24 Weeks Pregnant - My Baby Can Taste, Lungs Developing!

My wife is now at 24 weeks pregnant today. My baby girl is now just over 1 foot long, as big as a ear of corn! She now weighs over one pound and she is growing at a steady pace now and her movements are getting stronger. She is still pretty lean looking but soon she'll start plumping up. Her skin is translucent due to the thin layer but that will thicken soon. Her brain is quickly developing and she is getting taste buds. We had tuna hot dish tonight and I wonder if she could taste it... hmm.. probably not but it's a nice thought.

My baby girl is also getting ready to breathe. Her lungs are developing the infrastructure that allows breathing with little branch like structures that collect oxygen and cells that product a substance called surfactant. Surfactant will allow air sacs in her developing lungs to inflate and collect air once she leaves the womb and she takes her first breath! I suppose it makes sense since we're almost to the third trimester in a couple weeks here.

My wife is doing well. She is really starting to feel large and I think she feels a bit self conscious. We went grocery shopping tonight and the female clerk asked her if she was having the baby in a couple weeks. She said no, I'm only 6 months along, and the clerk couldn't believe it because of the size she is currently at. I try to reassure her that everyone is different and gets pregnant at different rates.

It's also harder for her to exert herself and get around so I'm trying to help by carrying everything, opening the doors for her, and letting her have plenty of time to rest. I also get her water constantly. When in doubt I always refill her cup because she goes through so much. We hear staying hydrated while pregnant is absolutely crucial and many pregnant women don't get enough liquids.

Name Update: We have not picked out a name yet for our baby girl. Well at least not officially. We are keeping it a secret because there are so few secrets left. I will say we are very sure of our first choice and do have a second choice picked out, but that could change of course. We are thinking of the middle name also, it may be a tribute to a late grandparent, but we're not sure. Either way I will Update you here when we announce it to the family!

Sympathy Weight Update: I think I'm leveling off, same weight as last week, 205 lbs, my sympathy weight gained stands at 20 lbs so far! Now that Christmas is finally over I can start eating more healthy and exercising. I need to stay healthy for my baby.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as an Rutabaga, what the heck is a Rutabaga?!?!

See How My Baby's Growing at 24 Weeks

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Ear of Corn!

23 Weeks Pregnant - My Baby Can Hear and Dance!

My wife is now at 23 weeks pregnant today. My baby is now about 1 foot long, as big as a large mango! She now weighs just over one pound and her sense of movement is fully developed and she seems to be dancing in there. Blood vessels in her lungs are quickly developing and getting ready for breathing. She is now becoming accustomed to loud noises like our dog barking.

I've begun talking to my baby. It was a little weird talking to my wife's belly at first, then it became less weird. I even tried singing to her. I sung "Oh Holy Night" to my my little growing girl. My wife laughed when I got to the high soprano part. It also had the dual effect of putting me in the Christmas spirit and in a good mood.

Unfortunately, this week and today my wife is getting the Round Ligament Pain again that I spoke about in Week 19. It is a brief stabbing sensation that usually only lasts for a few seconds or also can be a dull pain which she feels in her lower abdomen between her groin to just under her belly button and along her hips. If you traced a line of a high cut bikini swimsuit that's where the pain is. She keeps telling me she wished I could feel it so I would understand. I keep offering to stab my stomach, but when that doesn't work I just try and be supportive.

Tomorrow we have another doctors appointment, the regular check up. We're thinking our midwife might change and move up our due date a little (now it's 4/15/12) because in the sex determining ultrasound at Week 20 the baby measured larger than it's supposed to be at this point. I'll update you next week about that.

We were wondering some more if her belly button would pop out soon. It's still an innie but it might not be for long. I keep joking that it might sound like the button popping out of a turkey when it's done when we were younger. I did some searching and found that this is a common concern among women. Apparently, some women are quite annoyed with their belly button sticking out so much and even go as far as taping it down so it doesn't show with the clothing they wear. That made us laugh but then my wife said, "that would annoy me too!"

Just to be fair, since this blog is about my sympathy weight in addition to my wife's pregnancy, and because I've been showing pictures of her belly, it's only fair that I show mine! Now this picture really shocked me that my belly is as big as this is, but I shouldn't feel bad because this is how she feels everyday but worse right? This is my heaviest weight of my life, 205 lbs and my sympathy weight gained stands at 20 lbs so far! Time for some exercise for real now. Starting tomorrow... or maybe after the new year.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as an Ear of Corn believe it or not!!! Ouch

See How My Baby's Growing at 23 Weeks

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Large Mango!

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22 Weeks Pregnant - Developing Tooth Buds

My wife is now at 22 weeks pregnant today. My baby is now 11 inches long, about the length of a spaghetti squash! She is now almost one pound in weight and is now beginning to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more pronounced, and she is even developing the buds of new teeth under her gums!

If you could see inside the uterus this week the baby would have a fine hair covering her called the lanugo and would be have wrinkled skin until her body fills out her skin all the way. Also, her pancreas which produces essential hormones is starting to form.

They also say this is when my wife's belly starts becoming a hand magnet and they are right, and for me too! I'm starting to feel the baby stronger now and have even been able to see the movement on the outside of the belly tonight! Also, her belly button is expected to pop out anytime now but for now it's still an innie.

She hasn't had stretch marks yet. We discovered that despite all the information and creams that claim to prevent them, getting them is actually hereditary and using creams won't prevent them. However, it does help to use a good moisturizer. My wife is also reading a book about breastfeeding. It is quite interesting, but the pictures made us laugh, they are a little over the top.

This week we are finally going to start preparing the nursery. Until now it's been my art studio/office/guitar room/pet room/storage room but soon with some paint and decorations it will become a beautiful nursery for our little girl. Since I like painting, I plan on painting the walls for her with blue skies and puffy clouds and rolling green hills and trees. I don't think we are going to just paint the room pink, that's too boring!

Sympathy Weight Update: 205.5 lbs! My highest ever! I had my yearly physical this week. (I turned 31 yesterday by the way) and they suggested that I start exercising. They are right, it should help with the extra pounds but also with the stress that comes with the pregnancy.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as a Large Mango believe it or not!!!

See How My Baby's Growing at 22 Weeks

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See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Spaghetti Squash

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20 Weeks Pregnant - IT'S A GIRL!

Click Here to See the before and after of our Sex Determining Ultrasound on 11/22/2011!

That's right, it is a girl!!! We got the sex determining ultrasound a week and a half ago but I had to refrain from posting the results because we were waiting to tell our family and my mother has seen my blog. Hi mom, love you!

We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy that we are having a little baby girl. It was simply amazing seeing the sex determining ultrasound and how she was moving and even shaking her head at one point. It's hard to tell from this ultrasound picture (she looks a bit more like a creature than a baby here) but she looked absolutely beautiful and they showed us her growing limbs, fingers, bones, organs, brain, and they even zoomed in the heart beating with the four chambers clearly pumping away. The heartbeat was a little faster than normal, 168 beats per minute.

So, my wife is relieved. In her family they have all girls. She is the middle of 3. She has 2 cousins that are girls, and her sister had 2. In fact the last male in the family to be born was Bob and he's 50! On the other hand, I am one of 5 boys in my family so they are overjoyed to have another girl.

We told them with a riddle poem that has the answer of whether it was a boy or a girl hidden vertically in the first letter of each line. She's so creative!

Baby Gender Riddle
by Nikki

I know you’re all wondering what will it be?
Time & this riddle will tell, you’ll see!
So will it be a historical event, where the men will have joy-
As it is rare in this family to have a boy?
Growing baby, should we buy you dolls & pearls?
If only our family isn’t tired of so many girls!
Rejoice on tax day either way,
Let’s celebrate that a baby has seen its first day!

I showed the first letter's bold for display but if you're going to use this obviously don't make them bold and using a really fancy handwriting helps to mask the answer!

It was a great idea, this could be customized for anyone's family for a baby gender reveal idea and it was really fun for them to figure out, her family really likes puzzles too so it was more interesting than other ideas like cupcakes with colored frosting inside.

We have been thinking of names, but those are still secret for now. Let's just say we're thinking traditional names are making a comeback!

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19 Weeks Pregnant - Hair Sprouting, Sense of Hearing Developing

My wife is now at 19 weeks pregnant today. We are coming up on the halfway point. My baby is now about 1/2 a foot now from crown to rump, about the size of a heirloom tomato! He or She (yet to be determined) is now about 8-1/2 ounces in weight and his or her legs are now in proportion with the rest of their body. My baby also looks very squished in the uterus according to pictures with his or her legs taking up more room. I can't imagine it! It seems like my baby would be so claustrophobic in there, but I'm sure right now my baby is not worried about that.

They also say some studies suggest that the baby will be able to hear sounds now, so I'm starting to talk and sing occasionally in a soothing voice, not sure if it helps but it's worth a try right? Perhaps we will put on some classical music to help soothe our little one. My wife is still feeling the baby move a lot however I still cannot feel through belly. She says it moves a lot but doesn't seem to be pushing forward where my hand is. Perhaps the baby is just faced another direction.

My wife is also starting to experience Round Ligament Pain. It's a stabbing sensation (I know, she has all the luck) every so often on either side as she has moved a lot or sometimes when bending over. It's caused when the ligament supporting the uterus stretches to support the growing weight.

This week we attended a meet the midwives event at Regions hospital in St. Paul, MN. We got to meet all of the midwives that deliver there and got to tour the facilities. The birth center is very nice with modern decor, wide hallways, and spacious rooms. It didn't even smell like a hospital in the labor and delivery rooms and everyone was very welcoming. The also showed us their 2 inflatable water birth tubs!

They are about 6 ft in diameter and look kind of like an inflatable kitty pool but with much higher walls and handles on the inside to help you get in and out. They said your partner can be in the tub also but said to make sure you have a swimsuit on, they had an issue where a husband decided to go au naturale! Funny! They also said they put a new cover over it each time to keep it sanitary. There is even a nice comfy leather chair for me to sit in that rolls out to a bed in case I need to get comfortable while we wait for the baby to come.

As Thanksgiving is approaching we're waiting to schedule the sex-determining ultrasound. Unfortunately it had to get delayed because we're not at 20 weeks yet. I'll let you know when it happens though and I'll deliver the big news. Stay tuned!

Sympathy Weight Update: Unchanged, 201 lbs.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as a Banana believe it or not!!!

See How My Baby's Growing at 19 Weeks

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Heirloom Tomato

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18 Weeks Pregnant - Heard the Heartbeat Again, 1-1/2 Weeks Until the Sex Determining Ultrasound!!!

My wife is now at 18 weeks. That's right, I skipped week 17, got a bit behind on the posting. However, I will catch up in this post. My baby is now about 5-1/2 inches from crown to rump, about the size of a bell pepper. He or She (yet to be determined) is now about 7 ounces in weight and is flexing his or her arms and legs. My wife is feeling the baby A LOT! She will tell me each time she feels it by saying "Baby" in an excited voice and clutching the bottom of her belly. I can't feel it yet, but I hope soon.

So far we've had 2 prenatal exams and an ultrasound at 8 weeks, and we just had another regular exam this week where our midwife measured the uterus to be about exactly 5-1/2 inches in length and we could hear the baby's heartbeat again! It was strong and normal. It was a perfectly normal 145 beats per minute and sounded wonderful. Our midwife is really nice also. She said there are many options for delivery such as a water birth, hypno-birth (which apparently is just like it sounds), and the standard epidural traditional lie on your back ordeal. So far my wife feels like the water birth may be the best option. I can get in the water with her and hold her while she goes through it. Also, they say it helps with contractions and can minimize tearing, but we'll see when that time comes. You cannot have pain medication with a water birth, but they said if the pain is too great when you're in the thick of things you can always change your mind and you're in a hospital so there are many other options. I think the thing I like best about a midwife is that they are really dedicated to a birth plan and really want my wife to make the best decisions for her and our baby. She is very supportive!

Now for the most exciting news. We have the Sex Determining Ultrasound in only 1-1/2 weeks!!! It's a little bit before the standard 20 week waiting period, but they said the technology is there to find out sooner. I can't wait to find out and be able to refer to my baby as he, or she, instead of "It." In case you're interested. I do not have a preference of a boy or a girl. Contrary to popular belief, not all men are so caught up in their own legacy to have to have a boy. I would be perfectly fine with a girl I just want my baby to be healthy and happy.

Sympathy Weight Update: Current Weight is 201. As it turns out I had some scale difficulties last week and it was totally inaccurate and had my at 192 by mistake. Total sympathy weight gained to date - 16 pounds! I would like to stay at 200 pounds or less, I've never weighed this much! I know, some of you that are older are probably laughing. "You ain't seen nothing yet, boy"

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be the size of a large heirloom Tomato!

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Bell Pepper

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