23 Weeks and a Pizza-Hunting Dog

We had such a fun time with Ernie and Andrew in Chicago last weekend! This weekend, I finally get to stay home and rest, but Corey is taking off with his friend, Joe, to Knoxville to see Vanderbilt take on the University of Tennessee. Vandy did beat them in Knoxville two years ago, so there is some hope.

Last night, our bigger dog, Duke, proved his worth in the Stringer Family. When I sent him and Connie out to do their business when I got home (it was raining so I stayed in the garage), Connie came back without Duke. I waited a few moments then called for him. He came proudly trotting back WITH HALF OF A PEPPERONI PIZZA IN HIS MOUTH! He was so proud, but dropped it quickly when I told him to. A lot of trash cans in the neighborhood were knocked over in the crazy storm we had earlier that afternoon, so that's probably where it came from. Anyway, any dog who brings home dinner for the family is worth keeping, in my opinion. Corey says Duke's breed is now officially "Pupperoni Retriever". My dad wants us to specially breed a whole line of them to sell to college kids and newlyweds. Too bad Dukie is fixed.

Inspired by Duke's resourcefulness, I promptly ordered a (new) pizza for dinner. Luckily, Duke didn't seem to have any hard feelings about being denied his booty. Charlotte seemed to enjoy the pizza, because she kicked like crazy for the rest of the night. Speaking of Charlotte, she's now 23 weeks along (see the photo above) and is moving right along with her development, according to the websites:

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). Her skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare her for breathing. She can swallow, but she normally won't pass her first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when she hears them outside the womb.

Heading to Chicago

I'm heading to Chicago early tomorrow morning for a law school alumni event and to hang with Erin & Andrew (Corey's joining me later), so here's the 22 weeks post a little bit early. I'm still feeling pretty darn good, but I'm having a very hard time finding things like maternity suit jackets for a reasonable price. Who knew it was going to be so hard to look professional while pregnant?

Good thing Charlotte doesn't have to worry about her wardrobe yet. She actually has a pretty good head start -- she has a onesie from Corey's mom that says "What happens at Grandma's STAYS at Grandma's", and a onesie from Auntie Erin with a happy cupcake on it. My mom also got her a cute bib that says "Mommy's Little Monster". I guess any kid of Corey's and mine will probably live up to that title.

Here's what BabyCenter says is going on with Charlotte:

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

Preggo

I have been asked by several people to post a photo of how big I'm getting. Here's a couple we took in Paducah, KY last weekend. In the top one, I don't really look that large. The shirt in the bottom photo makes me look bigger than I really am, in my opinion!

Some people say I am carrying "high", which makes sense because it's a girl. Even though it's an old wives' tale, it still makes me smile. Now we'll have to see if the tale about the correlation between heartburn and hair on the baby's head turns out to be true. If it is, then Charlotte is going to come out with a full head of lustrous hair! (Unlike Erin and me, who were bald as cueballs.)

What's up, Doc? (21 Weeks)

We survived Halloween last night (our neighborhood gets TONS of trick or treaters!), and seeing all of the little kids in constumes got me excited for next year and the years to come. My mom sewed many of the costumes I wore over the years (princess, M&M, etc.). Even when she didn't, I was borrowing pieces from her wardrobe. One year in high school, I snaked her maternity overalls and went as a pregnant woman. I guess it wasn't as funny when one of my classmates turned up pregnant for real a couple of years later.

ANYWAY, Corey's first Halloween "costume" (when he hit his first Halloween at about 6 weeks of age in 1975), was being placed inside of a real jack-o-lantern. Sounds slimy! I have no clue what my first costume was (though I have seen very cute photos of us in Raggedy Ann costumes at an early age), but the one I enjoyed most was the M&M outfit I wore several years in a row (one of the bonuses of moving quite often was that you could recycle Halloween costumes since the audience changed).

We didn't get to dress Charlotte up yet, but here's an update on her progress at 21 weeks:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed.

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?