Monthly OB Appointment

This month's OB appointment went well.  Baby is developing great with a heartbeat of 150 bpm.  I am measuring right on track for our due date.  So far things are looking pretty good.  One somewhat concerning finding from today is that I am unfortunately following in my previous footsteps and my blood pressure is beginning to run consistently low, especially with the amount of stress I am under at work.  I could tell by the conversation with my OB that she is a little concerned with the stress level I am under at work.  I guess I had better keep things in check as much as I can with new clinical buildings opening one week after our due date... It is going to be a close one!

Hopkins Holiday Party

Bumpies at the annual Hopkins PM&R Holiday Party!

20 Week Belly Photos

20 Weeks - Half Way There!!!

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... Baby's genitals are now fully formed!

How far along: 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +6.5 lbs

Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain, growing bump, headaches, pregnancy brain, sciatic pain, hunger all the time, difficulty sleeping, frequent urination, strong nails
Maternity clothes: All the way!
Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: 5-7 hours, depending on the night and how much I can actually sleep
Best moment last week: An increase in Baby kicking, especially in the evening
Movement: Getting a little bit stronger, but Chris is still unable to feel Baby
Food cravings: Cookies
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button (in or out): In, but stretching, stretching, stretching!
What I miss: Sleeping and being comfortable
What I am looking forward to: Daddy and Miles feeling Baby kick
Milestones: We made it to half way!!! 

Decorating the Tree

Our tree has been up for several days... It is about time that we got around to pulling out the rest of the decorations and ornaments!  We were all having a wonderful time, until we unwrapped the very first ornament.  Unfortunately, it was a very breakable train.  Miles was VERY EXCITED to play with it.  You can imagine how hard it was on him that we didn't let him play with it and only let him help us hang it on the tree.  After the train ornament was up, we almost immediately had to distract Miles by letting him watch Polar Express for a while as we began decorating the tree.

Eventually, Miles was a wonderful helper!

Miles cannot wait to show Baby what you are suppose to do with ornaments next year!

We Have our Boy and Girl Names all Picked and Ready to Go!

After what has felt like forever, Daddy and I have finally decided on both Baby Boy and Baby Girl names.  The girl names were very easy, as we both love the names that we picked out when we were pregnant with Miles.  The boy names on the other hand, that was a struggle for us.  We never really viewed ourselves to be fortunate enough to have another Baby, so we never even spoke of any back-up names for Miles.  We were starting from scratch.  We searched numerous websites and then I dug my nose into a baby name book, starting with A and ending with Z.  After nights of throwing out names well into the wee hours of the morning, we finished the book.  At that point, we had a list of 10-15 boy names that we quickly dwindles down to 5.  We slept on the names for a few days and brought up the conversation today,  Luckily, we are in complete agreement about our Baby Boy first and middle names... The original names I threw out before we looked through any websites or through the book.  Maybe I should just start going with my gut a bit more!  I cannot express how excited I feel now that we know our Baby Boy and Baby Girl names.

Making Room for Baby

Today we decided that we are going to buy Miles a "big boy bed," so that Baby can have the crib upon arrival.  As we live in a row home, finding room for multiple folks to sleep in one room can become a bit challenging, so in planning for the future, we have decided to buy Miles bunk beds.  If Baby is a boy, then the bunk beds will be for the boys to share.  If Baby is a girl, them Miles will eventually have a place for a friend to sleep once Miles and Baby no longer share a room.  We are planning to only build one bed for now, as Miles is far too young to have a set of bunk beds all to himself, however one day we will build the second bed for Baby, and when they are old enough, we will bunk them.

Here are the beds that we have chosen... We are just waiting for them to go on sale before we buy them.  After all, we do have a bit of time to spare!