99 Days to Go!

It's hard to believe that we have less than 100 days until Peanut's due date! We have received some wonderful gifts from family and friends. Uncle Zack and Dennis sent our jogging stroller and an umbrella stroller. I can't wait to use them! (I suggested trying them out on one of the cats, but Doug nixed that idea pretty quickly.) We also got a bouncer from Julie. Seeing
Peanut's room start to fill up with baby stuff is making this all seem so much more real.

We have started to read to Peanut each night before bed. We read the book "Daddy Hugs," which I got for Doug right after we found out that we were expecting. Research says that the baby will recognize a book after he or she is born if it was read a lot during pregnancy.

I am thrilled that Peanut has finally moved off of my bladder after being parked there for over a week. The pressure made just about everything uncomfortable. I guess having to go to the bathroom six times a night is good practice for getting up for nighttime feedings.

Here is a picture from 25 weeks and 5 days. My belly is definitely growing. I've noticed that I have to bend forward slightly to see my toes now!

24 Week Update

Last weekend, we cleaned out the room that was our office and began to get it ready for Peanut. Our nursery furniture was delivered on Saturday. Doug put the crib together on Monday night and the changing table together tonight. They look great! My mom is giving us the rocking chair she used for me and my sisters, which will be a wonderful addition to the nursery. We still need to get decorations for the room - things for the walls, a small area rug, curtains, etc.

We went for a follow-up ultrasound today since Peanut was not cooperative at the 20-week one. The tech was able to get the necessary measurements, but she was not able to get as good of a view of the heart as she wanted. She said as far as she could tell, everything looked great, but she wants me to come back in four weeks to see if she can get a better view of the heart. And the baby has gained some weight in four weeks - he/she now weighs one pound, eight ounces.

I also had my 24-week check-up today. I have gained a whopping seven pounds in four weeks! The doctor didn't seem concerned and said this was necessary "catch-up weight," as I had only gained several pounds before this month. Now that my foot is pretty well healed, I'm looking forward to exercising again and hopefully getting a better handle on the weight gain throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Here is a belly pic at 24 weeks.

23 Week Update

I have really been slacking on updating the baby blog! The last few weeks have been busy. My broken foot is healing well, and I'm back in normal shoes (no boot, no crutches). Doug and I went to Atlanta last weekend for a conference I had for work. It was the baby's first time on a plane, and he/she was fairly active.

There are 119 days left until the due date, and I'm getting anxious to meet Peanut. I can't wait to hold him or her!

Mom and Dad Pemberton ordered our nursery furniture, and it's being delivered on Saturday. We have not cleaned out the nursery, which is currently our office. We hope to get that done soon so we can get the nursery set up and ready for Peanut's arrival.

Our good friend Sara is throwing us a baby shower in early November, and we're very excited! More details to follow.

Finally, we bought some clothes for Peanut - two fleece onesies, which will be great when our winter baby is born. It is kind of tricky to find gender-neutral baby clothes, but I'm sure Peanut won't need a lot of clothes to start.

Below you can check out the 23 week belly pic as well as the outfits we bought for Peanut.

20 Week Update

We were scheduled for our 20 week OB appointment and an offical ultrasound on Friday. The OB appointment ended up being canceled because the doctor had a patient go into labor. We were able to go to the ultrasound, but Peanut wasn't too cooperative. Peanut decided to roll up into a ball on the left side of my uterus and wasn't interested in changing position. The ultrasound tech tried to get him/her move by pushing on my belly, but Peanut was stubborn.

The tech wasn't able to get the measurements she needed, so we'll have to go back again in four weeks to try again. We did find out that as of Friday, Peanut weighed 12 ounces - right on target.

We are feeling a lot more kicks from Peanut. At first I could only feel them if I was lying down, but now I'm starting to feel them during the day as well. Fun!

Below are the 20 week ultrasound pictures and a belly pic from 20 weeks, 4 days.

Baby's Feet

Baby's Spine

Profile

Profile (Doesn't Peanut have a cute nose?)

20 weeks, 4 days

Mid-Week Update

I never got around to the 19-week update last week. Things have been very hectic. On Sunday, I fractured my left foot walking down our front steps. As I have been told, balance is off when you're pregnant. My balance was off when I was walking down the steps, and I tried to compensate by turning to keep from falling forward on my belly. In doing so, I broke my foot. The good news is that I didn't fall and my belly wasn't affected. The bad news is that a broken foot hurts like hell and the only thing I can take is Tylenol. I have an appointment with an orthopedist on Friday to find out how severe the damage is and how long I will need the walking cast and/or crutches.

One of my students told me that she has broken bones and has also had two babies. She said that breaking a bone is far more painful than giving birth. If she's right, I'll be in good shape!

We also have two baby-related appointments on Friday - the 20 week checkup with the OB and a 20 week "official" ultrasound. The ultrasound will be more in depth than the previous ones at our OB's office and will confirm that the baby is developing appropriately and on schedule. Look for pictures soon!

18 Week Update

Sorry we missed the 17 week update. The camera batteries died, and we finally replaced them to take a new belly pic.

Peanut is now about eight inches long (about as long as a dinner fork) and weighs about a half pound. He or she is about the size of a sweet potato.

We received the results of my blood tests, which test for things like Downs Syndrome and Spina Bifida. Everything came back normal, so we're happy to know that Peanut is healthy.

I've been able to feel more movement - still no kicks, just flutters. I'm hoping to feel more distinct movements soon, and Doug is really looking forward to being able to feel the baby from the outside.

We went to Babies r Us to create our registry last weekend. Whew - that is overwhelming! We are lucky to have friends with babies who have looked over our registry and tell us if we're missing anything important.

Here is an 18 week belly picture - I actually look pregnant now!

16 Week Update

Peanut is growing fast! He or she is about 6 inches long, about as large as an avocado, and weighs about as much as a C battery. We had an ultrasound on Friday. Peanut was moving all around. Peanut kept bringing his or her hands up to the face and kept crossing and uncrossing his or her legs. We even got a thumbs up from Peanut, but the doctor couldn't snap the picture fast enough. We learned some good news. At our 12-week ultrasound, the doctor noticed that my uterus was heart-shaped, which could increase the chances of needing a c-section. Well, in the last month, the baby has grown and pushed the center of the heart out of the way, so now my uterus is normal in shape. Yay! And I gained another pound, for a total gain of three pounds.

First is the 16 week belly picture. My belly is starting to get a little rounder.And here are the ultrasound pictures - you can see how Peanut's hands are up at the face.