Week 27: Clearly... not so clear!

Today I am officially 27 weeks prego. It's hard to believe by the end of this week, I will be in the 3rd trimester! It's incredible, and really truly sinking in.

Baby:
Baby weighs 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his or her legs extended. Baby is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing its eyes, and perhaps even sucking its fingers (which we've seen, so yep)! With more brain tissue developing, baby's brain is very active now. While his/her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if baby were to be born now. Last night I had a braxton hicks contraction lasting the entire night, but found out that is okay. Baby E/C kept me awake for most of the night, with it's tightly cramped quarters, he/she was trying to get comfortable I think. Poor baby!

Mommy:
GREAT! Despite the lack of sleep, occasional (new) heartburn, and backache... I am doing really good. I get more and more excited as the time to bring our baby into the world draws nearer. A few weeks back I rewrote our birthing plan, and I keep revising it, and probably will up until the day of the birth. I was talking with my mom today, and realizing just how close this really is. Each week, I am amazed at how my stomach stretches even further, and how the baby's kicks become even more frequent, and I can sense the baby is more alert to my voice, and our singing, and the conversations I have with Ted - I feel like he/she knows our voices!

Funny stories (hence the title): I hope these make sense.
1) In the drive thru Starbucks (me driving), birthday gift card in hand, we ordered our drinks and went to pay... I handed the lady my Starbucks gift card, she went in the window, came back out and said, "Do you want to keep this? It has nothing on it." My brain wasn't working, so I responded with, "Oh let me have it back, I will take it back to the person and let them know there wasn't any money on it." She looked at me weird, and handed me the card. After she went inside the window, Ted said "No baby, she used all of the money on the card already." I felt like an idiot; I literally thought that the card had NOTHING on it.

2) I had to call and reschedule an appointment with the clinic, due to a snow storm, and I told the lady, "Today I am supposed to meet with Patty @ 1pm, can I reschedule." She was away for a second, and then came back and said, "Hon, I have a Monday morning @ 8 with Jenny." I then replied, "Oh... that's weird, I'm pretty sure they scheduled me for today @ 1 with Patty." She said, "Hon, you wanted to reschedule, so this is the earliest I have." Again, felt so spacey! I can't believe my brain!

Tonight adds my 3rd funny story:
3) Wednesday night's I have girl's nights with friends beginning with snacks and America's next top model, and ending in laughter and/or deep conversations usually. Tonight was one of those times for laughter. Well, a commercial for a new type of dr.pepper came on and I didn't think before I spoke and said, "That can is really creepy... it's like black..........and red." LONG PAUSE as my friend's were taking in what I had said, then they busted out laughing. Mostly because the ironic thing is my favorite colours are black and red, and our entire living room and dining area is asian theme with black and red!

In the moment, these were all a lot funnier. I just had to add them!

Alright, I am still unsure about doing a week 27 photo, because we just took week 26. I am waiting to see if I feel like I am growing anymore, and then if I do I will post one this week. That may sound weird, but I can actually feel for two days straight, when my stomach is stretching and growing. It's usually when I finally get comfortable with where I am, and then bam, some more stretching. I'm still waiting for those stretch marks to come to this short torso body of mine!

Love much,
Jami & Baby E/C

Week 26: A time to rest or A time to nest?

Well, here they are - week 26 photos. Two posts ago, I posted the info on Baby E/C, so check that out.

I am feeling super antsy lately, at every second I need to be doing something. Within the last month, I've deep cleaned things that I never have, I've sorted, organized, and even thrown things away (which is a huge deal for this pack rat). Today Ted and I were talking about why I am like this so suddenly, and wondering if it is because we can't quite begin the setting up of the crib, or painting, or buying/making things, or even do the registry yet. We are so close, with so much to do, but can't do most things yet. Mostly due to events we have coming up this month, pushing our nesting into May.

I used to wonder why my mom was always moving, or always felt the need to do something productive, and now I believe 110% that it is a motherly-instinct thing. I used to be able to just chill, do nothing, and not care about it, and now it's incredibly hard for me! I would say pray for me, but I actually love being like this- at least right now. I guess, just pray for balance with it, that way when it is time to just chill and do nothing, I will.

Also, I've really been feeling nauseous again, along with having some low lows and high highs emotionally which I haven't really struggled with since the first trimester. I actually feel like I am newly pregnant again. I even have intense bouts of exhaustion, where I must sleep NOW. That hasn't happened for a while either. Please pray for me, because I am the only one in the web department this quarter, which means I need my mind alert!! I had to take a nap twice this week during my web slots!

Seriously I am almost done =)
I have two funny stories to post about my prego brain, but I will write those with the week 27 update.

Love
Jami & Baby E/C

Week 26: Finding Perfect Peace.

Baby: The network of nerves in baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He or she can now hear both Ted and I's voice as we chat with each other and when we sing to it at night. Baby is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his or her lungs. (These breathing movements are also good practice for when baby is born and takes that first gulp of air.) And I can tell that baby is continuing to put on baby fat. He or she now weighs about 2 pounds and measures 14 inches! Quite the mover still. I awake to him or her kicking up a storm, usually around 4 am, consistantly! I think it's God preparing me for the night wake up calls for feeding! I don't mind it though =)

Momma:This past week has been the most stressful week yet. I've given into fear, and being stressed out more than a pregnant woman should. But I am seeking His perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3) in all of the newest changes. This morning we had a checkup at the clinic and this was the first time I had to go without Ted, which was hard. I haven't had the best experience in the clinic, and today was yet again, a disappointment. It's hard to have a birth plan and place totally altered. I used to just get through the appointments knowing that I wasn't going to be them throughout this entire, incredible process. Now... this is my reality. I am going to be going through this clinic, and having one of their 6 midwifes deliver my baby. I will say I have been treated nicely by 4 out of the 6 midwifes (so let's pray I get one of them). There are two that I really like, and I am praying one of them will deliver our baby.

Anyways, if you think about it, please pray for us. This has been a really rough week and I am seeking peace, but I honestly am not quite there. Ted is feeling total peace about having the baby at the hospital. I am NOT against hospitals I promise, it's just that I had a birth plan and it's gone... maybe that's a bit dramatic.

Alright, well photos to come. I have now gained 20 pounds, which freaked me out a bit, cause I'm only 6 months 1/2, but thanks to advice (thanks Hannah), and the fact that we are down the mountain, and living in a safe neighborhood to walk in... I'm hoping to only gain 10 more pounds at the most.

Please know too... my greatest heart's desire is to see our baby born safe!! Although I keep talking about our altered birth plan, this truly is my hearts desire.

On a much lighter note... I've started to get "charlie horses" like none other. I've never really dealt with these before, I sneeze and my legs cramp up SO bad. One night I freaked out, I was in so much pain, that I woke Ted. Poor guy! Thought I'd share cause it's kinda funny!

Thank you for caring and for praying for us!
Love,
Jami & our little sunshine =)
(Photo above: i found a bib and onesie that had "daddy's little sunshine" on them, and I will purchase them someday soon)

Prayer Request: A Change of Plans.

Yesterday morning Ted and I found out that I am Group B Strep positive. I took a test for a bladder infection and they found not only a bladder infection but that I was GBS+. Clinics usually do a screening between the 35th and 37th week of pregnancy, but because of the bladder infection test, they found this out a lot sooner for me. I am so grateful.

What is GBS?

Group B streptococcus is a type of bacterial infection that can be found in a pregnant woman’s vagina or rectum. This bacteria is normally found in the vagina and/or lower intestine of 15% to 40% of all healthy, adult women.

Those women who test positive for GBS are said to be colonized. A mother can pass GBS to her baby during delivery. GBS is responsible for affecting about 1 in every 2,000 babies in the United States. Not every baby who is born to a mother who tests positive for GBS will become ill.

Although GBS is rare in pregnant women, the outcome can be severe, and therefore physicians include testing as a routine part of prenatal care.

How does someone get group B strep?

The bacteria that causes group B strep normally lives in the intestine, vagina, or rectal areas. Group B strep colonization is not a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Approximately 15-40% of all healthy women carry group B strep bacteria. For most women there are no symptoms of carrying the GBS bacteria.


Now that I have tested positive for Group B Strep infection...

If you test positive for GBS this simply means that you are a carrier. Not every baby who is born to a mother who tests positive for GBS will become ill. Approximately one of every 100 to 200 babies whose mothers carry GBS will develop signs and symptoms of GBS disease. There are, however, symptoms that may indicate that you are at a higher risk of delivering a baby with GBS. These symptoms include:

Labor or rupture of membrane before 37 weeks
Rupture of membrane 18 hours or more before delivery
Fever during labor
A urinary tract infection as a result of GBS during your pregnancy
A previous baby with GBS disease
In this case your physician will want to use antibiotics for prevention and protection.

According to the CDC, if you have tested positive and are not in the high risk category, then your chances of delivering a baby with GBS are:

1 in 200 if antibiotics are not given
1 in 4000 if antibiotics are given

How can I protect my baby from Group B Strep infection?

If you test positive for GBS and meet the high risk criteria, then your physician will recommend giving you antibiotics through IV during your delivery to prevent your baby from becoming ill. Taking antibiotics greatly decreases the chances of your baby becoming ill.

For women who are group B strep carriers, antibiotics before labor starts are not a good way to get rid of group B strep bacteria. Since they naturally live in the gastrointestinal tract (guts), the bacteria can come back after antibiotics. A woman may test positive at certain times and not at others. That’s why it is important for all pregnant women to be tested for group B strep between 35 to 37 weeks of every pregnancy.

How does Group B Strep infection affect a newborn baby?

Babies may experience early or late-onset of GBS.

The signs and symptoms of early onset GBS include:

Signs and symptoms occurring within hours of delivery
Breathing problems, heart and blood pressure instability
Gastrointestinal and kidney problems
Sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis are the most common complications
Newborns with early-onset are treated the same as the mothers, which is through intravenous antibiotics.

The signs and symptoms of late-onset GBS include:

Signs and symptoms occurring within a week or a few months of delivery
Meningitis is the most common symptom
Late-onset GBS is not as common as early-onset
Late-onset of GBS could be a result of delivery, or the baby may have contracted it by coming into contact with someone who has GBS.

The information from above is taken from the link at the bottom of this blog.


Jami speaking now:

Of course I hoped for a healthy pregnancy, and this doesn't mean I still can't have that. I was a mess yesterday, I ended up making myself sick and I even got my second migraine (of my life) from the stress and the crying. I slept the afternoon away, trying to calm myself down for the baby's sake. I am asking for your prayers, because I am very up and down about this. I am afraid, I won't lie. I think the hardest part for me is feeling to helpless in this. I have 15 weeks until our baby will come and until then it's just waiting this out, once labor hits I will get an IV with antibiotics every 4 hours during delivery, in order to protect the baby from GBS. So that hard part is the waiting for the day of delivery, and waiting to see if my baby will have GBS or not. Please pray for our baby's safety!

Our plans for a home birth, as of right now, are put on hold. We've been advised to have the baby at the hospital, so I can be hooked to an IV with antibiotics, and just in case the baby is born with GBS they can take fast action. As you all know, my heart's desire was to have a home birth, but my greatest heart's desire is to have our baby safe and healthy.

If you know of anyone who has had this or if you have had this while pregnant, please talk to me! I want to hear a bit more about this, and just how serious or not serious this could be.

Thanks for listening & thank you for praying for our baby!
Love,
Jami

Week 25: Baby & Momma & a Confession.

6 months, 1 week, and counting...

Baby:
So cute: baby is able to touch and hold his or her feet and make a fist. I just read, Ted may be able to hear his or her heartbeat by pressing his ear against my belly! I heard it through a stethascope 3 weeks ago, so I don't doubt it! Head to heels, your baby might now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His or her weight — a pound and a half, which may not seem like much, but baby is beginning to exchange his or her long, lean look for some baby fat. As he or she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and baby will start to look more and more like a newborn. Baby is also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture - SO curious about that one!!

Momma:
Nesting always on the mind, backaches are kicking in more everyday, I've begun to get swollen if I am on my feet to long, and that actually really hurts! It's harder for me to sleep a night through anymore; whether I am up to the bathroom or tossing and turning to get comfortable. I MUST sleep with a firm pillow between my knees or not sleep at all anymore! It's kind of crazy to me how fast these changes came, but I'm not complaining ...yet =). The best part of each new weeks growth: our baby's movements getting stronger!! I can see now where the baby's head is. That might sound weird, or actually maybe it's not even baby's head now that I think about it. But I can see a little bulge a lot these days!

Okay so I have a little confession... I LOVE my big baby bump. As we take every week's new baby bump shot. I tend to make it exaggerated, and I have never yet sucked this belly it, or tightened the muscles. WELL, I recently read... you should be tightening the muscles kind of like "sucking it in"! I was mortified, and bummed all at once. So I am going to try that, it really hurts when I do it now. My muscles have been chillin (well stretching) for the past 6 months. Oh man!

I've got to run to worship practice, but thanks for listening to me babble.
Love,
Jami & Baby E or C

Week 25: Nesting On the Mind.

Nesting. 6 months and 1 week... it's hard to believe how close we are to meeting our baby! It seems so far away still, but baby needs time to finish developing, and God's still working on Ted and I, not to mention the fact that we are just now able to move into our home again!! We officially move down from our mountain campus friday! AMEN, seriously.

I dream of nesting, I wake up throughout the night sometimes to get myself comfortable, and begin thinking about nesting, I constantly talk to Ted about ideas, things we need to buy or put on our registration... I never go a day without thinking about something to do with nesting. It hit me a while ago actually, but now that I can officially start, it's been on my mind 24/7!

We've decided to not make an entire nursery for the baby and it's things, but instead to have him or her in our room, and a rocker and play things in our living room. The reason being; our second bedroom is the perfect nursery size but it's actually kind of a far walk to get to the baby in a hurry. We just decided that the crib would be next to my side of the bed, and I am going to sand, prime, and paint a low dresser we have for it's changing table, so everything we really need will be in our room.

We are (hopefully) painting our living room red to match our asian theme we've had since being married, the accent colours will be burnt yellow, and black. My mom is going to help make curtains, and Ted is helping me hang all of our wall art! I can't wait. Our room we finally decided, will be painted a burnt yellow. We wanted to make sure when we opened our door to the living room the colours didn't clash, BUT we also wanted to use the Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night wall art as our main focus. We originally thought blue, but I'm not huge on blue anyways. Burnt yellow will work for both rooms.

Now this doesn't sound like much preparation for the baby coming, but this is a start to getting our home to feel more home like, and comfortable! Ted and I are finding ways to save money, be thrifty, and still get what we need before the baby comes. It's hard. We decided, like I said above, to use our low dresser as a changing table. It's the perfect height for me to change the baby on. It will take a lot of work, sanding, priming, and painting it black but it will look amazing, or so I hope! We will then buy a changing pad, and some fun stuff for the baby to look as above it while it's being changed. We are looking for a glider chair on ebay, craigslist, thrift stores, and garage sales... hoping to find a great deal! Okay whoa. I need to write another blog, cause this one is too long. And I didn't even write an update on baby and momma yet! Haha, sorry! I am just so excited!

x!
Jami & Baby

6 Months & Counting!

Week 23 Belly Shots.

I added this last picture to show you the curve of my back. I feel huge because of it, I look in the mirror and think my body in split into two, if that makes sense. I have my growing tummy sticking way out in front, it's crazy!

Week 23: Where have my feet gone.

Here we are, week 23 already! I have my moments where I feel as though I've been pregnant forever, but most of the time I can't believe how close I am to meeting baby E or baby C! Last night I realized I have only 17 weeks before I hold my precious baby! Really, that is not that far away, I mean I've already been pregnant 23 weeks, which blows my mind!

Yesterday I had another appointment with my midwife Judy. She is truly a blessing, and I love how she let's me just be me, and be real about how I am feeling and doing, and she doesn't rush me but she listens. Yesterday was an emotional up and down day for me, and she encouraged me to let it out, to cry. I balled and told her how I feel like such a failure as a parent already; my occasional caffeine becoming a daily habit, and my food choices being Mcmuffins rather than salads... she was so sweet, listening to me cry about my bad habits. She told me she really felt like God gave us this process of being pregnant for 40 weeks to prepare us for motherhood. Of learning to be selfless, everything is not about me.

Yeah so anyways: How is baby?! Well, GREAT! Still quite the mover! Whenever Judy checks the heartbeat and she pushes on my belly our baby kicks SO hard. It makes me laugh every time she kicks her! I asked her if it's possible to have too much fetal movement, and she laughed and said that this baby is healthy and this is normal. I can't even imagine the movements this baby will have as it grows over the next few months!

Baby: Baby's sense of movement is well developed now, so he or she can feel me dancing! The baby may have grown over the past two weeks but I think it's around 12 inches & a little over 1 pound now. I can actually see him or her squirm and kick from the outside of my tummy! Blood vessels in his or her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises become familiar now. Baby knows her daddy's voice, I know it! Although sometimes he makes really strange voices while he talks, poor baby will be confused! I know it already knows Chey's little excitement squeal too!


Mommy: Today someone asked me, "Can you still see your feet?" and I looked down and I couldn't!! Already! I think the past two weeks I've become more and more aware of the fact that I am about to be a mother, each day is comes closer and closer. So God's really been working in me, to begin the preparation for motherhood, like we talked about above. Not just concerning food and how I am feeding the baby, but about my character, my fears, my trust in God and how I will portray Him to our baby. It's actually been an incredible growing time for me, I'm still growing and not just physically... a lot more growth to come. I'm ready to be completely changed by motherhood.

Yay.

Pics to come - I had a little 4-year-old ask me today "is that baby still in there", pointing to my tummy, I said Yep! it is. She then asked to see my actual belly so i showed her and she was like, "you're belly is HUGE!". It was awesome. Gotta love these moments. I was actually just thinking of how I can't remember what a flat tummy feels like. I just can't! Oh my word, so great and I mean that with everything in me. I wouldn't trade this for anything :)

x - Jami & Baby E or Baby C

Our Little Love (has my nose).

Today we had an ultrasound to check the baby's anatomy, as well as the placenta. It went super well! I always enjoy the ultrasound technician, I think she enjoys our reactions too as we see our little one squirm!

Great news - the placenta has a little lake of blood, but nothing to worry about! The loop or whatever it was, didn't show up in this ultrasound, so it's GONE! Which means, I can have a safe home birth! Praise God, He knew our heart's desire!

Our baby is adorable, I'm so in love! He or she was facing up so we could see it's cute little mouth opening and closing, we saw it's little tongue sticking out, and it's cute little nose (I think it looks like mine, but really have no idea)! Ted and I were in awe when we witnessed that. It was so clear this morning and we were thankful because we can't afford the 3D ultrasound. The baby's anatomy is great as well, it's little heart beats so fast!

They say I am measuring a week ahead of schedule, but that could be just for now, we shall see. I am hoping for the baby to be born on my mom's bday, but of course if the baby comes early I'm not complaining! Baby is 1 pound!!

One thing I probably should share... I did not and I am not finding out the sex of our baby, although I am still think this little love is a girl. Ted however... he found out! Stinker, I know! He can't handle the wait and surprise of it all, which I finally came to understand and he spent time praying and felt like he could do it and keep his mouth zipped. The midwife and ultrasound gal thought that we were pretty funny for doing this. I still can't believe he knows. It's crazy, but I'm praying that I won't find out!

This probably means he is going to mess with me a lot the next few months. He did tell my mother-in-law, but I trust her completely!!


Notice how our little ones arms cover the face. SO CUTE! (click to enlarge if you'd like)
x
Jami & our little Love

22 Weeks: Baby & Me.

Week 21: Getting To Know My Baby.

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since we've had a decent prego picture. We've been super busy, not to mention the fact that we've forgotten our camera at the perfect times and now Ted has it with him in New Orleans! Bummer, I know. I'm sick of using our mac photo booth, but next week, hopefully we will have a real prego pic!


Baby: (Remember our baby is measuring big at least for the next few weeks of this info...) baby "now" weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. (OH GOLLY) You may soon feel like he or she is practicing martial arts as baby's initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges (I DO!) The baby can hear my voice, and I know it can because when I sing to him/her, SOMETIMES it kicks baby starts moving around. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Momma:
I've felt completely emotional in a very good way this week. I've begun to really connect with our baby. Talking with him/her, singing, lying down and just feeling the baby's movements. It's made me extremely excited, and this week I've felt more attatched and in love than I thought possible. I've never met our baby, obviously, but I can't even describe the way I feel about him/her. There was a commercial I saw this weekend at my grandparents place, and I'm now thankful we don't have tv... because I almost always teared up when I saw it. It is a commercial for Gerber baby, and it begins like a wedding vow, only it's for baby. It captures my attention each time. I saw it 3 times, and I just can't wait to meet our baby!

Changes lately... I look as though I've swallowed a basketball whole. No joke. I'm loving it, but due to the most recent growth spirts in baby, I get full faster, and hungry more often(if that makes sense). I also use the bathroom A LOT more. I can now tell where he/she sits in my tummy. Right now- baby is pushing against my left side with it's hand/head and kicking me at my right. i L O V E it. I can't say that enough.

Well, this is another novel of my baby & bump. Thanks for listening.
Love, Jami & Baby E (I am actually unsure for the first time about having a girl. I mean, I am no longer convinced which means I probably should stop calling baby, Baby E...!)

Week 20: Halfway.

taken with our mac photo booth application. Thankful for this cause we forgot our canon in CO! Check out my belly button stretching!! C R A Z Y!

Week 20 info:

I spent a few hours in Barnes & Noble here in Las Vegas researching more and more about our baby, what I am feeling, how to excersise to make labor easier, eating, things to avoid... so much information, it's was great. I wrote a lot of useful info down. I've been stuck with the same books for a while now, so it was nice having new reading materials. I tried to search for a boy's name, but that is SO hard for me. We may have a middle name, we'll see. I am going to post it next to our girl's name, that way I can look at it everyday and see if I like it. (Advice from the Russells- GREAT advice).

Baby: Our baby is measuring BIG - so this size applied to the baby 3 weeks ago - I'm unsure how big the baby actually is right now. Next appointment is March 3. Baby is around 10 1/2 oz & 10 inches from heel to head! Getting so big. Baby E is swallowing more, which is helping his digestive system. I have felt the baby moving since 13 weeks, and last week it was the strongest and most frequent. This week, since saturday, I've actually rarely felt the baby. I don't know what that means, I am trusting God with it, but sometimes when I do feel baby moving, I sigh in relief. Please pray for me to have peace and the baby is perfectly healthy.

Momma:
I am hungry ALL of the time, yet I recently dropped 4 pounds (didn't know that until today). I am bummed out because I was right on track, having gained 8-10 pounds, now 4 pounds less. Please pray I can put the weight on and keep it on for the baby's sake!! (I feel baby moving now! Btw). The weight loss might have to do with the fact that since saturday, I haven't been able to eat a lot, due to where we are in Vegas and lack of money. We are being fed by the base since today, so now I am eating good! Another change, I am already getting a VERY faint line on my tummy down the middle. I also have an enormous belly button, quite squishy too. I am sleepy often, almost always needing a nap throughout the day, still able to sleep a lot at night. I am a bit more achy than I am normally. Also, I bought lotion for fighting stretch marks and THEN read in 3 different prego magazines yesterday, that it is genetic whether or not I get stretch marks. So Mom... let me know. I realized a few days ago, that with as many kiddos as I want to have, and how close together... it really doesn't matter if I get them this pregnancy or the next!

I've gotta go to bed. Please be praying for my peace of mind. We still haven't heard of what the placenta thing I have is. It's NOT a hematoma and it's NOT placenta previa. They think I had a vanishing Twin. Read into it, it's weird and it would make me super sad. I hope to someday be blessed with twins!

Thanks for listening.
Love, Jami & Baby E.

Week 18 Belly

Week 18: Quite the Kicker.

Today we had an appointment with the clinic. (We are still in the process of transferring everything over to our midwife Judy, until then we get checkups with both). Our baby is quite a kicker! Monday when we first visited with our home birth midwife, she used a stethoscope type thing to hear our baby's heartbeat, and I could actually see the baby kicking her! Then today, during our clinic visit, our baby kicked up a storm while getting checked out, and the same thing happened when they went to hear the heartbeat. I find it super funny, and can't help but laugh when I see him/her kicking like that.

Anyways, our baby is measuring 4 oz & 3 cm bigger than the week that he/she is! It explains a lot with the movement I feel often. No wonder, he/she is already measuring big! Now, this doesn't mean I am farther along than I really am, because that is almost impossible.

My heart did sink at one point, when the lady doing our ultrasound asked me, "Have you had bleeding?" and "Are you sure you didn't have bleeding at any point?" I knew something wasn't quite right. She then went on to show me the placenta had an extra "something" on it. She said it could be one of a few things: another placenta, just an extra loop in the placenta, or a hematoma (only this doesn't make sense because I never bled)... So I left still clueless as to what this is!

Please pray for the baby to keep growing, and that this won't affect him/her, so far the baby is growing A TON! I am feeling peace right now, and I'm going to call my midwife Judy soon to see what she says. The doctor at the clinic didn't seem to be worried, that made me feel a bit better.

Baby:
Is measuring, well according to babycenter.com - 5 1/2 inches. Our baby is measuring bigger, like I shared above. That doesn't mean our due date is earlier than we thought, it just means it's growing faster right now. His/her blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born.

Mommy:
Hungry often, using the restroom way more that I ever have, sleepy, and growing. I've gained 7 pounds already. One day I was weighed immediately after eating Chipotle and about died when I read the scale. The biggest I've ever been, only to get bigger :) My breasts and tummy are where my weight is, at least for right now. Thankfully!

Thanks for caring, reading my ramblings, & praying for us.
Love,
Jami & Baby E.

Week 17: Feeling Huge.

Baby:
Baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — his/her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. He or she can move her joints, and it's sweat glands are starting to develop.

Momma:
I feel HUGE this week. I think I have officially popped. I mean I know I have. You know the feeling of being extremely full or bloated or actually both?. . . well that is how I am feeling. I love that I am showing & that it is more obvious. Another change: I have already begun having braxton hicks contractions. I've heard from other mothers, being hydrated can help and I am trying to stay hydrated but that is hard in the mountains. Last night was the worst, but it's nothing unbearable. My mom was telling me when she was preggo she would look at the braxton hicks contractions as a preparation for the "big day". Apparently I have a very low tolerance for pain, and since I will be giving birth naturally, I hope to toughen up a lot before the baby actually comes! (btw-I am going without meds for my own personal reasons and convictions, which I will NEVER place on someone else, so when you read the "natural" part, please know this is for me personally).

No photo for this week, more anticipation for next week: 18.

Week 16: The Skin I'm In.

Well, here is my growing belly! I'm loving it. The past three days I've felt a really heavy and achy feeling. It's almost like I have a full bladder... you know that feeling? Only I don't have one. I hope this makes sense.

If you've been preggo before, please let me know what you think it is! I'm not afraid, only curious.

Week 16: "Popped" .

Week 15 & week 16 changes:

(Cause we forgot about week 15, somehow)

Baby:

Baby's legs are growing longer than the arms now & he/she can move all of it's joints & limbs. There is not much for baby to taste right now, but baby's taste buds are forming. Baby is now 4 1/2 inches long, weighing 3 1/2 ounces. Baby is moving around A LOT! Ted always tries to feel the baby, but it hasn't happened yet, he's been waiting  patiently so hopefully soon!

Momma:

The biggest change in the past two weeks is I have "popped" as they call it. Which basically means, my belly is now really showing, I mean it's obvious I am preggo. I wondered how I would carry, and although I still have a long while to go, I'm already loving the way I carry.

I wondered if I would carry side to side, or have a round belly, like a basketball. I am definitely headed towards the basketball look and I am excited. My tummy is poking out, & it's super hard and round. I'll maybe take pics of just my tummy next week. I could live without the weight in my chest, but maybe that means, more food for baby? Well, I hope so anyways.

The only thing that is hard right now is my back is aching already. My back has curved quite a lot. Even Ted noticed and said, "Well no wonder why your back is hurting." I actually laugh at myself sometimes, when I stand in front of a full length mirror. Oh the changes!

Thanks for stopping by,

Love,

Jami & Baby E