Week 12

Hi Baby!

HAPPY EASTER!

 

I love Easter! It is one of my most favorite holidays. I can't wait to celebrate with you and see you all dressed up in your Sunday best, hunting for eggs and digging through your overloaded Easter basket. It's going to be so great :) We are headed over to Mary and Joe's house (your Grandma and Grandpa Gordon) in a little while to share a nice meal together......probably ham, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, homemade rolls......mmmmm I love it all!!

 Here are some pictures from this evening:

Your Mom and Dad.

Your Auntie Allison and her beautiful centerpiece.

Our Easter loot!

It is the last night of Spring Break, we'll have to make it an early night so tomorrow morning isn't so rough going back to school. BUT - tomorrow afternoon we have a doctor's appointment with Dr. Mary Janowiak. It is the first official apt. with the Doc so I am really excited to meet with her. Later in the week we have another ultrasound apointment too. I'll update this post afterwards with some new pics of you  :)

Here are some developments about you this week:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.
Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Love ya baby, me

Week 11

Hi Baby!  

This week was GLORIOUS Spring Break for your Dad and I. It was pretty cool weather last weekend, but it has turned warm and beautiful the last few days. I went down to Arizona and visited my Grammy and Grandpa Cudnohufsky (your GREAT grandparents) for a few days. Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Henry were also there visting from Alaska. It was a really great trip. I shared the big news about YOU with them - of course they were absolutely thrilled. It was so much fun to tell them all in person instead of over the phone. Then I had to call Aunt Cindy and Uncle Michael/Aunt Kim/Cousin Chase back in Michigan and share the news with them too. They are all very happy and excited!

Here are a few pictures that I took (Henry has some really good people shots, so I'll have to update again later):

While I was gone your Dad refinished/stained all of our kitchen cabinets. We are getting new granite counter-tops soon (exciting I know) and we wanted to update a few other things in the house first. Last night we installed new handles and knobs on all the cupboards, put warmer light bulbs in the kitchen lights and replaced all of our ugly brass doorknobs in the house with pretty brushed nickel knobs. We are chipping away at making our little nest nice and cozy.


So here are some Week 11 preggo developments:

I haven't gained any weight (actually lost a few lbs), but I feel like I am expanding around the middle a bit. My clothes are starting to get a bit uncomfortable.  This week I purchased my first official 'maternity clothes' - two pairs of leggings and a black & white striped tunic (like a dress). Also, my Momma mailed me a cute wrap-around blue dress with white flowers. I think it will be really comfy. Still feeling icky nauseous, mostly in the evenings. But your Dad is still pumping me full of good food - ALL THE TIME.

Here are some updates about you:

Your baby is starting to look less alien now. Woot. He or she has hands and feet, a tongue and a nose and some bones are starting to harden. See ya shark baby, you look more like a chicken nugget with legs now. Just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, she is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

Pretty cool!

P.S. Your Dad and your Auntie Allison think you are a girl....I think you are a boy - who knows yet!!! But we will be finding out and sharing the news as soon as we can ;)

Love ya, me
 

Week 10

Hey baby!

Had an appointment with a nurse in our Doc's office this week. It was just an initial 'Here's everything you need to know about being pregnant' meeting. Which was kind of annoying because I have been reading obsessively about everything, so she didn't tell me anything new. But whatever, they did take some blood to check on a few things, so that was worth the trip. Any positive info that I get about you and your progress just makes my day :)

I have been feeling....better than last week....but still pretty weird. Super tired, very nauseous, hard time sleeping through the night. But 'they' say that all these things are good signs that you are doing well. I had a half-awake half-asleep moment of clarity last night......it might sound weird to say, but I had this strong feeling for the first time that something was really missing from my life - that something is you! I had this aching, yet really happy feeling that you will fulfill a little empty space in our lives that we have been unknowingly saving just for you. You are so loved baby :)

 

So today is St. Patrick's Day! The Gordon Family has a tradition of eating corned beef, cabbage, carrots/potatoes and soda bread for the holiday meal. Your Grandma Mary is an AMAZING cook - there are so many meals that she has made that make my eyes roll back in my head with joy. However.....this is the one meal of the year that I could live without! I think its the smell of cabbage that really turns me off ~ but I love spending time with our family ~ Grandpa Joe, Auntie Allison, Great Grandpa Mac, Great Grandma Thelma and your Dad of course. We all always have a good time together. I am looking forward to seeing everyone tonight. 

  

Here are some updates on your growth this week:

How your baby's growing:

Though he's barely the size of a cherry — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Grow baby grow!   

                   Love you baby, me

 

Week 9

 Hey baby - This has been a bit of a rough week......Maybe TMI - but I am going to document here anyway  - I have been SUPER congested all week - which drains down my throat at night and makes me cough and sneeze and now I have a wretched scratchy throat. I actually pretty much lost my voice the last several days. Plus - I have been getting ripping headaches every afternoon. I also still feel like a total zombie by the afternoons.....napping is not normal for me ~ until now. Everything I read says that these are all typical symptoms.......Ugh. I basically spent this entire weekend in bed, resting and trying to recoup for the upcoming week. Your Dad has been a superstar. He has been really patient and helpful and sweet. Luckily there are no major hunting, fishing or other important sporting events these days, so staying close to home has not be too torturous for him. :)

 Check out this amazing fruit plate your dad made for me.

I have an appointment later this week with a nurse in my Doc's office ~ Just a routine checkup ~ but I will update here with any interesting news.  I think about you basically ALL THE TIME. I love learning about how you are growing and developing ~ human development is pretty amazing. Here are some more details about where you are at this week: 

(keep in mind we have no idea if you are a HE or a SHE - that's just the way the website is written)

 

Your baby has grown to the size of a grape, weighs a fraction of an ounce, and is almost 1 inch long

  

She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Pretty cool baby! 

         Love you lots, me