2nd Trimester Screening

Went very well! Our baby girl is still definitely a girl, so I think we're going to go ahead and register next weekend. I'm too excited for this, as I never got to go around with the scanner gun thingy when we registered for our wedding, so this is my moment! :-P

Enough talk, here are some pics from the ultrasound:

Everything looked great according to the u/s technician and the dr. She was moving around like crazy, so she made it a bit difficult for the tech to get the measurements. Could be the chocolate chip cookie mama ate right before. :-o She had her little fists balled up the whole time, which is totally what I tend to do with my fists all the time. And they said her ears are a "good size" which I interpret to mean she's got Adam's ears! Haha I guess girls can hide their bigger ears with long hair. :-P We got the whole hour long u/s on dvd again, which was great. I'll probably watch it again tonight... I just can't get enough of her!

They want to see me again for a follow-up ultrasound in 6 weeks because the ultrasonic blood flow measurements were a tiny bit high. They said they should go down by 22 weeks, so there's still some time, but they do want to monitor it, since it can be an indicator of pre-eclampsia. Fingers crossed that everything with that is OK!

Let's call her Mia...

As in Hamm, because this girl is kicking like crazy. OK, OK pardon the terrible joke, but hubby just felt our little one kick for the first time! I finally felt her move from the outside this morning, but he was at work. Tonight we were laying in bed and I had him rest his hand on my lower belly, and after a couple minutes, she gave a little tiny thump. He didn't react, so I asked if he felt that and he got all disappointed and said no. Not but two seconds later she gave a big ol' thump and I'll never forget the look on Adam's face that instant. He welled up right away and started exclaiming, "That was her! She moved for me! I felt her!!" He was so proud and happy... It was the best moment ever. :-)

After asking around online I wasn't expecting him to be able to feel her until at least 21-23 weeks, but nope, 18w3ds! Ever since I had that stomach flu thing this week, she's been kicking and moving around tons. Hopefully she's feeling ok in there! On Monday I have that 2nd tri screening, and I can't wait to get another look at her. Counting down the minutes...

18 Weeks

And I don't think I'll be posting a belly pic today. Adam and I both got this horrible stomach puke flu yesterday and spent the day in bed (and running to the toilet). Today we're better, but still super weak and a little queasy so in bed we'll stay. I couldn't keep a single thing down yesterday, so I was really worried about the baby, but the dr.'s office said I don't need to go in to ER unless I'm puking 6x in one hour (as bad as it was, it wasn't quite this often). I'm just glad I can finally stomach a piece of toast today.

I'm really looking forward to our 2nd trimester screening (I suppose what people call the "big" ultrasound) next Monday. I can't wait to get another look at our little princess!

*edit
I couldn't help but feel bad not including a picture for this week. What if by next week I have some massive growth spurt and will never be able to distinguish precisely at what point it happened? What if my child one day wants to see this particular week in her gestational development in mommy's belly? Here it is, minus my face, because it ain't pretty...

I think I may be cheap...

I received an insider tip on the internet about a sale. An additional 50% off clearance items at Old Navy. I mean I'm not one to be particularly partial to ON, but they do have maternity clothes, and, well, I am getting rounder... So we went! I scored a bunch of tops for like $2.50 each! AND two pairs of pants (jeans and a pair of corduroy pants - I know, I know, I haven't worn corduroy since high school either, but they fit kind of cute) for $7 each! For $7 I'm not arguing with cords. I'll be sure to denote in the future when I'm wearing some of my cheapie finds.

I got such a rush from saving all that money that I think I may try to *gasp* save even more money in the future.

I've Been Awarded!

I have received this lovely Happy 101 award from TWO of my fellow blog buds. Hi Our Little Man & Mr. and Mrs. C and Baby Makes Three!

The rules: 

List 10 things that make you happy.

Pass it on to 10 bloggers that make your day a better one!

1. My wonderful husband (I have to put him first, right?)

2. Cheese

3. Free samples of anything. Delightful!

4. Teeny tiny adorable baby clothes.

5. Playing board games.

6. Lazy rainy days in bed (like today)

7. Finding $5 in the back pocket of a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in 6 months.

8. Updating my wedding registries. Yes, I realize I've been married for nearly two years, but I love going back and adding things to my little "wish lists" even though I totally realize nobody is going to buy me any of it. It's almost as good as shopping.

9. Cake batter. Oh how I miss it so... I haven't had any in months!

10. And I saved this one for number 10, my lucky number: Feeling my baby girl move and thinking about meeting her in a few months!

Now it seems like I need to pass it on to 10 bloggers, and I suppose I can't repass it to those who bestowed this award onto me. I read tons of blogs, so I just picked a few out of the many that I enjoy. I've listed them in alphabetical order as to not show favoritism, and because I am completely anal retentive. :-)

Baby Foreste

Da Fashionista

Falling for Baby

I am either really funny... or batshit crazy

My Two Red Shoes

Our Family Photo Blog

Our Peaceful Little Life

The Long and Winding Rogue

Transatlantic Blonde

Wes and Kimberly Llewellyn

Footsie

My husband feels that purchasing these is essential to our child's upbringing.

I mean, I'm not going to argue with him. Though I really feel these are equally if not much more important ;-P

17 Weeks

How far along?: 17 Weeks
Total weight gain: Still hovering at that same weight...
How big is baby?: An onion! How robust...
Maternity clothes?: Yes, the time has come. Though I can still wear regular long tops I have.
Stretch marks?: Stay away, please?!
Sleep?: I still require sleeping in daily, but I wake up every morning at 5 and toss and turn for an hour.
Best moment this week?: Hearing baby's heartbeat again at my 17 week appt. today. 140s!
Movement?: More and more often, and it's still amazing every time.
Food cravings?: Pasta and anything garlic-y!
Gender? Girly girl.
Labor signs?: No no no!
Belly button in or out?: Innie, but I think it's getting more shallow.
What I miss: Beer. I want beer all of a sudden.
What I'm looking forward to: My next ultrasound on the 25th... Can't wait to see her again. Plus I want to know one more time that she is a she before I start ordering furniture and bedding.
Milestone: I suppose the following conversation should count as this week's milestone:
Me: "My boobs now touch my stomach"
DH: "It's so sexy!"
Me: "Ich! It's so National Geographic."

Yeaaaahhhh... Anyway, this wasn't the best pic out of the few I had DH take of me this week since it looks like I'm trying too hard to stick my belly out, but I couldn't resist how hysterical Benny looks :-) That aside, I feel like I've grown a bit since last week!

The name game...

I am having such a difficult time finding the right name for our baby girl. Nothing is standing out and screaming THIS IS PERFECT to me, and I'm just getting more and more frustrated. I'm beginning to get angry at all the parents who have named their children the names I really like, causing them to be in the top 10 lists of names. WHY did Olivia, Ava, Sophia, and even Lila become so popular?! I came up with Lila when I was 12. Yes, based on the snobby girl in the Sweet Valley Twins books. A friend who is 6 weeks ahead of me loaned me 2 massive baby name books so hopefully they'll produce something magical for me. Adam really likes the name Charlotte, but I'm too scared to commit to one name just yet. Help me.

Laugh at my expense.

Oh dear God, it's happening. I'm losing control of my bodily functions.

It began today innocently enough. Someone at work said something funny. As I proceeded to laugh hysterically, a teeny tiny fart came out. Surely the sound of my cackling muffled it, yet I realized that my great fear is inevitably going to come true: I will toot against my own will.

Fine enough. This evening, as I was preparing to take my bath, something happened again. I let out a hearty sneeze... and peed myself. Just a smidge. As embarrassing as the situation sounds, it did make me laugh. At least I was about to get in the tub, so I didn't wet my panties or anything, but still. I had to ask my hubby to bring me the carpet spray reserved for when our dog pisses on the carpet (which we're proud to announce is extremely rare now. If only I could take after him).

Isn't it MUCH too early for this nonsense?!

16 Weeks!

How far along?: 16 Weeks

Total weight gain: I think about 6 pounds or so...
How big is baby?: A beautiful avocado!

Maternity clothes?: The couple designer jeans that I bought are still too big, so I either need to buy a cheap pair of jeans to fit in the meantime, or continue in the unbuttoned jeans/bella band/leggings vain for a while longer.

Stretch marks?: Stay away!
Sleep?: I'm tossing and turning every night. I keep waking up on my back, which is strange, I never enjoyed sleeping on my back before.
Best moment this week?: Feeling a little tap for the first time!

Movement?: I think I feel her at least once a day, and it's so exciting as I'm feeling her more and more!

Food cravings?: I'm hot for Quiznos at the moment.

Gender? Girl!

Labor signs?: No no no!
Belly button in or out?: Innie, but I just know it will be an outie eventually.

What I miss: Sleeping through the night. This morning I realized that I will never sleep well ever again.

What I'm looking forward to: Dr. appt next Wednesday, and feeling stronger movements soon!

Milestone: Feeling movement, and little taps the last couple days.

I guess I'm at the 4 month mark now! For the last two days I've felt a couple little taps, which is so exciting. I can't wait for Adam to be able to feel her move around in there. Two nights ago I woke up with the most excruciating side pain, which freaked me out, but it went away after 10 minutes, so I can only assume it was gas. *blushes*

Other than that, I've been feeling pretty great, which is wonderful! I guess this is the honeymoon phase everyone refers to. I still feel tired often, but it's not anything to complain about. Now we need to start making some decisions about the nursery. We've narrowed the furniture choice down to a couple options, but I am having a horrible time selecting the bedding. I just feel like nothing is quite perfect enough - I want the best for my little girl! And if I do like something, it's LITERALLY $969. For some fabric that the baby will sleep/pee on. Ouch! I wish I had some mad sewing skills. They would really come in handy right about now...