21 Weeks

This week definitely flew by!  The excitement of finding out we are having a girl is still fresh.  We get to call her "Ruby" all the time now, which makes it all seem more real.  It is such a change going from "him/her" and "the baby" to "Ruby."
She is just hanging out, kicking a lot, rolling around, and growing!  Time is going to fly I think.  We have so much to do to get ready, and with receiving several gifts at the party and for Christmas, we need to get a closet cleaned out soon!  I hope to buy something ourselves soon for her...we haven't bought a thing!

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

The Big Reveal!

  

The beautiful cake!

Made by Heaven Scent Cakes in Cartersville.  Until we cut the cake, the baker and the doctor were the only ones who knew the big news!  The proof picture was locked up in the glove box of my car all night.

We had everyone write their names on the big pink or blue baby decorations according to their prediction when they arrived to the party.

 We placed the cake out on the table and my mom noticed that the icing was beginning to wrinkle on one side....so we quickly put it back in the fridge so it wouldn't slide down and spoil the surprise!  Hannah was standing guard!

 Me and my mom

 Cutting........

 And..........

 It's a GIRL!!!!!

 A beautiful, delicious pink cake to celebrate the big news. 

The vote was completely split, 10 voted for boy, 10 voted for girl.

I didn't vote. :)

 Then lots of yummy food (compliments of my mom! thanks!) and fellowship with our closest friends and family!

 Corey and his bff

 Bethany shooting up the insulin before partaking in a piece of cake.

 Christi, Aggie, Me, and Bethany

The kids waiting to leave.

This was one of the most exciting things we've ever done! Several people asked how in the world we were able to resist "cheating" and looking at the picture.  To me, it wasn't that difficult, because we had such a fun party planned and were looking forward to sharing it with everyone.  

After we cut the cake I got out the picture that the doctor had sealed up for us.

It is definitely 100% a GIRL no doubt! ha ha ha! I won't post that picture for you, ha ha.

So....we are all thrilled!  The absolute best news we got yesterday of course, when we got the clean bill of health for the little one.  But, the joy is just added in knowing that a sweet little girl is headed our way in May.

Her name will be  

Ruby Faith.

It's a Boy or a Girl!

And here is his/or her beautiful profile!

The scan went fantastic today!!!!!!

All the parts are present and accounted for.  The lady who did the scan is also one of the doctors.  She did not make fun of all my nerdy envelopes and requests.  I was kind of anxious about that part, ha ha.  Sometimes ultrasound people act like they hate their jobs, so I was very please with the experience.

I had an envelope with a piece of paper to mark for the bakery people.  I also had an envelope for the gender pics to seal up until tomorrow night.  And I had one more envelope with pictures like the one above with no revealing information showing.

We were able to watch the entire thing and she told us when to look away to keep the gender a surprise.  She was able to get the gender shots easily I am assuming because it only took a couple of minutes and she was done and we were able to look again.  She was so great!

The results were sealed in the appropriate envelope and we took it straight to the bakery.

I am very thankful and relieved that the baby is growing well and looks perfect!

And we get to enjoy more excitement tomorrow night as we find out if we have a little girl or boy coming our way in May! :)

20 Weeks!

We're halfway there!  Tomorrow is the big ultrasound and we'll get to see the little one bouncing around.  Hopefully we won't see any "goods" accidentally so the cake reveal will remain a surprise even to us.  We plan to take the results straight to the bakery so we can get the cake made in time for the party on Thursday night.
Here's more about 20 weeks:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel. (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.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his 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).

I will probably update again after the ultrasound in the morning.

Fatigue!

So, how do you tell if you are just super tired and fatigued as a normal pregnancy symptom, or if you are anemic?
The thought had not even occurred to me until today when I posted about my extreme tiredness on the babycenter birth board.
I can't believe I didn't think of it before, because I always seem to think of it for other people when they have the same symptoms!
I have always been great about taking vitamins.  I love salads and healthy foods.  But I have not been very good about either one of those things since about 8 weeks along.  I know...BAD me!  The vitamins were making my sickness MUCH worse so I got out of the habit.  And I've not been making up for it very much with my diet since even with the sickness gone my appetite has still been really picky.
So....I guess I am going back to the pills today.  If it will help me be more functional and less extremely fatigued and help me be healthier, then I really need to do it.  Please pray that the vitamins won't make me sick again!

19 Weeks!

Almost halfway there!
In just a little over a week we will know BOY OR GIRL and can hopefully start calling him/her by a name.  That is, unless it's a boy then Corey and I will have to hire a mediator before we can decide on the name.
Here's more about week 19:

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.
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.

I am still feeling pretty good, but have started being uncomfortable at night, so I don't sleep well.  I don't recall this happening so early before.  My hips get sore from laying on my side but I can't lay on my back because it isn't long before I am extremely uncomfortable in that position.  Tummy sleeping is totally out now.  I am getting a snoogle for Christmas and am counting down the days in hopes that it will make a big difference in my sleep habits!

The View From 18 Weeks

In exactly two weeks I'll be posting the big news: BOY OR GIRL?!?!

Our ultrasound is on December 22nd...a year TO THE DATE of this post and when we got the devastating news confirming our first miscarriage.  How sweet that God timed our year this way!

18 Weeks!

Another week with no posts in between! We are just hanging out and doing the school thing these days.  We drove down to see Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens this past weekend.  I had to take two pills that day, but for the most part I am only needing 1 a day now and feeling good most of the time.  Here is all about the sweet potato this week:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long, and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His 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. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Just two more weeks until the big ultrasound and the reveal party.  We have a lot to keep us busy so it will go by quickly!