15 Weeks and Feeling GREAT!

Wow, I cannot believe that I am already 15 weeks preggo! That means roughly only 25 more to go... :-) I am feeling MUCH better now and I have been getting out of the house with Isaac much more often these days. I am busy planning my 10 Yr High School Reunion, to take place August 2010, so that keeps me busy too. Thank goodness for toddler naps. Ha! Arie's schedule has been pretty nice, although, this weekend he is on-call Friday AND Sunday...yuck! Isaac is now singing every song he knows to the T. He can sing you his ABC's, Itsy Spider and Twinkle word for word...he's adorable and so sweet!

Week 15 Update:

How your baby's growing:Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

14 Weeks, Our Little Lemon

This week the baby is the size of a lemon. I have been feeling a little btetter during the past two days so that's a good thing. And, I have been wanting to eat tons a of fruit, veggies and cheese, which makes me feel better too.

Week 14:

How your baby's growing:
This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

13 weeks and counting...

Wow, so time flies when you're busy (or sleeping a lot!). :-) We celebrated Isaac's 2nd bday this past weekend and had so much fun with our family in town. Erika and Jake drove down from Omaha and spent a couple of extra days with us. (And, thanks for the new swingset, Isaac loves it!) The birthday theme was trucks and bulldozers and we had about 25 people attend. Isaac had so much fun with all of his friends. We even had a little tractor pinata, which the kids thought was great! I really cannot believe that my little baby is two years old. I just don't want the next couple of years to go as fast as these have. It's so important to enjoy each day to the fullest and remember that the "tough" days don't last forever.

As far as the pregnancy goes, it's been a little rough. The morning sickness has subsided some, but now I seem to have endless migraines. Just trying to take it easy-sleep a lot, stay around the house, take hot baths at night, go to yoga and read to relax. It seems to be working some, but boy will it be a good day to wake up feeling refreshed and energized! (I think my body is telling me to take it easy because with two little ones I may not be sleeping as much. :-) OH, and I felt the baby moving for the first time on the night of Isaac's bday, August 3. It actually woke me up in the middle of the night and the baby was all balled up on one side of my belly. It was really cool, and I look forward to feeling the baby move more as the pregnancy continues.

Arie passed his Step 3 exam!!!! This means he can get his TX License as a physician! Go Arie. We are so proud of him. We are looking into a program called HealthFind/HealthMatch which gaurantees physicians a job after residency at a certain rate in a rural town within TX. They also pay you a stipend while you are in residency and then you owe them the amount of time you've agreed upon. Although, both of us are not small town folks by far, we both agreed that it would be pretty neat for him to be the family doctor for an entire town or city (all 50,000 people or less, most of them are 10,000 people or lessin the town). So, we will be getting more information about that soon too.

My August HypnoBirthing classes are full which is definite plus. We really need the money right now and I love teaching my classes. It is "my" time and it makes me take some time away from the house. :-) I am hoping to have a full schedule for the fall and look forward to teaching more moms about gentle, calm natural birth. I have also applied for a couple part-time jobs (one in particular that I think I would love, and hope to get an interview). Isaac will be attending a Children's Day Out program beginning Sept. 1 on Tues/Thursdays from 8:30am-2pm. It's at a local church (http://www.mbagchurch.org/) and I think he is ready for more interaction (and it will give me some time alone with the new baby once the baby is born).

We have chosen our careproviders for the birth! Christine Messarra (http://www.houstonmidwives.org/index.php?id=99) will be our attending midwife and we will be birthing in the comfort of our home. We will have a back-up OB, Dr. Hofmann, at San Jac Methodist in case of a transfer. I will be having prenatal appts with both careproviders to form relationships with both of them. In addition, the two of them will be meeting in September to meet each other and to talk more about the care I will be recieving. We are so happy to have found the right match, and we are really lucky that Dr. Hofmann has agreed to go along with us in this journey.

Well, I guess I had a lot of catching up to do, but I will wait til next time to write more.

Here is the week 13 update:

How your baby's growing:Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.See what your baby looks like this week.