Doctor News

We had our 15-week doctor's appointment last night. The baby's heartbeat was strong, and the doctor said everything is going great. I've gained 4 pounds total, which is right on track, and my blood pressure is perfect. We have another appointment in 2 weeks for some blood work. We'll schedule the next ultrasound at that appointment, for sometime during week 20 (probably the week of April 7th). That's the ultrasound where we'll find out the gender, assuming the baby cooperates. Some women get a "feeling" about whether it's a boy or a girl, but I really don't feel pulled one way or the other. We're just eager to find out so we can paint the nursery, carpet the upstairs and order our baby furniture around the time that the weather warms up and we can open lots of windows. Spring can't get here fast enough! I'm done with all this snow.

Our Baby This Week

Today starts my 2nd trimester, a huge milestone for us. I have a doctor's appointment at the end of the week, which I'm excited about. And I'm starting to show a tiny bit (I did bust out those maternity pants Thursday, which were a blessing during my 2-hour drive home during the snow/ice storm). Enough about me. Here's what's up with the bambino this week.

14 Weeks
This week's big developments: 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 (about the size of a lemon) and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. 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. Your 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 you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Yay Pants!

I don't need maternity clothes quite yet, but my pants are getting a little snug, so I've tried on maternity clothes at several places lately without much luck. Because the average small person is a tad bit bigger--and definitely taller--than I am, I've had particular trouble with pants. I've found some shirts that fit at Kohls (plus one that Dad and Candy bought for me), but no pants. I found a cute sundress at Motherhood Maternity, but no pants. And nothing fit at J.C. Penny. So last night, Katie and I turned to the Gap Clearance Center, an old standby of mine since high school.

Cincinnati/N. KY has the only Gap Clearance Center in the country. It differs from Gap Outlets because it carries damaged, irregular, worn-and-returned and last season/leftover merchandise for low, low prices. It's sometimes a scavenger hunt to find the right size without any damage or stains, and you can't return anything, but it's so worth it. Fortunately, they had tons of maternity clothes, and really nothing was damaged, just probably leftover from past seasons. I bought 2 pairs of jeans, 4 pairs of dress pants, 4 summer tops, a spring jacket and 2 bras for $65! The bras alone cost that originally! And all the pants actually fit because they come sized by number (rather than small, medium, large) and in different lengths (that would be ankle/short for me). They also sell Old Navy stuff there, which is about the only other brand that works for me right now.

I know I don't need all of this stuff quite yet, but I'm trying to stock up when I find deals. And I don't want to wake up one morning to find that nothing fits and have to go out and buy things at full price just to have clothes to wear to work. It's hard to resist wearing those full-panel maternity jeans, though. I've never experienced such comfort and am not sure how anyone ever goes back to wearing regular pants again!

Our Baby: 13 Weeks

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.

Happy Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Happy anniversary to Dad and Candy! Happy birthday to Gilmore and Valentine!

In other happy news, I had an unexpected doctor's appointment today, for something minor and personal, and I heard the baby's heartbeat again. I'm almost out of my first trimester and Baby Whitman is doing fine.

Our Baby This Week

I get an e-mail from Baby Center that describes the baby's development each week. I thought you guys might enjoy hearing about how the baby is growing each week, too, so I'll start posting the weekly summary here. Enjoy.

12 Weeks

The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Fat Tuesday Fun

Last Tuesday, Kevin and I were invited to a black-tie fund-raiser for the Cincinnati Epilepsy Foundation. The travel agent that Kevin works with through Fifth Third had purchased a table, and they invited us and Kevin's boss, Brian, to join them. It ended up being a super warm evening, and the event was really nice. There was an open bar, great food, moving speeches and good conversation. The tables were littered with Mardi Gras swag, including beads, hats, masks, dolls, glasses, candy--you name it, it was there.

It was definitely an event for Cincinnati movers and shakers (most of the people there were from Fifth Third, Cincinnati Bell, Kroger, Microsoft, etc.) so it was fun to be able to participate on someone else's dime! Here's a picture of us with Brian and his wife Amy.

Oh Baby!

Most of you know by now, but we wanted to make the announcement official: We're having a baby!

I'm due August 23rd, so I'm about 11.5 weeks along. So far we've have 2 ultrasounds, one at 7 weeks and one today (the photo is from today's ultrasound). We can't believe how much it already looks like a baby; just 5 weeks ago it was kind of a blob with a heartbeat. The baby is perfect and has a strong heartbeat (170 bpm). We'll have another ultrasound in early April, when we plan to find out whether it's a boy or a girl. We really don't have a strong preference one way or the other, but we definitely want to know.

As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I've been feeling OK. My stomach has been kinda funky, and I gag a little when I have to take pills or brush my teeth, but I'm lucky that I haven't had major nausea or vomiting. I'm also a little more tired than usual, but it's a not a very busy time of year for us, so I've been able to veg out and get lots of rest. Kevin has been great about taking care of me and cooking dinner more often. He's also been to all my doctor's appointments and ultrasounds, which means a lot to me.

We'll start keeping everyone posted here, and I'll share pictures of my belly bump when there's something more than just a bloated stomach to see, lol. When we found out we were having a baby, the whole family got really excited! Fortunately, someone was there to record the experience...
Enjoy!

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