Baby Z Week 15

**Too lazy to do a picture this week :)**

How far along are you? 15 weeks

How far are you measuring? Right on track!

How big is your baby? About 4 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces - about the size of an apple

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Baby is moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract which helps develop lung function

Heartbeat: 171 bpm

Total weight gain/loss: +5 lbs....doctor was very happy with it!!

Maternity clothes: I'm wearing maternity clothes about 70% of the time. I still have one pair of jeans I can wear without the Be Band, but even the Be Band is starting to get uncomfortable. I just don't like having my stomach squished in. Most of my shirts still fit, but there are a few that I can't wear. If I wear maternity jeans with the full panel I have to wear a maternity shirt to make sure they're long enough. I think whoever invented maternity pants is a genius, though! They're SOOOO comfortable!

Stretch marks: No!

Sleep: Whatever was making me uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach last week has resolved itself because this week it hasn't been a problem. I still get up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom, but I deal with it. It probably doesn't help that I'm guzzling water all day and all night (including the middle of the night), but I get so thirsty!!

Gender predictions: I'm not answering this since I have a pretty good idea what the sex of the baby is :) 

What I miss: Sleeping in during Spring Break! :)

What I'm most looking forward to: Summer vacation, finding out the sex, buying and decorating the nursery....so much!

How are you feeling: Great! Really can't complain about anything!

Body Pillows

So, I don't know if I'm popping out early, or if I'm on track, but I feel a bit fat lately. And I don't really feel like that until I put on regular clothes. I feel like I look fairly normal when I'm in my lazy clothes/workout clothes, but the minute I put on jeans and even my "fat pants" they're SOOO snug around my belly! I've only put on about 4.5-5 lbs since finding out that I was pregnant. The last time I went to the doctor she actually told me that she had wished I had seen a bigger weight gain, but I digress...just ranting for now :)

My true reason for this post is because I'm finding that it's getting more and more uncomfortable for me to lay on my stomach, or to put anything on my stomach (my laptop is what I'm thinking of, specificially). Michel and I went to Target to get a body pillow, but didn't find any. We did a search online and found that we can either just get a long pillow for like $15, or a Boppy body pillow that is kind of an 8-figure for about $45. So my question to any of you who have ever bought and used a body pillow is what did you get, and did you like it? I don't mind spending more money if it will keep me more comfy, but if an extra long pillow is all that I need I'll get that and save some money. Thanks ladies :)

Hello 2nd Trimester!!

How far along are you? 14 weeks

How far are you measuring? Right on track when I went to the doctor a few weeks ago...another appointment on Thursday!

How big is your baby? About 3 1/2 inches long and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces - about the size of a lemon

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Baby has learned how to make some expressions - including squinting, grimacing, frowning, and is learning how to suck his/her thumb if that ends up being their thing :)

Heartbeat: 171 bpm

Total weight gain/loss: Approx. +4.5 lbs

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but they're not too far away...I wear my Be Band with almost all of my pants. My shirts still fit, but I'm really just starting to look fat (in my opinion) rather than pregnant. Oh well...it won't be long before people can tell I am pregnant, and I haven't just let myself go :)

Stretch marks: No!

Sleep: I don't feel nearly as tired as I used to which is really nice. Of course, I've also been on Spring Break all week, and gotten a good 9-10 hours of sleep every night. We'll see what happens when I go back to work tomorrow :) Oh, and another thing I've noticed is that I'm starting to be uncomfortable sleeping on my stomach. I don't feel like I'm THAT big, but I notice I'm starting to favor sleeping on my side which I've NEVER done. I'm always a stomach sleeper. Oh, and now I get up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom. I've always gotten up once, but never more than that. The nights where I end up getting up 3 times a night always makes me feel tired the next day.

Gender predictions: I'm not answering this since I have a pretty good idea what the sex of the baby is :) 

What I miss: Nothing! It used to be my Sonic vanilla diet Coke, but my doctor told me that Coke Zero was a better alternative to Diet Coke (I don't know why). I didn't think I liked Coke Zero, but I am not a fan of a vanilla Dr. Pepper, so I gave a vanilla Coke Zero a try and LOVED it!! Well...maybe I do miss sleeping comfortably on my stomach. 

What I'm most looking forward to: Summer vacation, finding out the sex, buying and decorating the nursery....so much!

How are you feeling: Great! Wish Spring Break lasted into the summer :)

Baby Items Must Haves/Can't Stands

As the weather turns nicer, I'm seeing more and more garage sales popping up. Lots of garage sale items are also baby items, so I've pulled over and run past quite a few that caught my eye, but then their stuff looked way too worn for what I wanted. Anyways, with so much stuff out there for babies I get a bit overwhelmed with what stuff do I really need, what stuff do I not need etc?

So, to all the moms out there I have some questions:

1. What baby items are your absolute FAVORITES? You use it all the time, it's held up over time, it's made your life easier? This includes furniture...did you use a changing table, or did you change the baby wherever you were?

2. What baby items did you register for/receive that you never used, or found it just wasn't what you thought it was.

Thanks!! I'm sure there will be many more posts for moms out there to give me opinions on all things baby!

Baby Z 12 weeks

Excuse the lazy afternoon clothes! I only took a picture from the side because I don't have on any makeup. Check it out...I definitely have a bump emerging! At first, I was kind of freaking out, but I checked my weight and I've only gained 2 lbs since my doctor's appointment (which is probably b/c we've gone out to eat a lot and had decadent cake daily because of my birthday), but I'm also really short, so I'm not that surprised if I start popping out before some of my taller friends.

How far along are you? 12 weeks

How are you measuring? I should know more on Tuesday when we go in for a sono and some genetic testing!

How big is your baby? Just over 2 inches long - about the size of a lime

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Baby's developing reflexes! The baby looks unmistakably human - though very tiny. Baby's kidneys now can excrete urine into the bladder. And apparently if I prod at my stomach baby will move in response, but I can't feel anything.

Heartbeat: 168 bpm...again, I'll know more after our Tuesday appt!

Total weight gain/loss: According to my scale I'm up +3-3.5 lbs (up 2 from the doctor, so a total of 3-3.5). I would like to attribute it to my birthday week where we went out to eat several times, and have eaten a delicious triple-layer chocolate cake everyday since Tuesday!

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but it's coming! I did use my BeBand (Target version of a Bella Band) for the first time on Friday at school. It was amazing!!

Stretch marks: Not yet!

Sleep: I want to sleep all the time! Even days where I've slept 10+ hours, I end up falling asleep for 20ish minutes in the middle of the day!

Gender predictions: I'm still sticking with a girl. If we're really lucky we can find out on Tuesday!

What I miss: All the diet Coke I used to drink :)

What I'm most looking forward to: This week! I'm off on Tuesday for a dr's appt., Wednesday I'll be at school, but I have a sub to cover me for parent-teacher conferences, Friday is a half day, and then Saturday starts my first day of Spring Break!!

How are you feeling: Still tired most of the time!!

Saturday afternoon project

This weekend has been pretty low-key for us, and I am totally fine with that! We had a really busy week with my 29th birthday (yikes!!), we went out to eat and celebrate Tuesday, went out with friends on Wednesday, and went out with friends on Thursday. I love having a social life, but I was fine having a low-key weekend. Our Saturday plans mainly just consisted of going out for dinner. I'll preface this with saying that we got a TON of house decor items for Christmas. The ones that need hanging are still on our bedroom floor (sorry Janette! Don't worry...I'm very excited to put up our monogrammed canvases that you painted for us!). Anyways, Michel said that he would be willing to hang some stuff for me. Michel HATES, HATES, HATES hanging things. So we chose to go small and hang some pictures that I had framed that I took from Hawaii. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out!!

It really adds some color and dimension to our room! I really love it!