Monday, August 29, 2011

14 Week Update

Good Morning! Just a quick update on the Baker family today... we spent the weekend down in Mobile for the 16th annual Dauphin Street International Beer Festival! As always, it did not disappoint; however, my experience was somewhat different from years past :) It was so good to spend time with JD's family & good friends - some of them were thoughtful enough to bring some O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer for me to drink so that I wouldn't feel left out, ha! On our way home yesterday, we stopped in Alabaster to check out the maternity section at their Old Navy store. Fortunately, I was able to find a few pieces (dresses & tops) that should get be through to winter!! I'm starting to "show" a little more each week & am probably wearing maternity clothes every-other day! This week is full of appointments - JD & I both are getting our teeth cleaned & then I have an appointment with my OB on Wednesday!! No ultrasound this week, though - boo :( Just hoping for a good report on BB's development!!

Speaking of, here is this week's update:

Your Pregnancy: Week 14 (www.parentsconnect.com)
You're officially in your glory days: the second trimester. Energy levels come back up, nausea levels go down and you may have a cute little bump that's beginning to show. It's a great time to celebrate the happy news ... if people haven't guessed already


Your Baby
Think of it this way: You're a third of the way through and baby's a third of the way cooked. Now that the "big stuff" (like skeletal and organ development) is taken care of, your baby starts a period of rapid brain growth, fat buildup and detail work. Highlights this week include:

Your baby now has fingerprints! Book 'em, Danno! Believe it or not, he actually created them himself while swimming around in the amniotic fluid. As he moved his hands, the skin on the tips of his fingers formed unique ridges and folds. That's why no one on earth has the same fingerprints, not even identical twins! Cool, right? Baby's arms are now in proportion to his tiny body, but his legs are still on the short size in comparison.

Meconium, that tar-like, sticky first baby poop, is now loading up your baby's intestines, which means you might want to set aside a bottle of olive oil, one of the few things that will get the gooey poop off of baby's bottom.

Your baby continues to gain new and impressive skills such as practicing and controlling voluntary muscle movements (this will help him fling food across the room later in life). Your tiny dancer's movements are no longer the jerky, uncontrollable twitches of yore—he now moves with graceful control.

Your baby is now weighs about an ounce and is the length of a flip phone, or roughly 3.5 inches—he's tripled in size from a mere three weeks ago! Luckily, you haven't done the same.




Thursday night we are heading to Regions Park to see the Birmingham Barons take on the Tennessee Smokies! Hope everybody has a great Labor Day weekend - we are looking forward to staying home & relaxing! JD's big band (Dangerous Cousin) has a show at Tannehill State Park on Monday afternoon, but other than that, we'll be around the house!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

13 week update

Not much new to report this week - but we have entered in to the SECOND TRIMESTER!!! I can't tell if time is going by quickly or not - right now it feels like it's creeping by, but at the same time I know that the next few months will go by in a flash! Another highlight this week - I am starting to transition in to maternity clothes!! Not for everyday yet, but some things from my pre-preggers wardrobe just don't work anymore :(

Mom & Dad Goodroe came to visit us this past weekend - we went to go hear JD & the Man play Friday night at Big Blue Bagel in Crestline. Saturday we spent the day running around town - mostly looking at baby stuff & nursery furniture!! There is so much to think about when shopping for new baby! Dad was cracking us up because he had apparently done some research on Consumer Reports recently & knew what brands were good & which ones to avoid - so funny to see a 70+ year old man have an opinion on baby strollers & car seats! HA!

This weekend we are heading down south for the annual Dauphin Street International Beer Fest - should be a good time, even for this pregnant gal :)

PS - I have recently fallen victim to pinterest. Many apologies to my husband who on Sunday only saw me from behind the laptop while I was scouring the many pages searching for great finds - I feel like that is bound to happen more frequently...

Here's this week's update!

Your Pregnancy: Week 13 (www.parentsconnect.com)
What You're Thinking:
"OK, fine, my skinny jeans aren't working anymore—and my "fat day" clothes don't even fit. I'm going shopping and I'm not coming back until I've got something I look fabulous in."



Your Baby
Your baby can make a fist and even suck his or her thumb this week—both skills that are über-cute during infancy ... and not so much at the age of 9. If you're really lucky, you might catch a glimpse of baby's thumb sucking on an ultrasound photo. That's a framer! Other exciting developments include:

Your baby's eyelids are fused shut to protect his eyes as they develop. His bones and skull are solidifying and soon itsy-bitsy ribs may appear. (Baby ribs! How cute is that?!) Baby's intestines are finally right where you want them—in his or her belly instead of poking out into the umbilical cord. Baby's tooth sockets are all loaded and ready to pop out baby teeth six or seven months after baby is born (causing baby a lot of pain and you a lot of lost sleep).

Who's that singing? Elton John? Could be your baby: His vocal cords and larynx are completed now.

Your baby-to-be now weighs about 20 grams and is nearly 3 inches long, or about the size of a Nutter Butter, covered in chocolate. OK, it doesn't have to be covered in chocolate, but isn't everything better that way?



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

12 week Update

Hello all! Just another quick update on what's going on with the Bakers. Since my last post, one of my very best friends gave birth to her first child!!! We are so happy to welcome Caleb Joseph Giesen to the world!! Congrats to Natalie & Joey - he is absolutely perfect & the most precious baby I've ever seen!!!

As I mentioned before, we traveled to New Orleans this weekend for a long weekend getaway! It was so nice!!! Lots happening in the Crescent City this weekend - Saints pre-season game at home Friday night; Red Dress Run Saturday morning; Dirty Linen party on Royal Street Saturday night. JD's sweet mom & dad came to spend the day with us on Saturday!! We had great food, saw all of our favorite spots in the city, hung out with old friends, & did LOTS of walking around - which I was nervous about in the beginning, but I ended up feeling great!! It has inspired me to pick back up on my exercise routine back home! We knew while we were there that we wanted to get some unique art from an artist on Jackson Square that we could use in the nursery - we were able to find a couple of the most *precious* pieces!! The cute little artist even signed them after we told him it was for our baby's nursery :) I will post pictures from our trip later...

On our way home, we swung through Foley, AL to stop at a place to look for supplies for our upcoming house addition project! We were able to find a new back door & wood for the cabinets that JD & his dad are going to build to hold his music & beer brewing supplies! We were able to get some really good deals - definitely worth the trip over to Foley!

In other news, I hit the 12 week mark over the weekend!! I am continuing to feel pretty good & can start to feel my energy coming back (finally!). Here's an update on what's going on with Baby Baker this week:

Your Pregnancy: Week 12 (www.parentsconnect.com)

What You're Thinking:
"Finally I can tell everybody that I'm not getting fat, I'm just pregnant!"

Your Baby
Baby's face is looking more human as his eyes have moved to the front of his head and his ears are in place. Hooray! Other amazing fetal highlights this week:


Your baby is able to swallow this week and practices on the amniotic fluid he or she floats in. (And you thought baby food was kind of nasty!) And in case you're wondering how your kid can breathe in all that fluid, here's your answer: Fetuses get oxygen from the blood pumped into their bodies by the placenta and don't breathe with their lungs. Mystery solved!

This is kind of gross, albeit fascinating, so feel free to skip ahead: Your baby's intestines are well under way, but they aren't all where you'd expect them to be. Instead of all being locked away in the body cavity, some are dangling on the outside, in the umbilical cord. Ewwww.

Don't forget to put a baby nail file on your registry—your little nugget's finger- and toenails are forming this week. The chin and nose are also becoming more defined.

Junior has doubled in size over the past two weeks and now weighs almost ½ ounce. He's also now around 2 ½ inches long, about the length of your pinky finger or a Vienna sausage, which, in a few months, will be indistinguishable from one another.




Monday, August 8, 2011

11 Week Update, & more

Hello All,

No real changes for me this time, but I thought I'd post the 11 week update on (BB)Baby Baker...

Your Pregnancy: Week 11 {from parentsconnect.com}

Wondering what's up with your body, your baby and your life this week? Read on ...

What You're Thinking:
"I am not crazy for crying like a little girl during the cheerleading championship on ESPN. Those girls work hard!"




Your Baby
All of your baby's vital organs are now formed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week as your baby becomes less susceptible to outside influences. Phew! Other exciting developments include:

Baby's ears are assuming their proper place this week and the fingernail and toenail beds are beginning to form. Your little "pumpkin head" really lives up to his nickname as his head is nearly as big as the rest of his body.

While testes or ovaries are completely formed now, don't start decorating the nursery. You won't be able to see your baby's gender for a few more weeks yet.

Your baby is really on the move now. In an ultrasound you might be able to see your little acrobat flailing his or her arms and legs and doing somersaults worthy of Cirque du Soleil. You still won't be able to feel any movement, so if you feel something "kick" in there, it's probably gas.

In the next nine weeks, your baby will increase 30 times in weight and almost triple in length. You might feel like you're increasing 30 times in weight at this point, too, but we can assure you're not—because, honey, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Your baby now weighs a third of an ounce, about the same as two small, Starbucks-sized packets of sugar, is about 2 inches long, the length of one of those sugar packets. Isn't that sweet?




I'm still feeling better than I was for the first several weeks, which is a GREAT relief! Still waiting for my energy to kick back in. JD & I had a pretty lazy weekend, however we did get a closet & a chest of drawers cleaned out. We're in the process of trashing or donating the stuff we don't need anymore, or putting things in storage we don't need but still want to keep, all in an attempt to get ready for BB!

We have a 3 bedroom house currently set up as 2 bedrooms & an office / music room / beer brewing room. The initial thought was that we would turn the current guest room into the nursery; however, since we have family who live out of town, getting rid of a guest room wasn't really an option. So, we have since decided to turn the office into the nursery. That means, however, that we need a space for JD's music & beer brewing equipment to go. After talking out the logistics with JD's dad, we have decided to close in our existing screen porch & make it a family room. JD & his dad are going to build custom cabinets to house his stuff. Work week is set to take place in early September - and we are sooooo excited!! Once the new space is complete, we can start working on the nursery!!

Also, on the short horizon for the Bakers is a mini vacation to New Orleans! We leave Friday & will spend 3 nights in the Big Easy! We are really looking forward to getting away for a little while & spending some time with friends who we don't see very often! I know, NOLA seems like an unusual place for a preggers lady to go - we scheduled & paid for this trip before we knew we were expecting! But, I was still excited to go! I'm really excited because we decided not to stay in a hotel this time, but in a little one bedroom condo! We found a GREAT place on a www.VRBO.com search - it's right on Royal Street, behind Jackson Square! In the heart of the French Quarter - close to everything! We even have our own little courtyard & two bicycles for getting around town!!! This will be my third trip to New Orleans, & I am excited to see how different this trip is from past visits!

Hope everybody has a great week! Talk to you soon...

Friday, August 5, 2011

...and BABY makes three

Well, I suppose it's finally safe for us to share our BIG news... JD & I are expecting a baby!!! Baby Baker is due February 26, 2012! We found out we were expecting on June 30, & it has been so tough keeping it a secret when all we wanted to do was shout our GREAT news from the mountain tops! The past few weeks have been pretty interesting - I've definitely had my share of "morning sickness", which usually lasts throughout the day (yuck). I've also been BEYOND EXHAUSTED! It's hard to imagine that something so small can already have such an impact on my body! This week I've been feeling much better (thank goodness), but I'm still ready to get my energy back! I've heard that moms usually start to notice a difference after the 12 week mark, so I'm looking forward to that :)

JD & I have had so much fun thinking about names & nursery ideas for BB (baby baker, of course!). We have also decided that we are NOT going to find out the gender in advance!! I know, we're crazy... the idea is that there are so few truly pleasant surprises in life, why wouldn't we take advantage of this one?!? Plus, we aren't really the "pink & blue" kind of people, so it's not like we'd "need to know" in advance to get the nursery ready. So far, mostly everybody thinks it's going to be a little girl. JD is POSITIVE it's a girl - I can't say that I have a feeling one way or another. All of the "old wives tales" say different things, but the Chinese calendar says girl. Anybody care to guess?

I went to the doctor this week for another ultrasound & everything looks GREAT! In fact, BB is measuring a little bigger than the estimated due date (Feb 18), but my doc is sticking with the original due date. The ultrasound was pretty incredible thsi time - BB actually looks like a BABY now! It has a HUGE noggin & it even waved its little hand at me! I can't believe how much it has changed in such a few short weeks --- & how much it will continue to change between now & my next appointment! I go back to the doc in 4 weeks, but no ultrasound at that appointment. We have to wait 8 weeks for the BIG ultrasound - the "anatomy review". IF we were going to find out the gender, it would be at that appointment, which also marks my HALF WAY POINT in pregnancy!!?! CRAZY!

As of today, I am 10.5 weeks pregnant. I've seen a few friends post weekly updates on their pregnancies & I think it's a great idea - I've decided to do something similar! So... here you go!


Your Pregnancy: Week 10 {from parentsconnect.com}
The roller coaster of nausea may almost be over, but the roller coaster of emotions (happy, sad, crying, mad; and that's all in the last 30 seconds) is just revving up. No one will understand why Friends reruns are making you cry, so don't bother trying to explain it.




Wondering what's up with your body, your baby and your life this week? Read on ...

What You're Thinking:
"Only 30 more weeks until I can eat raw fish and drink sake again."

Your Baby
By the end of Week 10, your baby graduates from embryo to fetus, which literally means "little one." It also translates to "I'm just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and so are you!" Other highlights this week:

Your baby has finally morphed from a little tadpole into, well, a baby. Not only is the face more human-like, but that unflattering "tail" (really just the developing spinal cord) has disappeared, fusing into the spinal column.

Your baby now has discernible fingers and toes, which will explain the steady stream of kicks and punches you'll feel down the line.

Junior's skeleton is starting to grow and harden. The ears are beginning to take shape and the eyelids are no longer transparent. Tooth buds are forming, although your baby won't get any teeth until six or seven (or eight or nine or 10) months after birth.

Baby's brain will make an incredible 25,000 new neurons every minute this week. While you may feel like you're losing as many as he's gaining, we can assure you it's not permanent. "Pregnancy brain," like nausea and bloating, is a temporary symptom that soon shall pass. (And then you'll get "Mommy brain," but we won't go there now.)

If you're baby is a boy, he's started producing that macho hormone testosterone. And whether your baby is a boy or a girl, the kidneys are creating copious amounts of urine. Lucky for you, you won't have to change a diaper for another 30 weeks.

Baby weighs only 4 grams and measures 1½ inches, about the size of a mondo Brazil nut.




We are so excited about all that is in store for us as we prepare for our new precious baby to arrive!