Having WAY too much fun with decorating

After Corey single-handedly redecorated the baby's bathroom this weekend in a monkey theme in honor of one of his favorite children's books, "Caps for Sale", I decided I had better get my butt in gear to get Charlotte's room décor picked out before he beat me to it. The bottom photo is of the shower curtain from the set.

My current favorite bedding set (see top photo) is called Sweet Potato Domain and is sold through Target.com. I ordered one piece of it so we could make sure we liked it in person before we committed to registering for it. Corey is TOTALLY anti-pink for the room, but he is cool with my preference for a bright graphic design. What do you all think?

Half-way there!!

I'm heading to Washington D.C. tomorrow for a quick business trip, so I'm posting the 20-week post today. According to the standard pregnancy cycle, I am half-way to my due date. Charlotte is kicking quite a bit lately, and people are finally starting to tell me I look pregnant. March 13th still seems so far away though.

Here's what BabyCenter.com says about Charlotte at 20 weeks (be forwarned - it's kind of gross!)--

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

19 Weeks Down!

The 19-week mark crept up on me because I was so focused on finding out the baby's gender! This drawing cracks me up, because the baby is twisted up like a pretzel. Little Charlotte didn't look quite that scrunched on the ultrasound yesterday, but it looks like she is fast running out of swimming room. The description below of a baby at 19 weeks pegs Charlotte's weight a little low, since the doctor estimated her weight to be about 10 ounces. I changed all of the gender references to be female!

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and she measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. She has an astonishing 6 million eggs in her ovaries, but they'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

Ultrasound video

The ultrasound video was WAY to big to send via e-mail, so I braved the world of YouTube and uploaded it. Click below to view the video. The baby's head is to the right, and in the middle of the screen you can see the heart beating!



If you can't see the video in this window or if you want to see it a tiny bit bigger, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVb7-zHu1wc

4 Things Charlotte Will Get To Do That Most Girls Won't

1. Ride our 100 lb Lab, Duke, around the neighborhood bareback like a small pony at age 2.
2. Out-belch her male relatives at age 6.
3. Be able to recite the counties and county seats for all counties of Tennessee, Indiana, and Arizona. Age 8. Okay maybe not all the counties, but definitely the states and capitals.
4. Race her mother's station wagon in the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway's Run-What-You-Brung drag race nights. Age 12.

Care to add any?

Photos from the ultrasound

Charlotte is looking a little less like Voldemort and a little more like a human! Here's some images they recorded for us from the ultrasound. The top one is of the baby waving at you again. The bottom one is of the itty bitty foot.

It's a Charlotte!

At the ultrasound this morning, the technician and the doctor were in complete agreement - we are having a girl! The plan is to name her Charlotte JoAnn Stringer. We're thrilled, but definitely would have been happy either way. Looks like Corey's premonition was correct! My coworker, Kathryn, also was sure it was going to be a girl.

The baby looked perfect on the ultrasound. We saw all of her limbs, all of the chambers of her heart, the ventricles of the brain, her spine, both kidneys, fingers, toes, the umbilical cord, and all sorts of stuff. She weighs about 10 ounces and is right on target in terms of size and heart rate. I'm doing pretty well too - my weight gain is "perfect" and everything else looks good.

The things we need to consider now are cord blood banking, signing up for childbirthing and parenting classes, and picking a pediatrician. Our next appointment (not until mid-November) will be with another member of the practice (Dr. Scott) so that we can get to know everyone else who might be delivering our baby in the event Dr. Bell isn't able to be there.

The wait is killing me

I'm dying to get to our ultrasound appointment tomorrow! I think the baby is getting antsy too, because I'm feeling all sorts of kicking at all hours now. Pacey the cat was trying to "make biscuits" (kneading me with his paws) on my tummy this morning and was perturbed when I stopped him. Maybe he was trying to give the baby a little massage?

And now we're at 18 weeks!

Yikes! I was so busy the past few weeks with the law school's Reunion that I haven't had time to breathe let alone the energy to post anything. I'm at about 18 1/2 weeks now, and we're really looking forward to the ultrasound on Wednesday the 17th to find out the gender of the baby. I am showing a whole lot more now, though people who don't see me often probably just think I'm just getting a little chunky.

We had a rough week with our animals - first our sweet cat, Chewie, passed away, and then Connie the dog got bit by something which caused her snout to swell up so bad on one side that she looked like a bull terrier! The doctor says she's going to be fine, but she's on antibiotics and steroids. Connie doesn't even seem to notice how funny she looks, and it certainly hasn't slowed her down from wrestling with our other dog, Duke, or running around outside!

Anyway, here's what BabyCenter.com says is going on with our baby this week:

Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Kick kick kick

I finally got to feel the baby kick. Niki had me feel her belly a few nights ago, and sure enough, kick kick kick. Very gentle, but I could feel it. Brought a smile to both our faces.

17 Weeks Already

We're moving right along and have reached the 17 week mark. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not, but I think I'm feeling a little bit of movement from the baby. We have not been keeping up quite as religiously with the pregnancy diet, but I'm doing pretty well with eating healthy. I have only gained a couple of pounds, which is probably a good thing!

Here's what our baby website says about the baby at 17 weeks:

Your baby weighs about 5 ounces now, and he's around 5 inches long — about the size of a large onion. He can move his joints, and his skeleton — until now rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden to bone. His sense of hearing is also developing. The umbilical cord, his lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker.