21 Week Update & Nursery in Progress

Hello All - lots going on since our last update on Baby Baker! We attended our 20 week appointment on Friday morning with an ultrasound - doctor reports that all looks GREAT & baby is growing, growing, growing!! My official due date is still February 26, but the ultrasound tech measured baby last week with a due date of February 13 -- I guess this one is really going to surprise us on the arrival date!

Baby must have known that he / she was in the spotlight all morning because it was dancing all over the place! Not only could I feel it moving, but the ultrasound tech had a hard time keeping him /her on the screen & then the doctor had to keep moving his device to hear the heartbeat! He did get a good heart rate reading & it came in at *134* (for all of you who are playing the guessing game, the rumor is that a lower heart rate means BOY). I'm getting to where I feel baby moving just about every day now, which is such a great feeling! The best one so far was last Thursday morning (10/13/2011)- I woke up, it was overcast, I was really tired as I haven't been sleeping very well, & all I wanted to do was crawl back under the covers to get some more rest - well, as if baby could read my mind, I felt two quick *kicks* in my tummy, as of he / she were saying "Mom - you have to get up & go to work now or else you will be late!!" Well, that was all I needed to get me moving :) Still looking forward to when those kicks are more intense & hard enough for JD to feel them!

This weekend we drove over to Social Circle to visit with my parents! While there, we were able to get a lot of things checked off the list for the nursery, including window treatments, hardware, & an area rug!! I couldn't hardly wait to get home with our new purchases so that we could see how they were going to look in the nursery - I'm happy to report that everything is even more perfect than we even imagined!!! I know I haven't posted any "nursery in progress" pictures yet, but I am ready to do so now...

*the bedding - still no pictures of the assembled crib with the bedding because we haven't assembled it yet... updated pictures will be shared in early November*


*rug & window treatments - this is seriously the SOFTEST rug that I've ever seen in my life!! can't wait to get baby baker down there crawling around on it!!*


*close up of the dresser / changing table - prints were previously in the guest bathroom at my parents' house, we think they will be perfect in the nursery! The fuzzy guy on the dresser is a recent purchase - we just couldn't leave him at the store :)*


*another close up of the window treatments on one window - it AMAZES me what a difference some curtains & a rug will make in a space!!*


We also found these cute little guys from HomeGoods - just couldn't leave them there & they are PRECIOUS in the nursery!!



It's still hard for me to comprehend that we are move the half way hump in pregnancy!! Here's what's going on with baby's development as we kick off week 21...

Your Pregnancy: Week 21 (www.parentsconnect.com)

Twenty-one is a magic number. It means independence. It means you just won a hand of blackjack. In pregnancy terms, it means you have gotten over the hump and you only have 19 weeks left!



Your Baby
Chances are good you're feeling someone performing a round-off back handspring in your uterus by now. Is there any other feeling this cool? Other highlights this week:

By now your baby looks like a mini-version of what she'll look like when she's born. All her facial features are formed and hair is growing on her head. She's even acting like a baby and will occasionally suck her thumb or yawn. Aww ...

Baby's heartbeat is getting stronger and can be heard using a good old-fashioned stethoscope. Ask for a listen at your next prenatal visit! By 21 weeks, fetal bone marrow starts making blood cells—previously done by the liver and spleen. This may not sound that exciting, but it's good news.

The amniotic fluid that has been cushioning your little bean now serves another purpose: Your baby uses it to "practice" chowing down. Yes, it sounds gross (as many aspects of pregnancy do), but it's an important step for your baby toward being able to chow down in the real world. Your baby has been swallowing amniotic fluid for a while now, but now the intestines are finally developed enough that she's absorbing small amounts of sugars from it. And let's face it, being able to effectively digest sugar is important at every stage of life.

Your baby now weighs between 10 and 11 ounces and is approximately 7 inches long—the size of a delicious, cold, frothy bottle of root beer. Float anyone?


That's all for now - looking forward to a visit from the Bakers this weekend for a JD & the Man show at ORE (Friday) & the Freshwater Land Trust Darter Dash 5k on Saturday! Wish me luck - not sure I was in my right mind when I agreed to do a 5k at a nature preserve at nearly 22 weeks pregnant...

Half Way There - 20 Week Update!!

okay, okay - I missed a week of baby updates :( Time is really getting away from me these days - & I know that will only get WORSE! This week marks a few really big milestones for our pregnancy: the half way mark & another *important* ultrasound!! JD & I go back to see my doctor on Friday. Usually, this would be the big gender reveal ultrasound; but, since we're sticking to not finding out in advance, we will just get to see baby again & check to make sure that all of his or her organs, etc are growing as expected!! It feels like it's been forever since I've seen baby Baker - & even longer since JD has seem him / her! We are both really excited to see all of the changes & how BIG he / she is getting!!

More highlights - I've been feeling baby move around pretty regularly over the past week. Since being able to identify what that *flutter* is, I notice it more & more! Some not-so-charming symptoms are increased indigestion, more intense cravings (cheesecake, anyone??), & more difficulty sleeping.

JD has final exams this week for the term - sadly he doesn't get much of a break; finals end Thursday & the next term starts Monday :( This weekend we are heading to visit the Goodroes after their return from sunny Florida!

Your Pregnancy: Week 20 (www.parentsconnect.com)

What You're Thinking
"Twenty down, 20 to go!!"



Your Baby
This is the week most women get that ever-important gender-revealing ultrasound. If your baby isn't shy, the genitals can be clearly seen at this point. Will the baby pee standing up or sitting down? Well, that depends on how you potty train—but if you're interested, you could leave the appointment knowing if you're carrying a boy or a girl. Other highlights this week:

Your baby has established sleep patterns akin to a newborn now. Many babies even have a favorite sleep position already. Some snooze with their chins resting on their chests, while others nap with their head flung back. Many babies at this age fall into noticeable cycles of sleep and activity, so you may know before she arrives whether you have a night owl or an early bird.

If your baby is a boy, the testes have begun descending from the pelvis into the scrotum. If it's a girl, her uterus is completely formed and the rest of her "parts" are in development. (Is that TMI?)

From this point forward, your baby will put most of her energy into gaining weight and, not coincidentally, so will you! Right now your baby weighs approximately 10½ ounces and is about 6½ inches long, about the size of a can of Red Bull (which has way too much caffeine for a pregnant woman to be drinking).

Latest Indulgence

okay, I'll admit it -- I've become obsessed with the latest world wide web craze, Pinterest. I justify it by saying that it gives me great ideas for the nursery & baby; but, honestly, it's just another way for me to procrastinate.


Check out my pinterest boards here

My suggestion for optimal pinterest browsing?? Do it while listening to Fleetwood Mac pandora radio with your favorite cocktail near by (lately mine has been non-alcoholic wine).

Enjoy :)

FUN in October!

Today marks the beginning of my favorite month of the year -- October!! I think it has always appealed to me as it feels the most like Autumn... September is still a bit hot & November gets swept away with dreams of the holiday season {and the Baker wedding anniversary, of course!} Plus, I am a sucker for all-things-Halloween :)

One local event that we try to make every year is the showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at the great Alabama Theater the last Friday in October.


It is GREAT fun - everybody dresses up & there are a couple of costume contests (regular costumes & Rocky-inspired costumes). For the Alabama Theater adaptation, live actors do a reenactment of the film while it plays on the big screen behind them. Also, the audience brings "props" to throw during the showing of the film (if you aren't familiar, check it out here) Always a great time, we try not to miss this one!

While searching for this year's Rocky details, I found that during the third week in October, the Alabama Theater is showing classic scary movies every night for cheap! The list is pretty much what you'd expect: The Omen, Amityville Horror, Halloween, The Exorcist, Dawn of the Dead; however, I was most excited to see my all time FAVORITE scary movie, ROSEMARY'S BABY on the list this year!! You can bet that the Bakers will be in attendance for this one!!



Hope everybody has a great October!

Also, a quick shout-out to my dad on his birthday today!! Hope you're having a great time in Florida!! Love Lots.

Weekends for the Baker Bunch & 18 Week Update

Hi All - realizing that it's getting harder for me to keep up with my weekly blog updates! A lot has been going on for the Bakers -- here's a quick recap of what we've been doing...

We finally got the house projects complete {with the help of our amazing families!!!} & the Baker abode is getting closer to being ready for the arrival of Baby Baker!!! All of JD's music & home-brewing equipment is tucked away in its new home, thanks to JD's dad's incredible carpentry skills!! {I promise to post pictures soon of the beautiful cabinets he built for us!!} We now have new hanging cabinets in our screen porch for JD's homebrew equipment & we have two GORGEOUS cabinets in the guest room for JD's music equipment!! We also installed a kitty-sized pet door so that Aja is free to travel between house & screen porch. It took some time for her to get compfortable with the new set up, but she has finally come around & seems to be a much happier kitty overall! (For those of you who know Aja, I think she's really started to come out of her shell - a few mornings this week, I've gotten up in the morning & spotted her sitting in a window sill out on the porch just watching the yard & flicking her tail!! JD & I joke that she is out there enjoying her morning coffee, watching the world go by...)

We hit a couple of bumps in the road during work week, but we *could not* be happier with how everything has turned out!! AND - with JD's stuff out of the third bedroom, we were able to start making progress on the NURSERY!!

No pictures of the nursery-in-progress yet, but here's what we've done so far:
>painted the room (walls, trim, closet, etc...)
>put in new crown molding
>purchased new blinds for both windows
>picked up dresser & crib from furniture store - dresser was already assembled
>bedding arrived & is ready to go in the crib, once assembled

It's got a long way to go before the baby comes, but it's definitely coming along!! We ended up going with a nice, neutral color for the walls (Martha Stewart's 'Alpaca Brown') with white trim - it's amazing what a difference a couple of gallons of paint can make!!

JD & I find ourselves stopping by the *nursery* most nights just to look around & think about what it will be like when Baby Baker arrives & is living in his / her new space! It seems like so far from now, but at the same time, I know it will be here before we know it!! I get so excited thinking about it!!


Last weekend we spent some MUCH NEEDED R&R time at Smith Lake with some great friends! We enjoyed the sun, games, good food, football, & baby Caleb! Here is a quick picture I snapped of the view of the lake from our room at the GORGEOUS house:


(Sadly, this is the only picture I took all weekend... must have been having too much fun??)

Other big news for the Bakers this week is that we met with our mortgage broker & are going to be able to refinance our home loan & save 3 points off our current interest rate!!! We couldn't be more excited about this - it's going to save us over $200/month, which will definitely come in handy when we have to start paying for daycare next year!

Although this week is nearly over, here's an update on our baby's progress...

Your Pregnancy: Week 18 (www.parentsconnect.com)

Now that you're in the full throes of the second trimester, you're feeling—and looking—fabulous. So don't waste it! See friends (they've missed you since you moved your bedtime up to 7:00 p.m.), plan romantic dinners with your partner (you will miss those when junior arrives) and get active. Waterskiing might be a little too much but swimming and taking long walks are great for you and your bambino.

Your Body
At about 18 weeks, you might begin to feel a suspicious flutter in your belly. The professionals call it "quickening," we call it "baby's makin' waves!" Within the next few weeks, those tiny bubbly feelings will become more obvious. And soon enough they'll be unmistakably identifiable—especially when you (and anyone within 10 feet of you) can see tiny feet, elbows and knees moving across your belly.

>>>SIDE NOTE: I felt this for the first time on Sept 20!!!




Your Baby
Your baby's ears are now facing forward and are completely formed so she can actually hear you talking now. You don't need to abandon your potty mouth just yet, but you might want to start thinking about it! Other highlights this week:

This week is also the beginning of ossification. And while that sounds like some long and involved paperwork you'll have to fill out, it's really a fancy medical term for the hardening of your baby's miniature bones. And that's a good thing.

Your baby's nerves are making more and more complex connections. Her sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing. A substance called myelin, which makes nerve connections travel faster, is now coating your baby's nerves.

Your baby now weighs between 5 and 7 ounces and is about 5½ inches long—about the size of a pickle from the corner deli. (You're familiar with pickles, right? Your regular accompaniment to a big bowl of ice cream?)

17 weeks & counting...

Sorry for the late (& short) post this week... Things have been really busy for the Bakers! I have lots to update you on, but it will have to wait until I have more time to post :(

In the meantime, here's what's going on with Baby Baker this week:

Your Pregnancy: Week 17 (www.parentsconnect.com)

What You're Thinking:
"OMG! Is something crawling on my stomach? Oh, wait! That was the baby!"




Your Baby
Packing on the pounds is what it's all about for baby this week. He's adding fat stores that will keep him warm and cozy after he's born. Your baby's weight will increase approximately six times over the next four weeks. Good to know you're not the only one tipping the scale. Also this week:

Your baby is hard at work honing his sucking and swallowing reflexes—all the better for eating that 2 AM (and 5 AM, and 8 AM ...) meal in a few months! The finger- and toenails are beginning to grow from their nail beds, which would explain why he'll need them trimmed almost as soon as he's born!

Your baby weighs nearly 5 ounces and is a little over 5 inches long—about the size of a baked potato (load on the butter and sour cream, please).

16 Week Update & Making Room for Baby!

Hi All - we are still trying to catch up after our first BIG work weekend!! We got sooo much done this past weekend, both inside & out! The tree that fell in our yard earlier this summer (did I ever mention that before now??) is finally gone & while we had the chainsaws, the guys (JD, his dad, & Katie's BF Dwain) went ahead & cut back a LOT of overgrowth from both in our yard & along the outside of our fence. The backyard, in particular, looks like a whole new yard! So nice! While the guys were busy outdoors, the ladies were busy inside cleaning out every closet & under the bed and doing some serious REORGANIZING! Several trips to the trash & GoodWill later, I'm finally starting to feel like we'll have some space to bring this new baby into our home, ha!

We also made some serious headway on the nursery!! Just about everything is cleared out of that room & the closet -- just waiting on JD & his dad to finish building the cabinets to store his homebrew & music equipment!! We ordered baby furniture this weekend & it should arrive no later than Sept 24! The pieces we ended up ordering are a convertible crib & what they call a "combo dresser" - I think they call it a combo piece because it is supposed to function as a changing table while the baby is in diapers (which it will at our house). Here are pictures of the furniture we ordered:



We are excited to be able to re-purpose two pieces we already have at the house to use in the nursery - a tall chest of drawers that belonged to JD's grandfather & a wicker rocker that my parents painted & recovered a couple of years ago that we have been using in the guest room.

We also ordered some baby bedding online this weekend as well - waiting for it to arrive to see if it's exactly what we want for Baby Baker! If so, then I can {finally} decide on a paint color & we can get the nursery painted!

Some other things on the "to-do" list for this week:
*finish painting / staining the cabinet pieces & get those in their correct spots
*replace screens on porch
*install pet door in backdoor
*get rid of remaining furniture in nursery that we aren't keeping
*paint nursery?

We are sooo thankful for our sweet families who have been such a HUGE help as we prepare for Baby Baker's arrival!! We absolutely could NOT have done it without their help!!!

I have another doctor's appointment this week - no ultrasound, just a check to see that our sweet baby is progressing as expected! I believe that our next big appointment with an ultrasound (what would be the anatomy reveal, were we finding out) is in two weeks - & I can't wait to see how big he / she has gotten since last time I saw him / her! I have been feeling pretty good, just finding myself getting tired more quickly than I did pre-pregnancy. I haven't felt any movement from the baby yet, but I read that I could feel hiccups starting last week & should start to feel kicking / movement starting next week!! We have a long weekend planned at Smith Lake next weekend with lots of friends who we don't get to see very often - I'm really hoping that Baby Baker decides to do some kicking / moving while we are together so that hopefully they can feel too :)

Speaking of, here's what's going on this week...

Your Pregnancy: Week 16 (www.parentsconnect.com)

What You're Thinking:

"I. Only. Have. Five. More. Months. Until. Everything. Changes."

Your Body
No, you don't have a new superpower, although it'll feel like it because you're able to smell pizza, burnt toast or a pulled-pork sandwich from miles away. Your heightened sense of smell isn't the only new trick your nose is doing. You're probably noticing some extra nasal congestion and maybe even some nosebleeds to go along with it.

Clearly your sense of smell is in overdrive, so try to avoid walking past the BBQ Pit or Curry Emporium.

While pregnancy-related nasal congestion is annoying, it shouldn't cause any problems and will go away after the baby is born. If you're getting a lot of nosebleeds, it could be because your partner keeps cheaping out on theater tickets, buying seats located in the top row of the balcony. Either that or it could be an indication of high blood pressure, so check with your medical provider.




Your Baby
Your baby is already mugging for the camera as she practices all sorts of facial expressions, such as squinting, yawning and grimacing, which will come in handy when you introduce her to pureed spinach. Check out what else is happening in utero:

You're just getting comfortable with being a new mom, but you're actually on the road to being a grandma. If your baby is a girl, her uterus is fully developed and the ovaries already hold primitive egg cells. Did that just make you feel a thousand years old, or what?

Your baby's skin is still translucent and wrinkly, not unlike an old man's, but more fat will soon accumulate under the dermas to plump her out. If you could peer inside right now, you'd be able to see all of her veins under her skin. And speaking of veins, your baby's heart now pumps about 25 quarts of blood per day, and she hasn't even seen Orlando Bloom yet! Also, her eyes are now locked and loaded at their final destination, facing forward rather than to the sides. (Whew!)

This is the week women get an amniocentesis, if their doc recommends it. In addition to supplying doctors with a boatload of info about the baby's health, amnios are also more than 99 percent accurate in determining what version of baby you'll be having. So if you want to know and you're getting an amnio, now's a great time to find out for sure.

Your baby weighs about 3 ounces this week and measures between 4 and 5 inches, about the length of your mascara.