17 weeks

Morning belly (excuse the bed head!)

Evening belly (after dinner at Aurelio's)

Extreme close-up

I have been meaning to post a morning belly shot and an evening shot, and I figured what better week than the one after there was no picture at all?! As you can see, there is a big difference between what my belly looks like when I get up and what it has grown to by the time I go to bed. I think Kory used some secret magnifying glass on the close up shot because that view of my belly makes it look huge! While I will say that it is no longer just a pooch, I refuse to think it is huge.

My appetite is currently: similar to what it used to be. I think it's the same, although I'm probably eating a little more than I used to. But come on, there's got to be a little increase expected. I try to keep things balanced still, but I must admit it seems the sweet tooth craving is winning more often these days. Hopefully it's just a weekend thing.

Baby has been moving: more often just in the last few days! Last night I had a few circus peanuts (really it was the Easter version of that candy) and the baby must have been doing cartwheels. It felt like a bug running across my belly! I called Kory over and even he could feel it. It was very exciting to hear Kory say, "There's a baby in there!" He soon followed it with, "It's probably gas." I tried to tell him I've never felt gas like that before, but even if it was we could always think that it was the baby that was causing the gas to move. Either way it was fun to think we both finally got to feel our baby.

Other notes: We went to Pierce's first birthday party this weekend. It was fun to watch another one of my cakes get demolished by the little hands of a new found cake lover. We also did a little more shopping this week. I'll be taking the baby on its first business trip this week and let me tell you, finding maternity clothes suitable for Capitol Hill is not an easy task to do unless you're willing to spend a whole lot of money! Seeing as how I don't need these clothes that often, I wasn't quite that willing.

That's all for now. Only a few more weeks in the wait to find out the sex of Baby Keebs. We're getting very excited and anxious!

Keep growing healthy and strong Baby Keebs...and keep moving for Momma and Daddy! We love you and can't wait for this Summer!

16 weeks

Sorry all, but there is no picture this week. We just never got around to getting the camera out, but I assure you there will be a 17 week picture and you'll all be surprised at how much the "bump" is sticking out these days!

Total weight gained so far: 3.5 pounds

Most recent symptoms: still feeling the head congestion, although we have found that consistent nightly use of the humidifier relieves it greatly. The restless leg syndrome (the intense itching I mentioned in another week) also continues. This is still somewhat humorous, but I am glad it's not something that happens on a daily basis...yet. And our newest, and my least favorite, are leg cramps. Until last night these weren't too bad. Nothing that took control of my leg just enough to let me know that I probably wouldn't escape this symptom all together. Last night, however, I wore boots out for the night. I went to bed pretty late and a couple hours later my left foot was no longer in my control. I was so tired and couldn't find a way to make it comfortable that I wanted to just cry. I have learned not to wear those boots anymore during this pregnancy!

Other notes: We went to Indianapolis this weekend to spend some time with Aunt Erin. It was a really quick visit, but we had a lot of fun and laughed so hard while playing 3-puck air hockey that I almost peed my pants! We had a good dinner and laughed pretty hard at the comedy club. Overall it was a great weekend and hopefully a nice time distraction for Erin.

We did get our quad-screen results back on Thursday...all are negative! We know this isn't a guarantee of anything, but at least our chances are better this way. It was definitely a happy day and one less thing to worry about, as I'm sure you all know we do plenty of that as it is!

We're hoping to start feeling Baby Keebs move around more often soon. I'm getting impatient and I know I'll feel him/her long before Kory does. It's really going to be a test of his patience, I think.

That's all for this week. I'll try to post the 17 week update a little sooner since there was no picture this week. ;)

Goodnight Baby Keebs, Momma and Daddy love you very much and are so excited to meet you!

Dr. appointment update

Kory and I saw the doctor today. It was our first visit without coming home with ultrasound pictures. I know this probably sounds sad, but I wasn't really disappointed. We didn't need an ultrasound because we could actually hear our baby's heartbeat on the Doppler. This might seem petty to most, but this is a milestone I've been looking forward to for a while. As much as I would have loved to have seen my son or daughter again today, it was really great just hearing his/her heart beating away.

There was a lot of what I thought was interference while trying to listen. The doctor said this was the baby moving. Apparently the Doppler picks up every kind of movement so when the baby moves, it makes noises too. Once I knew what it was, it was pretty cool to listen to also.

We did our quad-screening today. This is bloodwork that screens for Down Syndrome, Trisomy-18, Spina Bifida, and Cystic Fibrosis. Basically the screening will give us our statistical risk of having a baby with one of these conditions. It's not a guarantee, and honestly can have a lot of false positives, but we saw it as a way to prepare just in case. Hopefully we'll get the results back and our risk won't even be worth considering. If it is worth considering at least we'll have the extra time to adjust and learn more.

I wasn't worried about doing the screening as I've been poked for blood draws MANY times before. I quickly learned they needed more blood than I knew. All I can say is thank goodness it was me and not Kory (I think we all remember what happened at his last blood draw). They had to take 7 tubes of bloodwork! This was way more than I've ever done before, but I made it. I also had to do a urine sample, which believe it or not was harder than the blood draw. I had already peed at my appointment so I didn't really have to go when they asked. Instead we had to drive around for an hour or so while I drank water and lemonade until I had to go again. I didn't really expect that to be part of my day!

Our next appointment is March 9 and we'll get to schedule our "big" ultrasound then. It's only a matter of weeks until we find out if Baby Keebs is a boy or girl... get your bets in now!

15 weeks

Insight to the information you've been getting...
I've been following some of the prompts from "The Belly Book," which is a pregnancy journal I had from our second pregnancy. Since the blog is a way to share all of that information with you all on a regular basis, I figured there was no need to buy another book this time around. Plus I like the freedom of adding my own information and extra pictures when ever I want to.

Daddy decided it would be funny to include an extreme close up this week.

Current philosophy regarding cravings: Give the belly what it wants (within reason). I can still eat Nerds any time of day, but my cravings have expanded to pretty much anything sweet. Mom says this definitely means it's a girl. I have been specifically trying to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet this week though. And I do try to keep my sugary cravings in check...most days.

More welcome and/or not-so-welcome changes: My nausea has almost completely gone. I do notice it in the mornings still, but only when I start to cough. My sinuses are still causing me grief, although not nearly as bad now that we sleep with the humidifier on, so I wake up quite congested. This results in the cough-gag.

Most days I have my energy back. Kory is happy about this one. We are starting to get more done around the house. Or at least when it doesn't happen, our only excuse is laziness. We swear we're going to get moving on the nursery...someday!

A strange change I've noticed is that I can see every blue vein on my body (probably not every one, but a whole lot of them!). My belly looks like that of something you'd see in an alien movie. So be very glad that I'm too modest to be one of those moms-to-be who does her belly shots without a shirt on!

Finally, the only other change as of late is itching, uncontrollable itching. My legs will get these intense "itches" that if I don't scratch them soon enough they make my leg twitch! It's very weird. Tolerable and slightly amusing, but weird!

That's it for the week. Baby Keebs, you know the drill by now, keep growing healthy and strong! Momma and Daddy are so excited to feel you move around soon! We love you very much!

14 weeks

This was a week of firsts...

First "fluttering": Tuesday, February 2

I was sitting in the recliner watching a show on the laptop when I felt what I describe as a bubble move up the middle of my belly and then popped. It was very cool and exciting, but at first I didn't really think that it could be the baby at this point. Aunt Meg insists that this was most likely the baby. She says a lot of women feel it this early but think like I do and refuse to believe it's the baby. I don't refuse at all. I can't wait to feel it again and it's very exciting when Kory comes home and asks if I've felt our baby today. Hopefully soon I'll be able to answer "yes" a little more consistently!

First maternity shopping trip: Saturday, February 6

Kory and I went shopping for a few specific items...dress pants because I have a couple business trips coming up and no dress clothes that fit anymore. We also were looking for a dress for those trips and Kory's cousin's wedding the first weekend of March. While we were very successful in the pants department, the dress shopping will have to continue. As nervous as I was about going shopping (just one of my irrational fears), it was very exciting. I can't wait until I need to shop for tops and and actual outfits!

Other notes: We celebrated Aunt Kass' birthday and the Superbowl this weekend. For keepsakes' sake Baby Keebs, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts. Your daddy and I weren't really rooting for a team, just enjoying time with family and all the junk food.

Keep growing and stay strong Baby Keebs! We love you very much!