18 Weeks!

How Far Along: 18 weeks

How Big is The Baby: The size of a sweet potato! (5.6 inches and 6.7 oz)

Total Weight Gain: Not sure yet. I have a feeling I have probably packed on a couple more #'s!

Maternity Clothes: Always in Maternity pants, can still wear most regular shirts, but they are starting to get short!

Stretch Marks: No new ones

Sleep: I have good days and bad days. Lately they have been in between. I usually have to take a Unisom to get to sleep, but then the Unisom makes my RLS go CRAZY. So it's a catch 22.

Movement: All.The.Time. Mostly when I am sitting or lying down. Still no full on kicks yet, but the movements are getting much stronger...Won't be long!

Food Cravings: Anything and everything bad for me. I really wish it wasn't that way! In the begining I was craving fruits and veggies! What happened!?

What I Miss: Alcohol...Does this make me a bad mother? LOL! We had a group of friends over the other night and while they all enjoyed their cocktails I sat there sipping my ice water. Party pooper! Well worth it though!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Bigger belly, Getting the nursery all set up, J seeing/feeling her kick.

Milestones: Just being where I am.

18 week baby belly!

Sweetest moment of my life thus far

I am so in love with my daughter. I've always heard people say "How can you love someone so much you have never even met?" and I never really understood it myself. But now I do. Words can not describe.

Mackenzie is going to grow up to be a cheerleader or a gymnast. She would NOT stop moving around!!!! The tech even had trouble getting her hearbeat clearly because she kept moving away! She finally got it though.

She is just like her Mama, and her daddy. Stubborn as anything!! The little stinker turned her back to us JUST as we went into 4D mode for a face shot! And she stayed that way until the very last 60 seconds of the 10 minute ultrasound!

The cutest part about it, was at one point, she flipped over onto her belly and started trying to do a somersault!! She would push off with her legs and her little hiney would go way up! So adorable!

Instead of just posting pictures, I'll post the video for your viewing pleasure! There are 4 of them. One of the heartbeat, and 3 parts to the Ultrasound!!

Early Announcement!

After a trip to L&D (everything is just fine!) we got confirmation of the gender. I just ask that no one says anything on facebook quite yet, as J wants me to wait until Thursday to tell...But what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? ;)

J and I have a.........................................

DAUGHTER!!!!!!! We are having a beautiful little girl!!!!

Little Miss Mackenzie Paige is already so loved by so many people. She is our whole world, and I am so excited to watch her grow!!!

16 weeks! 5 months to go!

How Far Along: 16 weeks (4 months)

How Big is The Baby: The size of an avocado (about 4.6 inches and 3.5 oz)

Total Weight Gain: 3 lbs! With a big ol baby belly!

Maternity Clothes: Always in Maternity pants, can still wear most regular shirts.

Stretch Marks: No new ones

Sleep: I have good days and bad days. Lately they have been in between. I usually have to take a Unisom to get to sleep, but then the Unisom makes my RLS go CRAZY. So it's a catch 22.

Movement: All the time! Mostly at night. movements are getting stronger too. At first it was just flutters, but as of last night, it was MUCH stronger. More like a "rolling". It made me gasp!

Food Cravings: Pickles!! And just random things here and there. If I see something or smell something, I'll HAVE to have it.

What I Miss: A nice glass of white wine. Especially in this nice weather. I used to love sitting out on the deck with a nice cold glass of wine, just enjoying the breeze.

What I’m Looking Forward To: April 21st when we can announce the gender officially!! Also, J being able to see/feel the baby move and kick!

Milestones: Making it into the 2nd trimester, hearing the heartbeat through the doppler (157!), Feeling the baby move!!

And just for shits and giggles, a comparison of me at 5 weeks, and then at 14 weeks. Just to show how much my belly has grown!!!

We know!

After an unexpected trip to the ER on Sunday night (thank you kidney stone # 3!! ug) we now know the gender of our little one!!!!

And I'm not telling!

Before they diagnosed my pain as a kidney stone, they did an U/S to check on baby. I had the most awesome tech in the world. Normally, they won't let you see or tell you anything with an emergency u/s. But she let us watch the whole thing! Baby was moving around and wiggling like crazy, as usual. I asked for a peek between the legs, and we got it! It looked pretty clear cut and obvious to me but the tech said we should still go to our 3D appointment on the 21st for confirmation! I don't see it changing though =)

So now I can call the baby by it's name! Such a wonderful feeling!! Let the shopping begin!!

April 21st!

The day we will find out FOR SURE, if we are having a little Mackenzie Paige, or a little Landon Forrest!

My OB doesn't know me very well. He was going to make me wait until May 11th to find out the gender! BAH! Are you kidding? By the time I was 14, I was already picking out the car I was going to drive when I got my license. He really thought I could wait 2 whole months to find out??

So I took it upon myself to research some private ultrasound companies who do early gender scans! Unfortunately, there aren't any places really close by. So we will have to travel about an hour away, but it will be well worth it! We'll get a 15 minutes session, 4 photos, gender determination, and a DVD of it all to take home! That will be so nice to have. 10 years from now I can show my son or daughter what they looked like when they were inside of me! And the greatest part of all of this is that if for some reason, baby is uncooperative, we get to come back at no extra cost! The appointment is set for April 21st, and I'll be 16 weeks and 6 days!

It will be so nice knowing for sure what we are having. Then the fun can really start!

Nuchal Translucency Scan!

Today could not have gone more perfectly!

Everything looked awesome. No markers for Downs Syndrome, or Trisomy 18. Will get my bloodwork back in about a week but the Dr. said she would see no reason for it to come back abnormal.

Baby was SO active today. At first, he/she was asleep, and it scared me. But then the tech got the heartbeat and I got to hear it for the first time. Strong, and loud and 157 bpm! After a few pokes and prods, and me laughing, baby woke up and would NOT sit still for anything!!

It took the tech about 45 minutes to finally get the measurement she needed for the neck. But I didn't mind. It meant I got to look at my child longer! Baby also kept "hiccuping" too cute!

The only slight abnormality they found was that I have Placental Lakes. Basically it just means my placenta has a few pockets of blood in it. It's nothing to worry about and the Dr said it usually clears up by 22 weeks. They want to keep an eye on it though because it could mean not enough blood is getting to the baby, and could hinder growth. Very unlikely though as they check my blood flow and it was perfect, and baby was measuring right on target!

The tech really didn't want to take a sneak peak between the legs. But as she was taking measurements, baby was positioned just right and I caught a glimpse....It looks like were having a.......Not gonna tell! HAHA!

We got some awesome pictures, which I will post soon. Next appointment is April 11th...J's birthday!! And we go for our BIG anatomy scan on May 11th...Seems so far away...Maybe I will look into a private scan for an early gender scan!!

And here they are! We made one beautiful baby!