Change in ultrasound date!

THE big ultrasound will now be on Tuesday, May 20th! Brad is changing to a different 1st shift squad next week, so his days off have been adjusted by one day. Now he will have Mon, Tues and Wed off through the middle of July. Therefore, I had to call the doc this morning to change our Thursday appt and darnit, we were forced to schedule a couple of days earlier! YEAH! In less than 3 weeks we will know!

FYI... if anyone knows of a good in-home or home child care provider, please let me know. Brad is most likely going to remain on 1st shift, so I am beginning to search for child care options. We have a unique situation in that our child care needs will change every 3 months. Some rotations we will need just 2 days and others we will need 4 days. I am exploring all options! Let me know if you have a name of someone or a friend etc. with any knowledge. xoxo

16 weeks = 4 months!

Hard to believe that things are moving along this quickly. I am still feeling great and think I may be starting to feel some movement! Sorry Mills, we haven't yet tried the flash light trick, but I promise we will soon! They say that the baby can now hear voices and music, so I plan to start talking to the little babe more often and playing some tunes. People seem to really be noticing my baby bump and I think a couple of more weeks from now I won't be able to hide it! Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Alex arrive from Germany on Wednesday and we are really looking forward to their visit! I will be waiting at the airport when they land! Uncle Chris is not far behind and arrives Friday evening!

We have a big week ahead of us. Happy Birthday on Tuesday to Brad! Brad shares his birthday with Julie and Christi! Happy 1st Birthday on Wednesday to Olivia Kate! We spent the weekend celebrating... in Danville on Sat. to commemorate Brad and Julie's special day and this afternoon I attended Olivia's party!

Congrats to some of Baby Williams' biggest fans - a few ladies I know and love successfully completed a mini-marathon this weekend! Especially in my current "condition" I admire this feat! Congrats to Mills, Melanie, Heather and Sarah and anyone else brave enough to take on this sort of challenge! Brad and I have planned to do it for a few years now, so we are going to really shoot for it next spring. It will be a great way to motivate myself to get into shape post baby.

Welcome to Eva Katherine Cline (Eva Kate.) My dear friend Maggie and her husband Adam welcomed their new addition on Friday morning. I can't wait to meet her! I will be there soon Mags!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying Spring. Here is a little babycenter.com update:

At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails. Her fingernails and toenails will continue to grow, so don't be surprised if she needs them trimmed soon after birth.

Latest Doc Appt

THE ultrasound will be on Thursday, May 22nd at 9 AM! 28 days away! The doc appt went well, nothing new to report. I got to hear the babe's heart beat, which is always amazing.

Perhaps my intuition is correct and it is a boy... I have always favored cereal and banana for breakfast! HA. See these interesting articles released today. I guess there is a 50/50 chance. Soon enough we will know for sure!

http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/385222.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/04/23/gender.diet/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24262928

15 weeks!

All is well... getting closer and closer to the day that we will find out whether we are having a little girl or a little boy. We have been talking more about names lately, which is fun and as you all have seen - I have been dreaming up nursery ideas. Last week I featured the boy options and below is my fave girl option... as of late. Doc appt is Thursday morning - will post an update afterward. I am hoping to schedule THE ultrasound for May 20th or 21st. :-)

Babycenter.com update:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the weight of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive 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 fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam.

Fave Girl nursery so far:

14 weeks and counting

Brad and I spent the weekend in Louisville for the Thunder Over Louisville event. This has become a tradition for us as this was our 4th Thunder together. We had a great weekend, despite the cold and windy weather on Saturday. I was a trooper and still managed to enjoy myself. I forgot my camera... seems that I cannot remember anything these days! I am feeling great. The 2nd trimester is sooooo much better than the 1st! My belly is really starting to push out. I will have to take a pic soon. My latest ailment is hip pain - ouch! I think it is mostly from the pressure caused by sleeping on my sides and it is a common complaint among pregnant women. I hope to get another prenatal massage soon - maybe that will help! I think at least 1 massage per trimester is well deserved!

Some great news at home... Brad started 1st shift today! His days off will still rotate, but his hours will be 7 AM to 5 PM. It will be so strange and very nice to see him at home every evening! I am thrilled! He will stay on 1st shift at least until the baby gets here, or most likely until I return to work from maternity leave in January. It may work better for him to move back to 2nd shift (4PM to 2AM) as I return to work as it would eliminate our need for full time child care. We will have to see how it goes these next few months and make a decision on what will work best for us. For now - I will really enjoy having him at home in the evenings. We have never even remotely been on the same schedule!

Next doc appt is next Thursday, the 24th. I am having some routine testing/blood work done at this visit. We will also set the ultrasound date for May! In just a little over a month we can start talking about nursery decor and baby names. I cannot wait! Let the shopping begin!

Babycenter.com update.

Your 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. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him, a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches.

ALSO... Cute bedding is so much harder to find for a boy! I have a million choices and possibilities if it is a girl, but have narrowed it down to this (I think) for a little boy. See pic below... it is called Baby Boats from Pottery Barn Kids. The sheets have waves and boats on them! We are boat people as you all know, so I think Brad will love this too. I also love the nautical flags from landofnod.com to go with the theme. I will post some girl nursery ideas next week!

Second Trimester!

I am feeling great today. The warm and sunny Spring weather certainly helps with the often unstable pregnant mood. :-) I have been feeling better and better and have found myself being more active. I pretty much only sleep at night these days! From what I have been told from experienced Mom's - I will continue to feel better until I hit about 6 months and then I will be eternally uncomfortable until the baby's arrival. After that, I will be sleep deprived and increasingly hormonal. Something to look forward to... ha! I guess I need to enjoy these next 10 weeks! It should be about 6 weeks from today that we find out the sex of the baby. I cannot wait!

Here is a little tidbit from babycenter.com:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

ALSO... Here are some bedding options that I like from www.landofnod.com and www.potterybarnkids.com. I am just starting to look and get ideas for nursery colors. I think I want to do bright, sherbet colors.

Guilty Pleasure

Did any of you see The Today Show this morning? I know I am going to be someone's Mom and it may be completely inappropriate, but I just can't help it. I have a little confession... I still kinda love the New Kids! Hahaha. Aunt Mary Beth is bound and determined that we must see them in concert one last time, just for nostalgia sake. I am sure my Mom is thrilled that we are grown up and she doesn't have to take us. We always liked to think when we were kids that we were their #1 fans. Ha!

Silly? Absolutely, but don't lie... I know some of you gals are just as excited as the Corcoran girls about the NKOTB reunion.

On the baby front, all is well. I am feeling great, but having a hard time sleeping. I am sure that won't improve with time. Soon enough we will be on the hunt for baby furniture. Anyone have any suggestions?

Doc appt and ultrasound pictures!

My appointment went well this morning. Dr. Mitchell was a tad concerned that I had experienced some spotting and decided to do an ultrasound. Thankfully everything looked great! I was so sad that Brad was not there with me for the ultrasound, but I promised him this morning when he offered to go with me that he didn't need to come to this "routine" appt. I had no idea they would do an ultrasound! Generally all they do is check your weight, blood pressure and a few other things. I rushed home before heading to work so I could share the photos with him. We are amazed. The baby is completely human looking now! It was unbelievable to see the profile, a little ear and arms and legs moving around! The pictures don't show details as clearly as the ultrasound screen, but they give you an idea. In one you can see the head and an arm waving! There was a lot of movement... I can't really feel it at this point, but every now and then I feel a flutter and convince myself that the baby is kicking! The heartbeat was 164, which is great and I am getting along just fine as well. I am feeling better every day. I have a lot more energy and really no nausea! I do however still have some aversions and the cravings are picking up a bit. Thanks to Hunny (Mom) and Poppy (Ray) for spoiling Brad and I this past weekend! We made a trip to Danville and enjoyed visiting with them. We also enjoyed a fabulous dinner and a mandarin orange cake baked by my Mom, which the baby personally requested. YUM! Sunday morning they fed us breakfast before we came back home. Maybe we should visit every weekend! Ha... just kidding, Mom!

Next appt is April 24th. The 20 week ultrasound will be around the 3rd week of May and that is when the sex will be determined! They will NOT be able to do the ultrasound at 18 1/2 weeks while MB is here. The doc says that certain developmental things that they check for will not be apparent even a week or two early. Oh well - I tried Aunt Mary Beth! Enjoy the pics - I will keep you all posted!