15 Weeks - Size of an apple

Our growing baby now measures about 4 inches long and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces- about the size of an apple. She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at my tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. The baby can move around in the amniotic fluid and may feel like fluttering sensations or even a gas bubble to me. Eyebrows and eyelashes are present and the hair on the baby's head is getting thicker. The development of our baby's genitals has been continuing and they are now nearing the point where they could be identified by ultrasound.

We got a kick out of Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving my family had a lot of laughs. My dad started off the day with a joke at the dinner table that got us all giggly. Well we ended up continuing the day with lots of silly comments and laughing. A great time was had by all. This is a picture of me and my wonderful Nana.

I think I may have felt the baby kick (or just move) today. It was a great beginning to my Thanksgiving. I woke up and was lying in bed when I felt a 'hiccup' feeling in my belly. It happened and few times and stopped. I got up and went downstairs to check my email. While I was sitting still I felt that same twitch feeling a couple times. I couldn't tell what it was because I am still only at almost 15 weeks and didn't think I would be able to feel it yet. I asked my professional mom friends (Janice and Nicole!) and they told me that it could indeed be baby! I am going to tell myself it's the baby because of the complete joy I get each time I think its pierogi telling me hello :o)

Thanks-Giving

When we think of bringing our baby into this world we are so happy that baby will have such a loving group of family and friends...

The baby still has 6 more months until its arrival but there are already so many of you out there checking the blog and sending your wonderful thoughts. We are truely blessed to have each and every one of you to surround our soon to be family with love. We want to stop and thank you this Thanksgiving. Our baby is one lucky person to be part of such a loving group of people.

Love, Holly and Dwight

14 Weeks.. 2nd Trimester!

We are in the second trimester! Our baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. Our baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches - the size of a lemon - and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Our baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though I can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, our little pierogi's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

almost the end...

... of the first trimester!!
Tomorrow we begin trimester 2!!!! Hooray!!!!
After two and a half weeks of calling myself 13 weeks I am happy to move to 14 weeks tomorrow...
(this was because my due date had been changed twice :o)
Hip Hip Hooray Hip Hip Hooray!
(just a little bit happy)

Beginning the holiday season...

Jill, my mom and myself took a boxwood wreath course. We made these beautiful wreaths from scratch! They are made out of fresh boxwood. It took us over three hours to make but the end result was worth it.. and the girl chatting we did while making them! Now we are ready to begin the holiday decorating.

The three of us spent the following day at the Pickity Place in Mason, New Hampshire. We had a yummy meal made with the fresh herbs from the gardens there and shopped the cute country stores. On Saturday I begin the second trimester... begin the celebrating!

Heartbeat

I heard the baby's heartbeat today at my appointment.. yay :o)


I asked the doctor what my new due date is since the tech told me I am a week off...
She had it down as May 23rd.. Memorial Day weekend!
It keeps getting later but hopefully this date will stick..

Another Gemini for Dwight to love!
(I am a Gemini along with his brother, mom, grandmother, and great aunt!)

First Trimester Screening

We had a first trimester screening done during our first ultrasound. During this screening the tech does various measurements including one of the neck of the baby. They also took blood work from me. These tests are a screening for Down syndrome and Trisomy 18. Both are disorders resulting from chromosonal abnormalities.

Before any testing they tell you a percentage by age. By my age (27) we have a 1 in 680 chance of Down syndrome. If you think about a 1 in 100 chance that is only a 1% chance. ... so our chance already was 0.1%. Risk of Trisomy 18 is even less than that.

We got the results back today and are very happy with what they told us. The screening revealed that our baby's chance of Down Syndrome is 1 in 1,800 and baby's chance of Trisomy 18 is less than 1 in 10,000. The tests are 'screen negative'!

:o)

Cravings

Before I became pregnant I thought about how food may change with pregnancy. I imagined times of "I need ice cream right now!!!". I have not had these moments yet. I do crave certain foods but if we don't have them in the house I just choose something else. I don't see this as different than how I was before I was pregnant... as I used to crave foods before.

Here is a list of Yummy foods that taste extra good while I have been pregnant.
(I do not stick to this menu however, and eat a variety of fruits, veggies, yogurt, cheese.. just so you aren't worried about Pierogi's nutrition...)

1. Steak
2. Raviolis
3. Oranges
4. PB and J
5. Baked potatoes
6. Strawberries
7. Chocolate milk
8. Ice cream
9. Soup with noodles
10. White rice
11. Veggies and dip
12. Hot cocoa

Things I that no longer taste yummy to me are..
1. Grilled chicken
2. Salad (I still try and eat it but don't finish)
3. Ground turkey
4. Eggs
5. Shellfish

There are some foods that are still yummy but I will have moments where things just don't taste like they used to.. for instance.. eating a piece of pizza.. its good but just blah to me. A friend of mine told me that into the 2nd trimester everything will taste better than ever.. I hope so!

Baby Sling & 13 weeks once again!

This baby sling came in the mail the other day.. and we just had to try it out with Herman! He actually enjoyed it and was purring away. I got to feel how it felt to hold weight in it. I hope the baby likes the sling as much as the cat does!

This week we are celebrating week 13 again due to our 1 week off due date... For how big our baby is and development this week just scroll down.

Here are some fun facts for you to ponder this week.

1. During the nine months between conception and birth, a baby's weight increases 3,000 million times. Whoa that is a lot!

2. Between birth and age 2, an infant will quadruple in size.

3. At birth a baby's brain is 10% of her total body weight. (an adult's is 2%)

4. Human babies are the only primates to smile at their parents.

5. Within 45 hours of birth, a newborn knows her own mother by her smell. (And a blindfolded mom can identify her own child from a host of other babies by scent alone.)

Month 3 Photo

Visit to Jill and Marty's new house

We went to visit Jill and Marty at their new house. It is such a cute country home and we love it! Janice and Fil were also visiting with Madelyn. We lit up the fire pit and sat around it all night. Here is a picture of the girls!

Love at first sight

Here is the favorite picture:

Our first ultrasound was today!! The baby was kicking and moving all over the place!! It was so funny and amazing to see it moving and waving at us :o) We ended up having an hour long ultrasound because the tech couldn't get a good measurement that was needed. We got to see so much of our little pierogi!! The due date was a week off bringing us to May 21st. I am 12 weeks along instead of 13.. so we will just do week 13 again next week.. :o)

I wish I could show pics that were moving so you can see how active our little one is!

Here is a picture of the little foot:

In this picture our baby just realized how funny mommy and daddy are and is laughing at us:

13 Weeks

Our baby is almost 3 inches. She is about the size of a peach! Fingerprints have formed on the little fingertips. This is the last week of the first trimester.. Yippy!!!! I will be thrilled to leave that one behind. I am looking forward to living with less of those crazy symptoms.

Here are the top 5 things I wish to leave behind in trimester 1 as I dance into trimester 2...

(I would be happy with even 3 of these to be gone!)

5. Getting up to pee 2-3 times a night.

4. The nauseated feeling I get once or twice a day.

3. Feeling like I can't remember where I put anything, or what I just did yesterday.

2. Having acne like a 15 year old.

1. The crazy hormonal shifts that make me feel like I should be admitted to a mental hospital.

We have our first ultrasound tomorrow. I have am excited but also nervous.... :o)

Perfect for NH winters

This cute winter coverup from LLBean came in the mail this weekend. It is a gift from the baby's aunt Jill and uncle Marty. The hood has bear ears on it and the material is so very soft! We love it and we know the pierogi will too! Love you two.. xoxo.

Here is a picture of all the wonderful baby cards that have been coming to us.. such wonderful thoughts from special people.

Dreaming

A question for friends and family! When you were pregnant did you have dreams about your baby? Was the sex of your baby accurate in the dreams before you knew what you were having?...

I had a dream that Dwight and I were out and about with our baby and it was a boy. I woke up so happy because we were so happy in the dream. I didn't want the dream to end!

Please let me know of your dream experiences before you knew if it was a boy or a girl...