Week 20: Stubborn Baby Part 2

On Friday, we had an ultrasound appointment to determine how the baby is growing and developing. The ultrasound tech started by taking measurements of arms, legs, the head, spine and the body. She told us that the baby looks to be ahead of schedule by about a week and weighs around 13 ounces. 

Here is a shot of the spine. The top of the spine is on the right.

She also took a look at all the major organs and blood vessels. This time around, the heartbeat was a lot easier to capture because the baby was asleep the whole time. It was 142 bpm. We were amazed to see the heart working. Four chambers opening and closing with each beat. It definitely was not the little flicker we saw 12 weeks ago.

The heart is the black space that the line passes through.

I was talking to the tech about how we only have one profile shot of our little one because of movement or stubbornness. When we moved to the head to try to get a profile shot, the tech said the baby was faced down and sleeping. We tried poking and agitating the baby so maybe it would wake up and move. (As I write this, the side of my belly feels like it is bruised because of all the pressure we put on it trying to wake up baby.) No luck! Instead of moving, the baby popped its thumb into its mouth and continued to sleep while sucking its thumb. 

This is the best we got - no defining facial features after trying every angle possible.

Towards the end of the appointment, it was time to find out the gender. This was the part we were most excited for, but this child does not cooperate. The baby crossed its little legs in protest!

It took another 10 minutes and a lot of pressure on my stomach to try and weasel our way into a good view. The image we ended up getting was awkward and unrecognizable, but we finally know the gender of our baby! Stay tuned! We will let everyone in on the secret on July 30th! My mom wants to throw a gender reveal party while we are visiting, so I will have to secret shop until then. 

Later that night, as I was trying desperately to get some much needed sleep, I got some major retaliation from our little one. Kicking and flipping like a major kung fu movie was going on in my belly. Apparently, this is what I get for poking my sleeping baby during the ultrasound. Fine! You stubborn child! You win!

Halfway!

Yesterday marked our 20th week! Halfway through! Here is a picture of the bump for all those who have been asking!

Parental Ban

Someone should probably put a solid parental ban on my internet because I keep reading stories I know are outrageous, but they end up worrying me anyways. Like this week, I read about a python that found its way into a baby's crib and bit the baby. I guess it was owned by a neighbor, which just made me want to go door to door in our neighborhood to see if anyone had a snake that could potentially slither into my home. Luckily my cousin calmed me down after telling me that the family lived in a dumpy apartment complex and we are much safer in a full sized house located in a great neighborhood. How hard is it for the news websites to post a story about a normal and easy birth or an everyday, snake-free baby story?

If Justin had his way, the ban would extend to block all my online shopping. It would save him many text messages containing photos of the crib I want and a brief description usually something like, "This is the one! Please, please, please can we get it?" Currently, I am lusting after a nursery set at Restoration Hardware. Why does it have to be so beautiful and expensive!?! The text containing the cribs below got a one word answer, "wow", when followed up by the price. I'd like to think the wow referred to the beauty of the crib and how perfect it really is for our future baby rather than the price. I'm 100% sure I'm wrong though. 

Can you really argue with this though??

 

Girl crib above. Boy crib below.

Week 19: Baby Flips and Kicks

For the past week or so I have felt some definite kicks from our little one. Usually, its around 9 at night when I'm watching tv in bed. I will get some random ones throughout the day though. Last night, I felt like the baby was flipping. It was like a little wave in my stomach rather than a punch or kick. 

I've been trying to see if I could feel them on the outside of my belly so I could show Justin. However, whenever I place my hand where a few movements were, the baby would stop. Stubbornness again! But since last night was like a gymnast tucking and rolling in my stomach, I grabbed his hand and he actually felt the next tumble! He only got one before the baby stopped, but we are both so excited that he felt it! 

Unfortunately for him, it excited him so much that he (who was on the verge of sleep) got all sorts of energy and could not fall asleep. So, he played video games for a few hours to "mellow out." 

Overheated House

Before Justin left for his two week long training in Virginia, we noticed the air conditioner wasn't pumping out a lot of cool air. Justin told me to give it a break and not use it for a day and it should be working again after that. Unfortunately, a break did not help. It has been 2 weeks of temperatures of at least 90 degrees, including a record breaking 5 day streak of over 100 degrees. Needless to say, I am miserable. 

While he was gone, I refused to use the oven, for fear of the added heat to the house. Every night I went to sleep with the house at about 80 degrees. However, our thermostat only reads the downstairs so it is at least 5 degrees hotter upstairs.....where our bedroom is. 

Justin got home two days ago and had to return to working the night shift. That meant sleeping during the day yesterday and today. Poor hubby, the house was at 83 degrees all day long with every fan on high, window coverings shut tight to keep heat out, and no blankets on our bed. He got no sleep and I went to buy a box fan at Walmart. While I was there, he ventured down to the crawl space to try to fix the AC. He got it to pump out more air, but it was warm outside air. Then he realized the unit was heating up and not actually spinning. So, we turned it off and the house quickly went from 83 degrees to 87 degrees. 

 Here's our lovely forecast for the week. Notice the time at the top (1am - I couldn't sleep in the heat!) and the current temperature.

Justin immediately got on the phone and called 12 different companies trying to get someone to come fix it. Everyone was booked for two weeks! Apparently the whole city is having air conditioner problems. The 13th guy said he could come 9am tomorrow morning! Thank God! I could not do two more weeks of this! We are sweaty and wearing only underwear. I feel so bad for the cat that I want to dunk her in some cold water, but I think she would never forgive me.

As I write this, I have the box fan 2 feet away from me aimed at my face and I have to take a break every paragraph because I can't stand having the warm laptop on my lap. I thought being in my second trimester during summer would be a breeze, I was wrong.

Grandparent Names (Updated)

I grew up with my two sets of grandparents having distinct names - maternal grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa, while paternal grandparents are Gram and Papa. I love having special names for them, it also eliminated confusion. Having the same for my child is really important to me, especially balancing my mother, Justin's mother, Justin's stepfather, and Justin's father. Some people say that whatever the child first calls the grandparents are the names, but it is really what Justin and I teach them that will stick. From the moment they are born, they will be introduced to their grandparents with their unique names.

Ever since I told my mom that I was pregnant, she has been desperately searching for the perfect grandmother name. So far, she has only come up with a list of names that will absolutely not work for her (mostly because they make her sound old).  We have nixed Granny and Memaw. She wants something ethnic and international, which I am a little hesitant about. I have googled lists of names and everything I pitch is a no go. I haven't even started looking into grandfather alternatives for Justin's dad. Luckily, Justin's mom and stepfather will be Grandma and Grandpa. So two down, two to go!

These are some of the most interesting and funny grandma names I found: (Listed under "Trendy Names"):

Birdie

BonBon

Coco

Fancy

Fo-Ma, Faux Ma

Foxy

G-Dawg

GeezerGirl

Glamama, Glamma, Glammy

Kitty

M'dear

NotherMother

OtherMother

Pebbles

Salsa

Sugar

UPDATE:

Almost as soon as I posted this, my mom and I threw some more names out and finally settled on one! Yay! We decided she will be MeMe (pronounced like May-May). It is French so she gets her international name and it respects our family's heritage. Her mother has French roots, which I never knew about until today. I am so relieved to have picked a name and I am loving the one we picked!

My Replacement Spouse and Shopping

Every year, Justin has to leave for two weeks for training through the Marine Corps. He left a few days ago, so I will probably post more frequently because I am bored. Luckily, I have an AMAZING best friend who is my replacement spouse. Sarah goes above and beyond for me (like immediately making some soy sauce covered almonds for me after I say how good they sound). She is the most amazing cook and is makes me dinner all the time. Instead of going out for my birthday, I choose her to cook for me. When we went on vacation, she had to pack up her kitchen so she could cook for us instead of us going out. (She has a great blog with tons of her great recipes: http://www.lavieculturelle.com. Check it out!)

On Sunday, Sarah undertook the task of taking me shopping for pants that actually fit at Pea in the Pod. Up until this point, I had been getting creative with techniques to get my jeans to close.

Like threading a hair band through the hole and around the button to keep it semi-shut.

Maternity stores are way overpriced so Sarah told me to try everything on to get a feel for sizes and fits so we could go somewhere cheaper and find the same things. The second we walked in it was clear that the sales people work on commission. We were smothered by one saleswoman who went WAY overboard. I came in for jeans and ended up with a dressing room full of clothes that I did not pick out. 12 pairs of pants, 20 shirts, and leggings. 

(This is after I had tried on several jeans and tops and sent them back)

The worst part of it all, besides the pushy saleswoman, was the fake belly. They had a foam belly that you strap on to add 3 months to your existing belly so you can choose things that will last until the end. It was horrifying. Sarah made me wear it and I think it was her enjoyment for the day. 

Get ready, that's me in 3 more months.

After a long time trying everything on, I settled on two pairs of jeans, one casual and one dressier. The saleswoman was severely disappointed that was all I was buying, although I warned her that was the only reason we were there. We could not get out of there quick enough. There is no way I could have gotten through that without Sarah by my side.

Then, it was on to Target to scope out baby stuff. After wandering the aisles for a while, Sarah remarked, "How do teen moms afford this?! All this stuff is so expensive!!"

All in all, it was an interesting day and when I put the jeans on to run errands the next day I felt so comfortable! Maternity jeans are wonderful!