Steady growig is key!

Emma has made her way into 24 weeks! She is putting on weight (about 4 ozs since last week) and she is now a little over a pound. She is also about a foot long...and that is close to a normal ear of corn

Her taste buds are continuing to develop and there are now "branches" of her respiratory "tree" in her little lungs! She is still sporting the translucent skin but I am told that too will change soon. ;-)


As for me, I now look like I am trying to smuggle a soccer ball under my shirt! ;-) I also had the glucose screening test on Monday and so far no news is good news. I am not sure how I feel about the whole...if there is something wrong we will call but if not we will just talk about it in a month!! That is a long time!!

I also had my first bout with sickness this week! I was fine on Monday and sometime during the night I caught a cold. That cold put me out of commission for 2 days and while I am now back to work...My head isn't all the way here. I am a fan of medication when I have a cold and the fact that I am restricted to most of the good stuff didn't help matters much. Luckily my puppies were super sweet and cuddled with me most of the day! They also got their picture taken with Santa!!

They were at Sugarbears in Fayetteville and they did such a good job! Later we tried to walk around the square to take a family photo but it was far to cold and windy for that!!

We are now one week from spending some much needed time with my family in Brinkley!! Can't wait to see everyone and celebrate my favorite holiday of the year...the birth of Christ!!

Have a blessed week and if I don't write...a very Merry Christmas!

Jill

Just Dance!!!

Emma has made it to the 23 week mark and that means it's time for some dancing!!Not just because we are over half way to meeting her in person but because "they" say that if I sway to the music she can feel me dance! She is more than 11 inches long now and weighs just a little over 1 pound. (the weight of a large mango)

This added length has already caused some more noticeable movement in my tummy. And this week was the first time that Michael was able to feel her "kick". I use the kick loosely since she was actually hiccuping which is a totally different thing but feels similar...just much more repetitively!  She is also able to hear more sounds that are around her every day...like my hair dryer and Brinkley and Gabby's barking when a leaf flutters across the front yard. ;-) This is a good thing because it means she won't be that upset by the noises once she is on the outside her current home.

Things going on with me...Swelling may start to show up in the coming weeks or months by the end of the day. I think this weekend I will see about some of those yummy compression hose! :-)

Tomorrow marks 2 Weeks until Christmas and time with my family and I can hardly wait!! :-)

More to come next week...and I will be able to tell you how that glucose drink tastes!!

Be blessed!

Bananas, Carrots and Spaghetti Squash...Oh My!!

You know it's been too long when you see that you have three fruits and veggies compared to a quarter!! ;-)
We will start with the Week 20 banana...

 In week 20 when we found out that she really was a she, Emma Jean was as big as a banana! From head to bottom 6 1/2 inches and from head to heel an impressive 10 inches!! With all that length it is still strange to know that she only weighs 10 1/2 ozs. Like we were able to see on the ultrasound she is swallowing more now which I am told is good practice for her digestion. :-) And for those of you who have had babies and experienced the joy of the first poop...well that is forming to!

Week 21 brought us the visions of carrots...

 So in week 21 Emma is weighing three-quarters of a pound and 10 1/2 inches long from head to rump. If you are tracking that means she grew 4 inches in the course of a week!! Eyebrows and eye lids are present and her V jay jay (thanks for the word Miranda on Grey's Anatomy) is beginning to form as well. This week was Thanksgiving so we were down in Alabama visiting Michael's family and Emma even put on a small show for Michael's Mom as she played the konga on the inside of my tummy. Kicks and punches were big enough that she was able to see them!! This week marks the increased chance of the appearance of varicose veins...yuck. I am already doing my best to sleep on my left side... I am not too good at propping my feet up when I can and I haven't gotten support hose but since my family is prone to them I am gonna try all I can to minimize the damage. :-)

On a side note: While in AL I learned that there really isn't much that I don't see myself forcing Emma to wear!! If she is anything like Mom says I was, once she starts talking she will want to dress herself and then all bets are off. ;-)

Now that we are caught up here is week 22!! The Spaghetti Squash

This guy shows what I feel like is currently taking up residence in my belly! Emma is almost one whole pound now and now is really starting to look like a mini newborn. She has lips, eyebrows and eyelids and little tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed but still no pigment in her irises. She is covered with a fine hair right now called lanugo. Changes in me include the magnetic attraction of hands to my tummy. This might not be a big deal to most but to me...HUGE!! I am just not a fan of tummy touching weather my tummy is big or flat. This immediately makes me jump back a bit and it's worse with family for sure. Somehow they feel like it's okay for them but I beg to differ. I am also realizing that when people say "you really look pregnant now" it affects me more than it probably should. I start by feeling defensive...even though I know it's true. I guess it's due to the fact that I am 5 feet tall and I have always had to watch my weight but I am listening to my doctor and she says I am right on track and as long as I eat right and get in some physical exercise each day I am doing good!

Oh no...I just read the most terrible thing...apparently the lotion I am paying the big bucks for has no scientific proof that it can prevent stretch marks. :-( Hopefully the research is wrong...cause I would really like to NOT have stretch marks if all possible!

So that's what happening in my belly. On other notes here are some pictures from Thanksgiving with Michael's side of the family!!

Have a blessed and happy week!

It it a GIRL!!!

So without further adieu we would love the world to say hello to Emma Jean (or a least her current home in my belly!!)  We had our 20 week ultra sound yesterday and it was confirmed that the little guy, um gal inside me is actually a girl!!! We couldn't be happier!


People kept asking us if we cared what we were having and the truth is that we didn't care one way or another as long as the baby was healthy. But am I excited about a little girl...you bet! I will be able to have my very own dress up doll for as long as she will let me. If she is anything like me that won't last once she starts talking. I can't say that I remember this but I have been told that when I was in preschool and Mom would wake me up I would ask "What am I wearing", if I didn't like the option I wouldn't get up. :-) And that if I had my way I would change cloths 3-4 times a day!! Lets just say that this might be interesting!!

As for the name I wanted to give a little history about that too. Emma is my great great grandmothers name and Jean is both my Mom and my MeMe's middle name! Here are some pictures of the three of us at MeMe's birthday and a Christmas!!

 In the next couple of months I am going to get all the information I can about Emma so that I will be able to tell Emma all about her namesake. I think it's neat to have a name with history...my name was chosen from a character on a soap opera. :-D

And as promised here is a picture of me and my belly...covered up!!

 You may notice that something looks a little different with my hair...nope I am not adding red to it but Emma is!! :-) My hairdresser assures me that this is natural and that pigment changes in the hair is just one of those things that happen during pregnancy. Who knows...maybe I will luck out and get a beautiful red headed girl like my Mom!!! For week 20 it's same ole same ole! Growing baby...growing mommy...but the one thing that is new is that we are finally able to buy things!! Michael, being the amazing husband he is, went and put our crib, dresser and changing table/dresser on layaway yesterday! Next week when I am in Alabama with my mother in law we will start the fun registration process!!!! Sooooo excited to start the planning. :-D

That will do me for now!

Be blessed!

Riffraff

So  I have heard some amazing things about this place and I am finally going to get to check it out! :-) You should too!!! This Thursday they are having a holiday open house!! Come check out all the things you can't live without for the holiday season!!

Exploding Babies...

Well not exactly exploding babies but this week our baby's sensory development is exploding! She is in there developing her senses of smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Right now I would venture that the taste, and vision part would be very dull but being able to see what is in front of her, touch her surrounds and even hear Michael and my voice seem pretty big!  She is growing bigger and bigger and so is my belly! I think I finally feel like I look pregnant and not like I have been drinking a little too much. ;-) Next week I will see if I can post a picture of me with the belly! :-)

I am still shocked and amazed that this little guy is 6 inches long and 8 1/2 ounces!! All of that is happening under my skin...GOD is AMAZING! If you are like me and enjoy the quarter pictures...here is one for this week.

By the size of the shrinking quarter I can really tell that soon my baby is going to look like a small baby instead of fruits and veggies! ;-)

That's about all I know for now!

Have a blessed week!!!

JGW

Week 17 has come and gone...

So this post will cover both week 17 and 18!! ;-)

First things first...
Week 17 saw our baby's skeleton turning from soft cartilage to bone!! Her placenta is also growing stronger and thicker!! Good thing since she will need all the yummy nutrients she can get from now until she comes to meet us in person.!! The baby is now 5 oz. in weight (like a turnip) and is 5 inches from head to rump.

For baby, week 17 is more of the same...growing growing and more growing but for me it's causing some precarious issues with my balance. My trainer is working to help keep my balance from going the way of the dodo bird but just the same I have all but packed up my high heals for the next 22 weeks. :-)

And now...
We are in week 18!! Just two short weeks until we get the first real glimpse of what we are having!! :-D
The baby is now 5 1/2 inches long from head to rump which translates to about the length of a bell pepper and weights 5 1/2 ozs.





I don't know about you guys but this bell pepper looks smaller than a turnip. ;-)







Last weekend Michael and one of my best friends Bethany celebrated their 40th and 30th birthdays together with family from both sides and one of his favorite people Yoshi! Michael got his first store bought birthday cake and I may have ruined him for future cakes!

 

 We are truly blessed to have such wonderful families!! :-) 

That is all that is really going on in our lives right now...more to come next week!

Be blessed!