I figured such an important little person needed a good introduction!  Can't wait to tell you more!