Ryan, week 22

One more week and things should start to slow down around our house. Maybe then, we can get more boxes unpacked and it will start to feel more like home. I think I failed to mention that I really started to feel him move around Mother's Day. What an amazing gift! He's still not super active, but I can feel him more and more each day. I definitely do not enjoy being pregant, it's more of a means to an end, but I do enjoy feeling my baby move. It has to be one of God's most special gifts. Here's how little Ryan is progressing this week.

How your baby's growing:At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

# 2, week 21

Now that we know we're having a boy, I can stop using "# 2" in my title. Yes, we have picked out a name. This could change, but I'm 99% sure that we're in agreement. The baby's first name will be Ryan. Ryan is my husband's grandparent's last name. The baby's middle name will be William. William is my Dad's middle name. Soon everyone will be able to meet, Ryan William. This has been our boy name for a second child long before we found out we were expecting and maybe before we decided we wanted to have another baby. Call us old-fashioned but we like traditional names and especially family names. Guess it's a good thing he's a boy because we only had a middle name for a girl.

We have also picked out a nursery theme. But didn't you say that you kept everything??? Yes, I did say that. Since we still use the lamp and some wall hangings from our son's nursery, we didn't want to re-use the same theme and/or cause more jealousy.

Here are some pictures of the bedding and accessories. Once we have the nursery painted and all of the furniture in place, I'll post actual pictures of Ryan's room.

# 2, week 20 - It's a ...

It's finally here!!!! Week 20 has been busy! We moved for a day and a half and then had our BIG ultrasound on Thursday the 13th. I haven't had ANY caffeine (unless you count what's in chocolate - and I haven't eaten much of that) since before we found out I was pregnant. I had stopped caffeine at the end of November 2009 in an attempt to get healthier and try to increase my weight loss. I drank a cup of fully loaded coffee on the way to my 8:00 appointment hoping that it would make the baby move enough that we would be able to find out the sex.

We start the ultrasound and all we can see is the spine. The little stinker was lying transverse across my stomach, right under my ribs. We listened to the heartbeat, which is always incredible to hear and tried to get the baby to move around. When we could see something, we found out the umbilical cord was between the baby's legs, making it even harder to determine the sex. Then, the ultrasound tech said, "I think it's a boy." After several more minutes of trying to get a clear image, she confirmed that we are in fact having a boy!

I am so excited!!! I kept everything of my son's...clothes, toys, blankets...you name it, I've got it! Now we get to use it all again. Plus, I know I can handle a boy and I'm not going to bankrupt our family (if it was a girl, I would have bought every cute, frilly, monogrammed thing you could think of...face it, girls have cuter clothes than boys!) I can't wait to meet our 2nd son...however, if you're reading this somewhere, don't be in a hurry to get here, I'd rather carry you full term unlike your older brother...and please don't mess up my blood pressure. I wasn't fond of bed rest!

When we were driving back from the doctor's office, my husband said, "I have my doubles team," and I said, "we don't have to pay for a wedding." It's funny how our first real thoughts about having two boys were so different! We have some ultrasound pictures, but I don't have electronic copy. You'll just have to wait 8 more weeks until the 4D ultrasound. Maybe he'll cooperate then!

Here's what babycenter.com says about HIS development:
How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

A new address!

This week has been very busy for us. It involved lots of packing, Mother's Day, selling our house, buying a new house and moving! I mentioned something about a lot of things going on in our lives right now and other than # 2, it was the sale of our house. We decided in January to put our house on the market. We put a lot of our furniture and things in storage in order to make it appear larger for "staging" and listed on March 1st. This was our second attempt at selling our home. We listed in June of 2008 through November of that year, when we decided that we didn't need to move then, especially since the housing market had taken a turn.

Between that time and now, we have replaced the carpet with hard wood floors and have upgraded the appliances (except for the fridge) to stainless steel. We LOVE our house. It was the first house we bought six months after we were married. We made it a home. It is the only house our son has ever known. Though we are happy that we are so fortunate to be able to move, it was a tearful goodbye. There are a lot of things we will miss about the "old" house...the cul-de-sac, the honeysuckle that took over the backyard and the long hall, just to mention a few.

We got an offer on our house March 30th. We counter-offered and the buyer counter-offered our counter-offer and we accepted. Lo and behold, we had a contract! Neither of us could believe! I had just hoped and prayed that we would be able to sell and move before the baby arrives in September. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen so fast. Don't get me wrong, we had a few bumps along the way but in the end we closed and moved.

Here's a picture of the new house. We're still getting settled and I think I'll be unpacking boxes for the rest of my life. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I should get some sort of reprieve for being pregnant...

# 2, week 19

Things are moving right along with # 2. We go to the doctor next week for our "big" appointment! We can't wait to find out what we're having!



How your baby's growing:
Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.