Pregnancy Week 18: Progress and 4D Ultrasound Pictures

This is probably the busiest week I've had in a long time. There is still a lot of unpacking to do, but I think I will focus on what we have completed so far:

1. Kitchen is 100% unpacked
2. Office is set up (even though I'm going to get new desk to match the rest of the furniture in the coming week, oh well)
3. Living room is set up and unpacked (we have discovered we will need an area rug though to combat wheeled coffee table on hardwood floor slipperiness)
4. Guest bath is unpacked
5. Bedroom is set up, but closet and bathroom still need to be unpacked
6. Back porch is set up with table and chairs

Major things that still need to happen:

1. Hang up pictures
2. Put away clothes
3. Unpack main bathroom (need to get cabinet/storage organizer first)
4. Construct new guest bed frame (once it arrives)

Then I can focus on setting up a baby registry, especially since I know we are having a girl!!!

By far the most common question Josh and I have both gotten since the gender reveal is "Have you thought about names yet?"

Yes, yes we have, but we are not sharing. I have heard too many stories of people sharing their super important opinions about baby names.

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking on my part, but I think people are far less likely to say rude things about our name choice once the child is born versus when she is still in utero. 

Now on to the pictures! First up are my progress pictures. You will have to excuse the boxes upon boxes upon boxes. Things just got put any old where when we first moved in (also, lolz tampax box).

8 Weeks	18 Weeks

I definitely look different now, but not like I'm pregnant. Oh well. I'll "pop" eventually.

Here is a picture from last night of Nona being cuddly. Since about week 8 of the pregnancy she has become obsessed with snuggling with my stomach and trying to burrow her face in it.

Nona is still adjusting to the new house. She's still skittish if Josh or I make a sudden loud noise, but she is getting more comfortable with her new surroundings.

And now for the 4D ultrasound pictures (to clarify, the pictures are actually 3D, but they came from my 4D ultrasound). These first three are good shots of baby's feet and toes. The last one she is trying to make a grab for her foot :)

There next two are good shots of her hands. The first one I posted in the last blog update. The second one her hand closest to the front is blurry since she moves so dang much, but you can see her other hand pretty clear :)

Here you can see her little toesies and hands. She has her momma's long toes ;)

She's being camera shy in this one, hiding her little face behind her hand:

Here she is in the process of sucking her thumb <3 She's moving really fast, so her face is blurred, but you can easily see what she is doing :)

And here is the traditional 2D shot again :)

This week baby girl is approximately 5.5 inches long, weighs about 5 ounces, and is roughly the size of a sweet potato. <3

Baby Bookwalter Gender Reveal: It's a...

We are having a girl!

Since I found out that Josh would not be able to make my scheduled anatomy ultrasound I decided to find a place out in town. They are usually referred to as "Sneak Peek" or "Peek-a-Boo" ultrasounds. This way, we could find out together and he would actually be able to see the baby for the first time since my 7 week ultrasound.

This picture was taken in the office right after the sneak peak:

Here is our baby girl :)

This is the standard 2D ultrasound image. Her heart rate was 132.

This is the 4D image. You can see her little arm and hand wrapped around her head. She has her knees curled up in the fetal position :D I have a ton of these images to sort through and I will post the best ones later. This is one that was printed out in the office.

Nona got in on the fun, mostly entirely because I made her do it.

Rocking a pink ruffle against her will.

This face pretty much sums up how she felt about the pink ruffle.

I will give a much more detailed post with more pictures on Monday along with my 18 week photos. We are in the middle of crazy packing and moving shenanigans, more to come soon!

Pregnancy Week 17: New House

Let the moving madness begin! Josh and I will be moving to a new house next weekend (still in NC, just closer to the beach and friends).

Here were my must haves to move:

• 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms. Check.
• More space and storage. Our current house is around 1200 sq ft; the new house is around 1800 sq ft. Check.
• 2 car garage. Check.
• His and hers sinks. Check.

Here were things I would prefer:

• Hardwood floors. Check.
• Close to the beach. Check.
• Open concept. This one didn't really happen. However, the main living area is huge.

Look at all of my win!

The only thing I didn't like is the kitchen isn't as open to the living area as I would prefer. You can see into the living area from the kitchen, just not like my current set up where I can see the entire living area from the kitchen. But oh well. You can't have everything, and this house came pretty darn close to everything I wanted.

In the mean time, I am packing like a crazy person. No matter how much packing I get done, it still feels like I haven't even made a dent. Oh well.

But who cares about the boring "how-it-happens" part? Clearly, you are all just here for the pictures ;)

Note: None of the furniture or decor belong to us. The house was staged. I'll take pictures of my own once everything is moved in and in place.

Here is the front of the house. Note the legit two car garage. Not a garage that can technically fit two cars, but a garage that can actually fit two cars and have enough space to open the car doors once inside. Plus, the garage has a large suspended platform to STORE things on. Storage is going to be a big theme of this post, FYI.

Here is the living area. I've included a few different angles of this room. Look at all the natural light.

Gas fireplace.

Hardwood floors throughout for the win. The only carpeting is in the bedroom. This makes me so happy.

This is the view from the living area down the hall. To the right is a coat closet, down the hall next to the open bathroom door is a linen closet. STORAGE.

Here is one side of the kitchen,

Kitchen from a different angle. Look at that window. Just look at it. It is beautiful.

Kitchen from yet another angle. Look at that pantry. Look at those cabinets. LOOK AT MY STORAGE!

Dining area. Oh look, more cabinets. MORE STORAGE :D

Guest bath. Medicine cabinet = STORAGE.

Guest bedroom. There is a closet, it's just not in the picture.

This will be the nursery. Again, the closet is not in the picture.

Super awesomely huge master bedroom.

Look at all my glorious space :D Plus, a walk in closet.

Master bath. His and hers sinks are an absolute must. I cannot ever go back now that I know of their glory. Also, another medicine cabinet.

Screened. In. Porch. Absolute must in the south. Too many dang bugs.

The shed we get to use. No more stinky lawn mower in my garage. STORAGE.

Look at this driveway. Look at it.

It is glorious. My house is no where near the street like the other houses. My house is on the other side of the wardrobe. My house is Narnia.

Now onto baby updates!

I don't actually have too much to report. I had another checkup and I got to listen to the heartbeat on the Doppler. It was around 130-140 (so about the same as last time).

However, I do think I felt movement. It was an incredibly strange fluttery sensation. It was not gas, that much I know. I have never felt anything like it before, but it was so brief that I couldn't really be sure. Plus, I have an anterior placenta, which means my placenta is cushioning much of the baby's movements making it unlikely to feel movement this early. However, this mamba jamba is super active so perhaps I did feel it.

Here are my week 17 pics. Sorry they are so blurry, I had to take them with my iPad since my camera battery died.

This is 8 weeks compared to 17 weeks (today):

8 Weeks	17 Weeks

So, you know, still not looking pregnant. I asked my doctor about it at my checkup and she doesn't think I will "pop" until 20-24 weeks given how fit I was prior to pregnancy and my continued (although altered) fitness regimen. My weight gain is normal and the baby is doing well so that's all that matters :)

Baby stats: At 17 weeks the baby is 5 inches long, weighs about 5 ounces, and is roughly the size of a turnip. The baby can hear me now and will apparently recognize songs if I sing them during pregnancy then after birth. Apparently, the baby is also now practicing sucking and swallowing so it can eat and all the good stuff once it is born.

We won't find out the gender until October 28th, which is infuriating. We could probably find out now, but Naval makes you wait until 20-22 weeks because they also want to make sure all the baby's organs are looking good. We are going in at 22 weeks and 1 day in hopes that the hubs will actually be able to make this appointment since it is one of the bigger/more exciting ones. The receptionist was giving me a ration of crap about it.

"Let's see...your window for an anatomy ultrasound is October 13 through the 27th."
"Yes, I would like to schedule it for the 28th if at all possible *Explanation about hubs*"
"But that's outside your 20 to 22 week window. We can't do that."

We proceeded to go back and forth about how I want Josh there since he will not be here for the birth and is already missing so much. She kept harping on about the 20 to 22 week window. I finally got fed up and got a wee bit blunt.

"Will its sexual organs somehow disappear if not viewed within that window?"
"No..."
"So will one day really be that big of a problem."
"Well...no, not really."

Appointment scheduled. Done.

I asked around after the fact and apparently they like that window because that is when it is easiest to see all the baby's organs. If we go earlier than that window, the organs may not be fully formed. Later than that, they get too big and are hard to see individually (I think). Again, I seriously doubt one day is going to ruin everything ever.

Anyway, fingers crossed that Josh can actually be there for the appointment :)

UPDATE: Josh will not be able to come to the appointment. His training got extended, big surprise. I moved the appointment to October 15th since there is no point in delaying it when there is zero chance of him being able to go.

Pregnancy Week 15 and 16 + New Ultrasound Pictures

Sixteen weeks already, almost half way! I'm still not looking very pregnant. My 15 week pictures started to look like I was getting a little bump, but it appears to have vanished in my 16 week pictures. That's kind of how it has been going this last week. I go to bed with a little bump and I wake up with a flat stomach. The mysteriously disappearing, reappearing bump.

I am starting to look different though! My waist line is not nearly as defined, my abdominal muscles are less prominant, and I've got a little poke in my lower belly.

Here are the progress pics (sorry for the messy room in the 15 week pics, I was in my brother's room since I was visiting family).

8 Weeks	15 Weeks

And here is 8 weeks compared to 16 weeks (this morning!):

8 Weeks	16 Weeks

Grow baby, grow!

And here is what I looked like in clothes at 15 weeks 5 days:

So not all that different in clothes, but we're making progress. Not sure where all this dang weight I've gained has gone to, but whatever. Baby is looking good, so I'm happy. 

And now for some ultrasound pictures! My Aunt Jane is the best, so I got to get another sneaky peek at the baby :) This ultrasound was done at 15 weeks 5 days.

Here is the baby. Its head is on the left and it's on its back. Look at its little upturned nosey!

Here is the baby giving you all the bird (not very nice, baby!). Its head is on the right now and its hand is above its face.

This one doesn't look like much, but if you look to the upper left hand corner you will see a little foot! Sorry baby, you have my creepy long toes (you can't tell that in this picture - baby moved around too much - but I got to see it in person).

Here you can see a really good view of its spine. 

So far, everything is looking pretty good! Baby has a good looking heart and heart beat, a spine, two legs, two feet, two arms, and two little hands! I also got to see all its tiny ribs!

The baby was incredibly active (as per usual) and we had to chase it around for while to get most of these images. When we listened to the heart beat on the doppler there was tons of clunking and clicking, which indicates the baby is moving. As you can see in the ultrasound pics, its head starts on one side and ends up switching to the other.

At 16 weeks, the baby is about 4-5 inches long, which is roughly the size of an avacado according to my pregnancy app. However, it only weighs 3-5 ounces. At the ultrasound, the heart rate was 138 beat per minute :)