22 weeks- 5 months

Well we've made it 22 weeks.  I have been pregnant for 5 months!  From here out the baby is given a new "fruit" only once a month instead of weekly according to The Bump.

This "month" we're a papaya.  Yum. I should go and get one of those......
Over the next few weeks there's quite a lot of variability in weight and length at this point because babies grow differently and at different speeds.  Here's Sprout's "mile stones" for week 22- (from baby2see.com)

• The fetus reacts to loud sounds.
• Baby starts having a regular sleeping and waking rhythm.
• The mother's movements can wake her baby.
• Taste buds are forming on your baby's tongue.

Sprout is kicking a lot more and Chase can feel the kicks most of the time he puts his hand on my belly.  I drank some OJ last night and Sprout had a dance party! Some of the kicks are actually a little painful though, especially when Sprout is using my bladder as a trampoline.  I also find myself getting a little distracted in a room with a patient when Sprout is moving and kicking and using me as a punching bag- I have to remind myself to FOCUS!
My co-workers have started a contest to see who can guess mostly closely the babies weight, birthday, sex, and baldness.  Most of them have me delivering after August 1st.  Thanks guys.  I'm thinking once the summer heat hits I'll be ready to get this over with.  I told a few of them that I'll be on my sister's trampoline come the end of July!
We also started our registry per request of a few people.  We started it at Amazon  (click for the registry) but I figure people can go there to see and then buy something from Wal-Mart or Target if they want.

Here's me at 22 weeks pregnant:  not the best picture but Chase wasn't home.

I have a confession to make...

Last night I was watching Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern.  Now typically his show goes to weird countries and he eats things like Balut eggs (which are basically a fetal chick still in an egg- beaks, feathers, and all) or fried tarantulas or blood stew; HOWEVER, last night he was in Louisiana.  I love cajun food.  Alligator and crawfish aren't "bizarre foods" to me.  Then they went to Willie Mae's Scotch House. She has the best fried chicken EVER apparently-(again not a bizarre food).  Well,  Mr. Zimmern was going on and on and on about how good that fried chicken was.  I couldn't get it out of my mind.  I wanted, no NEEDED some fried chicken!
So- at 8:00 pm Chase and I got in the car, drove to Chicken Express and picked me up a drum stick!  Chase got some fried chicken too.  It was wonderful.  Probably not as good as Willie Mae's but it was just fine by me!

21 weeks- are we there yet?

I still have no idea how to upload photo so you can click and make them bigger, sorry Jessica!  I'm looking a little rough anyways so bigger is not always better.  But here I am, this morning at 21 weeks.   I had to get Chase to take the picture this morning because I was wearing black and blended in with the couch behind me when I took the photo in the mirror.  LOL.  Aaaand because I had Chase take the picture I couldn't keep making him re-do them until I was happy -so excuse the tired look and the messy hair:

So what's going on at 21 weeks?

I'm swollen.  My legs have what's called "pitting edema"- I can push my finger in to my shin and I get a pit. I know pregnant ladies swell but I didn't think that would happen so soon. I've decided to cut out basically all salty foods (good bye Salt and Vinegar pringles) and see if that helps some. 

My boobs have a mind of their own.   I had to go to Target this morning because I needed to buy a new bra.  Chase doesn't seem to mind the increase in volume there.  LOL.  I actually had to go up 2 sizes- sheesh.  I hate to think where I'm going to end up!

My shoes are a little tight but I refuse to give up my heels.

I've got my energy back-  We had tons of company this week and we are expecting even more.  My parents came and stayed for a week and overlapped my brother and sister in law from Illinois for a few days.  My parent left Sunday and my brother left last night.    Chase's Dad, brother, sister and all the significant others will come up on Friday- so we can add another 6 guests, 2 dogs (in addition to ours), and possibly one child? to the mix.  I'm glad I can stay up past 8:30 now.  I'm also re-covering a rocker with grey corduroy and sewing a few crib sheets.  I also plan to recover the Boppy Pillow I got at the Just Between Friends Sale.  It was $7.00 and was the best deal ever considering the actual price of a Boppy.

Here's what Sprout is doing- 

We're up to nearly a pound now and the length of a banana. The fetus is steadily gaining fat to keep warm. Growth rate is slowing down but organ systems, like digestion, are continuing to mature. A waxy film, called the vernix caseosa, is being produced by your baby's oil glands and covers the skin to keep it supple in the amniotic fluid. Buds for permanent teeth are beginning to form. (from webmd) 

I read in another book that Sprout is drinking the amniotic fluid which apparently changes with what I eat.  The more varied MY diet is the more likely Sprout will be less of a picky eater.  Studies have shown that if a baby was exposed to certain foods/ flavors in utero they're more likely to like the food later.  I'm still not eating tomatoes.   

Sprout has been moving more and more.  Chase actually has felt a kick once or twice.  I think Sprout is doing leaps and kung-foo when she gets food she likes.  (as seen below!)

Halfway there

I'm 20 weeks today;  that means (considering a "full term" pregnancy is 40 weeks) I am half done cooking Sprout!  I guess I am actually looking pregnant instead of just fat because I've had a lot of people ask me when I'm due.  Though they're braver than I'd ever be and they should probably be more careful.- I have been asked that same question when I was just a little fatter than usual and NOT pregnant and boy does that hurt.  I've gained only 6 lbs from when I first found out I was pregnant but my belly definitely protrudes more, which is something I'm starting to come to terms with and something I actually kind of like.  It was hard to deal with initially - I just felt fat and since I've struggled with weight basically my entire adult life, it's a little hard to let go of those body image issues.  BUT- it's growing on me (ha ha ha).

That's a shot of me at 19 weeks.  It's not great but....

Here's Sprout's  update:

So Sprout's a cantaloupe this week.  Seems huge- and weird considering next week the fruit is a banana- to me a cantaloupe is WAAAAY bigger than a banana, but I digress.   Apparently for the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.   (Which may be why he turns into a banana next week?  Who knows.)

Sprout is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his (hers?) digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery which may indicate distress- so hopefully we don't see it til diaper time!)

Just another quick post-

2 posts in as many days- aren't y'all lucky?
Little Sprout is already spoiled rotten and she hasn't even taken a breath yet!!  My nurse Randi bought Sprout a lovely picture frame- one for the ultrasound photo and one for the "welcome to the world" photo.  She was very proud of it and wanted me to show it off.  Sprout's profile view is already in place.

Pretty cool huh?

Baby's First Photos/ 19 weeks

We had our ultrasound today and everything is going well!  We measured at 19 weeks 4 days (technically we're 19 weeks even so pretty darn close).  The ultrasound tech was wonderful.  She'd been doing u/s for 20 years and knew where to look and when to tell us to close our eyes so we wouldn't see the baby's genitals.  At the end of the appointment she said  "only God and I know the sex".  She's right.  It's weird to think that a stranger knows the sex of my baby when even I don't.  The reason she looked was to make sure everything was ok (and it was).  We bought the DVD of the ultrasound and we got some pictures.  I took a picture of the pictures so please excuse the poor quality  .But here for your viewing pleasure---- SPROUT!!

profile view

profile view- kissing knees

profile view- sucking thumb

power fist!

For the typical post-  Sprout is the size of a "mango" this week.  

From Babycenter.com - Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom.  Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.  Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.