It's a......!!!!!!

Healthy Baby!!!!!!!!!! Yup, we're still Team Green.  We didn't cave. 

"Hi Mommy.  I'm having a dance party in here.  Tell the tech, 'just TRY and get a good picture!'"

Seriously, s/he was having a great time moving around in there!   Nevertheless, we still got several photos and the tech was able to get all of the measurements she needed.  Baby is measuring right on target at 20 weeks.  The heart rate is about 150.  I also had my 20 week appointment today.  And I'M measuring right on target in both size and weight.

Patrice, today's midwife is my all time favorite.  I LOVED her!  Seriously, I want her to deliver the baby.  Not only is she absolutely hilarious and the type to set you at ease, but she thinks I'm perfect.  Well, I mean, who am I to argue with THAT? 

But really, every thing is healthy with me.  I don't weigh too much or too little.  I'm not gaining too much or too little.  I exercise regularly, but not over the top crazy exercise.  (I walk, do the elliptical for a bit more intensity and have started yoga.  Running had to go out the window in the first trimester.)  But all that said, I loved her advice of not stressing about the "should and should nots" of pregnancy, but instead, just love each other and the baby, because that's the best thing we can do for the baby.   It was her one sweet moment among many irreverant ones.  :)  Also, I feel like she included Joel in more of the conversation than many of the others have in the past.  But, we'll see.  I don't get to schedule a midwife.  When the baby comes, whomever is working with be the one to deliver - which is why I now rotate through and meet them all. 

Another picture?  Okay!

Maybe I'm biased, but those are two of the cutest little feet that I've ever seen.

Half way there!  I can't believe it.  Time has flown by and I assume will continue to do so.  In the couple of months we have two trips planned, my parents coming into town, and other minor (but exciting) things coming up.  Then it will be summer and I'll really have to get into gear getting baby stuff ready.  I feel really lucky to have had such an easy pregnancy so far.  I hope it continues as things get busier!  

Baby Stats for you (as this child is kicking me!  wow!):
-Weighing in at 10.2 ozs and measuring at about 6.5 inches, this baby is about the size of a cantaloupe.
-Has working taste buds
-Baby is gulping down several ozs of amniotic fluid each day.

(Is it weird that these last two facts go together?  While I'm intensely curious what those taste buds are tasting, I have to be honest... I'd never want to try tasting amniotic fluid!)

Happy Thursday to you all.

Boy? Girl? Ultrasound is next week!

Okay, so the truth is that we are NOT going to find out if we're having a boy or girl at next week's ultrasound, but for fun I thought we could speculate today.  Here are some old wive's tales.  I've highlighted the ones that apply to me.  Some of this may be a bit "TMI", but, for accuracy sake (is there such a thing when it comes to OWTs?) I've included it all... well, except for most of the stuff about my breasts, because... well, my dad reads this.  But all you analytical types, don't stress.  I have taken care of you.  I deleted one item from each list and nothing was highlighted.  So it should still be accurate.  HA!

It's a boy if:

• You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy.  (I had mild morning sickness - no actual throwing up).
• Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute.
• You are carrying the extra weight out front.
• Your belly looks like a basketball.
• You are carrying low.  (I'm carrying in the middle)
• You are craving salty or sour foods. (I am this trimester!)
• You are craving protein -- meats and cheese.
• Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy.
• The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy.
• Your hands are very dry.
• Your pillow faces north when you sleep.
• Dad-to-be is gaining weight right along with you.
• Pregnancy has you looking better than ever.
• Your urine is bright yellow in color.
• Your nose is spreading.
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles.
• You are having headaches.
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number.

It's a girl if:

• You had morning sickness early in pregnancy. (Again - it was mild - not sure where this goes).
• Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute.
• You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear.
• Your left breast is larger than your right breast.
• Your hair develops red highlights.
• You are carrying high.
• Your belly looks like a watermelon.
• You are craving sweets. (First trimester this is mostly all I wanted!  But now I'm not as much)
• You are craving fruit. (Again - this was big during the first trimester).
• You crave orange juice.
• You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy.
• You are moodier than usual during pregnancy.
• Your face breaks out more than usual.
• You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. (But I ALWAYS have - so does this REALLY mean anything, I think not.)
• Your pillow faces south when you sleep.  Okay - seriously - how can you tell, because it seems to be that your pillow would either be north/ south OR east/west.  But this "it's facing north" business doesn't make sense.  I mean, if one side is facing north, isn't the OTHER side facing south???  So how are you supposed to tell?
• Your urine is a dull yellow color.
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side (both ways have happened.)
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number.

I've also looked that the Chinese gender prediction calendar on few different websites.  It usually tells me boy, but sometimes comes up girl.  It just depends on how THAT website calculates the Chinese lunar calendar. 

All crazy speculation aside, I really don't care what we have...as long as it's not a donkey.  (That's right, Joel!  I'm putting in on the record: NO donkeys!)  I originally thought we were having a girl.  But I felt like that before even getting pregnant - and have no basis for feeling that way.  Lately, I have kind of felt like it was a boy.  Again - no reason to think it. 

Reasons I prefer a boy:
1. We really struggled to find a boys name that we liked, but once we figured it out, I found that I actually like it BETTER than I like our girls name.
2. I think every little girl needs a big brother.  So, it would be great if we had a boy first.

Reasons I prefer a girl:
1. Dresses
2. Tea parties
Need I say more?

I guess the saying is true: "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" 

And check it out... I managed to find a way to style my hair that I like!  (And... read the sign for sure this time!)

So what do you think?  Is my belly more like a basketball or more like a watermelon? 
Baby Stats:
-Size of a mango (6 inches, 8.5 oz)
-Developing a protective coating over his/ her skin
-Nerve cells for the 5 senses are developing

The Dreaded Mom Cut

It's true.  I am mortified to admit it, but I now have a mom haircut.  It wasn't supposed to be this way. 

On Monday evening, Joel and I returned from a trip to TN.  Thursday morning we have guests coming to town for a long weekend.  That gave me two days to clean our house, go grocery shopping at both stores.  (Yes - I have a two store grocery routine). I also needed to buy random things like a spare pillow and some much needed hangers, etc., and prepare for and teach all of my piano students.  Well, two of my students will still have to be on Thursday because I couldn't get them into those two days.  Nevertheless...

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling exhausted.  I was at the tail end of a bug that completely wore me out.  And then I also had all of this to do.  I was tempted to reschedule my haircut knowing that would take 2 hours of my day.  (Sometimes it's annoying that it takes 30 minutes to drive to and park someplace that's 2 miles away.)  But the problem is, it sometimes takes a couple of weeks to get into see Megan.  She's fantastic and reasonably priced.  Besides, I figured I could use that to wind down in the middle of the day, right? 

I won't lie.  I was feeling very stressed Tuesday morning, and relieved to go do something relaxing.  I arrive and Megan and I quickly discuss what's to be done: a trim.  She asks if I want my layers freshened up a bit.  Yes.  That would be great.  She begins and our talk turns to running and traveling and I was having a lovely time.  The hair cut is looking good and Megan starts to blow it out for me.  I close my eyes.  Then my thoughts go something like this:

"I know I'm not sleeping, but my eyes are so heavy."
"I should just leave them shut for a few minutes."
"Hmm, she's cutting again.  Well, she didn't really freshen up the layers yet.  I'm sure that's what she is doing."
"I'm so comfortable.  Just don't fall asleep.  Don't fall asleep."
"Still cutting?  Maybe I should open my eyes."
"Eh - it's Megan, she's always does great cuts, why am I worried?" 

A couple of minutes later I open my eyes.  Horrors.  Those aren't freshened up layers.... oh no... that's straight up a mom haircut she's giving me.  Crap.  What do I do?  Well, I have two choices... Have her fix it and have a much shorter haircut.  SO not what I want.  I was TRYING to grow out my hair.  OR... leave it and see if I can work with it. 

I opt for the second. 

So here I am, day 2 of the cut.  Still can't stand it.  Although, if I pull back just a bit on both sides, it doesn't look bad.   It's just when it's down all I can think is "mom cut". 

Maybe I was putting off some mom vibe.  I AM pregnant after all.  But we didn't discuss baby things - not even ONCE.  Joel tells me it's not bad at all.  However, he is married to me and therefore it's in his interest for me to be happy.  So, I'm not entirely sure he can be trusted in this instance.

Thankfully, my hair grows quickly.  And maybe as the days pass I'll figure out other ways to style it that make me hate it less.  If not, I'll bite the bullet and chop it.  I'd rather have a short cut that I like and wait forever for it to grow out again. I think. 

Obviously, I will not be posting a picture for you to look at and mock today. 

However, since I missed my week 18 post...

Week 18 baby stats (nearly a week late):
-About the size of a sweet potato (5.6 inches and 6.7 ozs) and growing
-Baby is yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing
-Baby is twisting, rolling, punching and kicking.  (I THINK I felt the baby last week, but I haven't felt anything since...) 

I'll be impressed if you read all of this post.

This past week has been fairly uneventful.  I'm not gonna lie - I'm 93% happy about that.  No drama, no stress, nothing to worry about.  All of that is good. However,  I AM a little impatient to feel the baby move.  But word on the street is that I may still be waiting a few weeks for that.  Oh well.

Monday I went out to Falls Church.  I cannot describe how much I hate going out there!  BUT - they are home to the best music store around and I needed to pick up some things for my piano students.  While there I went to Old Navy who was having a sale.  Unfortunately, their maternity section was lacking.  I did find 3 tops that I really like- two of which I'll be able to wear now (on warm days) and until the baby gets here.

On Tuesday, I visited my friend Kate.  She's lending me a bunch of maternity things.  Since she was due in January, there's not a ton for me to borrow, but there were a few things that should take me through most (if not all) of my pregnancy.  Mostly though, I was really happy to have a couple of sweaters.  The weather went from sunny and 70s/ 80s to cold and - well, I have no idea what the temperature is.  But I've been extremely thankful for a wider selection of clothes - including some warmer ones! 

This past Thursday, all I wanted to do was clean the house.  And that's what I did.  I scrubbed the bathrooms, dusted, did 4 or 5 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, sorted through things.  It was a very productive day.  By Friday, I had no interest in anything to do with cleaning.

You're still reading all of this boring stuff?  Wow.  I am impressed!  Surely you have something more entertaining to do!  I'd reward you when I see you by sharing my Vlasic dill kosher pickel spears, but let's be honest, I've eaten 1/2 a jar in 24 hours.  I'm not likely to share.  Sorry. 

Alright - on to the good stuff!

Baby Stats:
-Size of an onion (5.1 inches; 5.9 oz)
-Cartiladge is turning to bone
-Gaining muscle and fat
-Growing a thicker, stronger umbiblical cord

16 Weeks and All Is Well

This past week has been great.  Outside of our appointment there is really nothing to report.  I don't "feel" pregnant - other than this growing belly on me.  I've had no 1st trimester-like symptoms, but I can't feel the baby moving yet. 

Our 16 week appointment went great.  Juli (the midwife) had me lay on my back and showed me how to feel where the baby is since I can't actually feel the baby moving yet.  It seemed so obvious (and in the past I kind of wondered if it was the baby I was feeling) but it was nice to have her confirm it.  We also got to hear the heartbeat (a strong 158).  I never, never get tired of hearing that.  I understand why so many women buy home dopplers to listen to the heartbeat.  But those dopplers can be unreliable and cause you to stress out when there is no reason to worry.  And who needs that?

The other news from the appointment was that we got the results of the NT scan.  That's the ultrasound that tests for the likelihood of Down Syndrome.  Well - baby scored a 1.1.   Juli told us that 1.8 was basically the average of a "good report".  2.5 is when they consider you at (high?) risk.  So basically, 1.1 is really, really good.  So excellent.

This is probably a good time to explain why we keep seeing a midwife.  Our practice is "Physicians and Midwives".  At each appointment they try to schedule you with a different doctor or midwife so that you rotate through and see most everyone.  Assuming everything is going well through the pregnancy and delivery, a midwife actually is the one who is there in the delivery. The midwives spend more time with you and basically do most of the work.  However, if there are any complications, a doctor steps in.  In the time that I've been going to this practice, I've had appointments with 4 different doctors and 2 midwives.  Overall, I have been really happy with the practice. 

Time for my belly picture.  Now, before you think "well my goodness, NOW she looks pregnant," I would like to point out that my belly really hasn't a lot in the last week.  It's just that this outfit shows it off much better.  Also, I would like to point out the one thing that a few people have now said to me that really irritates me.  It is "You're not even showing yet."  You know what I hear when people say that?  "Honey, you've always looked that fat."  Ahhh!  Alright - here it is!

I realize that it's nearly impossible to read this sign.  I liked the idea, but I didn't want to buy a chalkboard and chalk.  I hate chalk.  It makes my fingers itchy.  But the whiteboard - especially when we're outside - is SO hard to read.  This one just says that it's week 16 and I'm feeling happy.  (Not only was it a great appointment - but check out what's going on in there!)

Time for Baby Stats:
-Heart rate at time of appt: 158
-Size of an avocado (4.6 inches; 3.5 oz.)
-Tiny bones are forming in ears - so s/he can listen to me now
-Growing hair, lashes, and eyebrows
-Forming tastebuds

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!

I do believe that I was the one person in America that was excited about last week's time change.  At 8 PM on Saturday night I was completely exhausted.  (I blame it entirely on the process of registering - more on that later.) But - I couldn't go to bed, it was only 8.  I decided to get ready for bed and then read for awhile.  Well, at 8:40, I suddenly remembered the time change.  Oh yes, you know what that means... It was the same as 9:40 - which is almost 10 - which is a perfectly acceptable time to go to bed.   Happy.

Joel was sick this week and spent a few days home.  Since he slept in, so did I.  It was SO nice to get so much sleep.  I don't even know the last time I felt so well rested.  That said, I am very ready to get back into a regular routine again this coming week. 

So - the registry - wow.  Joel and I spent 2 hours at Babies R Us and added a whole 9 things to our registry.  At least it was some of the bigger stuff.  I think I was ready to be done before Joel was, but then he got the toys.... I mean the scanner and he got to look up things online.  We'll obviously have to go again, but we knew this would be a multiple trip process, so that's why we started so early. 

Here I am at 15 weeks.  Joel and I have decided, though, that I need to wear solid colors in the photos.  And perhaps lay off the dresses.  I look so much more pregnant in real life than I do in the pictures and these dresses haven't really done justice to what my belly looks like.  However, it was 80 something degrees when we took the photo - so that explains the sundress in March.  I wish I had been measuring my belly.  I have a feeling I'm gonna be huge.

Baby Stats:
Size - 2.5 oz and 4 inches. 
-Proportions becoming much more normal
-And squirming a ton (although I can't feel it yet).

The First Picture Day

I'm back!  And in theory, will start posting weekly - or more.  We'll see how that works out.  But for now, lets just look at fun pictures, shall we?

So there you have it.  Baby Fortner - 13 weeks and 1 Day old. (Yes, I know - the picture is a week old now!) This little one caused Mommy to "pop" this week.  All of a sudden I found myself with a belly and a closet full of clothes that *almost* don't fit.   Guess who went shopping today?  Thankfully, I'll be able to borrow or buy (for cheap!) most of my maternity stuff from friends.  But I wanted to get a couple of things before I really did run out of clothes to wear. 

Yesterday was the start of week 14.  I'm officially into my 2nd trimester and feeling fantastic - most of the time.  The past couple of days I've been ravenous.  Two weeks ago the midwife told me I should start gaining about a pound a week.  Well, I haven't so far.  But if this hunger trend continues, I am sure I will.

Baby Stats:
-About the size of a lemon - but not the weight.
 (approximately 3.4 inches and 1.5 oz)
-Able to suck thumb and wiggle toes