Week 15 & 16

Baby is: fifteen weeks

Size of: a baseball

Big Developments:  Baby’s eyes can sense light, he is breathing amniotic fluid through his nose to help his lungs develop. His legs are growing longer than his arms and he can move all his limbs.

Gender: I’m noticing cute girl clothes more lately. I’ve looked for bedding for both a boy and a girl. I am very excited to find out what baby is so we can decide on a name and start shopping.

Big News: Some of the higher up people at my work know now. I haven’t told any of my friends really, I’m still waiting for a good time to bring it up.

Symptoms: My nose is super stuffy and sometimes bloody. I am blowing my nose constantly. My skin is super dry, I feel like I need lotion constantly. Some of my work pants are getting tight and I’ve grown out of all my regular bras. My body is getting sore and tired more easily and I have to go to the bathroom a lot more often. My headaches are less frequent but still miserable.

Thoughts: I think I might have felt baby moving a little bit. It was right before I fell asleep so I don’t know if I dreamed it or if it was real. This pregnancy still doesn’t seem real. I feel pretty good most of the time and I’m not looking obviously pregnant yet so it’s still hard to wrap my head around most days.

Cravings & Aversions: I had Casey pick me up some ice cream from Farr’s and it tasted delicious. I love curly fries and most anything breakfast related. Most meat doesn’t sound good, if I do eat it I cant really focus on what I’m eating or I make myself sick.

Baby is: sixteen weeks

Size of: an avocado; for some reason this analogy hit me more realistically than the others. When I look at an avocado and think that the baby is that size, it makes sense that my belly is getting bigger and that I can feel him moving around in there.  

Big Developments:  Baby’s head is more erect and his eyes and ears are close to their final position. Baby has started growing toenails; his heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood each day.

Gender: Everyone keeps asking us when we will find out and what we think it is. It is so weird feeling so different this time around. I knew for sure that Hiccup was a boy, but with this baby I’m less sure and more easily talked in to thinking one way or another. I’m looking at both types of clothes equally instead of just focusing on boy stuff.

Big News: I talked to Nadia about the baby this week when I asked her if she could come to the dr with me. She was really excited for us. It’s still weird to tell people because it doesn’t feel all that real to me yet.

Symptoms: I’ve been getting hot and cold flashes and some dizzy spells. I’ve been easily irritated and very tired. I’m getting out of breath very easy (I need to start exercising) and my back and joints hurt most of the time.

Thoughts: I’m definitely feeling baby moving. It’s mostly at night or when I’m sitting really still. I felt movement a week earlier than I did with Hiccup and it feels more distinct to me instead of just butterfly or popcorn like. I had Casey rest his hand on my belly before bed and he thought he could feel some movement too. I got my first stranger asking if I was pregnant and when I was due. It was a bank customer so I wasn’t too offended at her asking about my growing belly, it was a little weird tho.

Cravings & Aversions: I want ice cream a lot, but dont really get to eat it that often, which is probably a good thing. I'm going through a ton of milk and lots of cereal. Lately veggies sound amazing and when I see people eating on tv, usually no matter what it is, I want whatever they're having. Smells are really bothering me, mostly BBQ and coffee. 

Week 14

Hiccup is 14 months old and baby is 14 weeks old

Baby is: fourteen weeks

Size of: a kiwi; his head is the size of a gumball

Big Developments:  Baby can squint, frown, grimace, pee, grasp, and suck his thumb.

Gender: Some old wives tales gender predictions:

Chinese calendar:  girl (this was right for Hiccup but wrong for Christine and Reese)

 Mayan calendar:  boy

A high heart rate: girl (Our dr with Hiccup said his heart rate sounded like a girl)

Having so many breakouts: girl (but my skin did the same thing with Hiccup)

Not much morning sickness: boy

Craving mostly sweets: girl (but I craved chocolate constantly with Hiccup)

Having my hair grow faster: boy

Genetics on Casey’s side: boy

Casey’s sympathy weight: boy

My nose staying the same size: girl (I don’t think my nose changed with Hiccup)

My clumsiness: boy, but to be fair I’ve always been clumsy.

My hands being dry: a boy (My hands were super dry with Hiccup)

Having a lot of headaches: boy

Only wanting to eat the middle of the bread: girl. I think this is a weird one but I have noticed lately that I don’t want anything to do with the crust on anything.

My pregnancies, with the exception of the weight gain and headaches, have been pretty identical. I still think baby is a boy but I’ve been getting a lot more people asking me about a little girl.

Big News: Brenda told her sisters and her dad so we got to talk to them about it this weekend.

Symptoms: my stomach has been wimpy this week. I felt some movement in my stomach one night but I couldn't tell if it was baby or not. My skin is dry!

Thoughts: I’ve been wearing my belly bands but I haven’t worn any maternity pants yet. I tried on some maternity shirts but they are pretty stretched out from wearing them with Hiccup so I think I’ll have to wait till my belly pokes out a bit more to wear them.  I feel like I’m just growing in my belly and my chest. I am excited to finally be able to feel the baby move. I’ve heard that after your first pregnancy you are able to recognize the baby’s movement earlier but we will see. I am in my second trimester and hoping to start feeling better! Although, if my headaches are pregnancy related then my dr said they will only get worse.

Cravings & Aversions: I still want cereal a lot. I like jamba juice lately so I go there once a week. I want hard ice cream; the soft serve texture grosses me out. I don’t want soft tacos, big pieces of chicken or hotdogs still.

Weeks 12 & 13

Baby is: Twelve weeks

Size of: a lime

Big Developments:  Baby is developing reflexes: fingers will open and close, his mouth begins to suck, toes will curl, and eyes will clench. His eyes have moved to the front of his head.

Gender: Several people this week have told us they think baby is a girl.

Big News: We told both sets of my grandparents, and Casey’s dad’s side of the family this week.

Symptoms: Still with the migraines. It has been pretty awful.

Thoughts: Casey and I finally discussed names. We are basically on the same page as far as a boy’s name; there is definitely room for possibilities. My belly is poking out. I washed my box of maternity clothes and added them to my closet. I will most likely need a few more items.

Cravings & Aversions: Textures are really bothering me. If I think too much while I'm eating then I get grossed out really easily. 

Baby is: thirteen weeks

Size of: a lemon

Big Developments:  fingerprints have formed, the vocal cords are developing, the intestines are moving from the umbilical cord to the abdomen.

Gender: We have lots of people thinking baby is a girl. We get asked almost everyday what we think baby is, and what we want.

Big News: We told Angie and Corinne this week. I haven’t told most of my friends yet, I’m waiting for the right time I think.

Symptoms: Still with the headaches; my medicine is helping a bit to calm the headaches but I’m dizzy for the first hour after I take them. My stomach hurts most of the time from some sort of cramping. My back has a constant dull ache. My face is broken out and my skin is dry and itchy.

Thoughts: We had a dr appointment this week. Dr checked baby’s heartbeat which was 164. We started with the weekly belly pictures. It will be fun to compare the two pregnancies just based on the belly. I know I am already much bigger than I was with Hiccup at this stage.  This all still doesn’t seem real yet. I think once I start to feel baby move and we find out boy or girl it will hit me a little bit. I’m excited to start buying things for the room and buying little jammies and outfits.

Cravings & Aversions: I was able to share some chicken strips with Casey over the weekend; I still don’t want to cook chicken though. I’ve been wanting a lot of Italian type food and breakfast food. We’re going through milk and cereal like crazy. 

Weeks 9, 10, & 11

Baby is: Nine weeks

Size of: a grape

Big Developments: Baby’s heart has divided into four chambers. The tadpole tail is gone, the eyes are fully formed. Baby has earlobes.  

Gender: I go back and forth to thinking about girl things vs. boy things. I’m excited to find out whether we have a boy or girl coming to our family.

Big News: We told our family this weekend. We bought my mom a Berstein’s Bears book “The New Baby” and had Hiccup give it to her for her birthday. She figured it out pretty quickly and was really excited for us. We told Casey’s family on Sunday at the birthday gathering. We played our fun pictionary/charades game and had Casey act it out. Scott and Brenda didn’t figure it out at first but everyone seemed excited for us. It’s nice having our family know what’s going on.

Symptoms: My belly is pudgy! I’m up 4 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I am so tired! I feel like I could sleep all day for several days in a row and still be tired. My mouth tastes terrible all the time. No matter what I eat or how many times I brush my teeth, nothing seems to help.

Thoughts: We had our first dr appointment this week. I did a lot of blood work and we got to see tiny baby on the ultrasound. I was super nervous the whole time. I was shaking while she was doing the ultrasound. I wanted everything to be ok with the babe and I was pretty nervous that there might be two in there. Turns out there was just one. :0) Dr said based on baby’s size that my due date is March 22. We got to hear baby’s heartbeat and got some pictures that we took home to show Hiccup and put on our fridge.

Cravings & Aversions: I have to eat whatever sounds good as soon as it sounds good, otherwise it might not taste good by the time I get around to eating it. Chicken and hotdogs are on the avoid list. I'm really wanting sweet things. 

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Baby is: Ten weeks

Size of: an olive

Big Developments: Baby has grown from an embryo to a fetus. Bones and cartilage are forming; the liver and kidneys are formed and are starting to function.

Gender: I think we are all feeling like Hiccup will have a little brother. Casey doesn’t want to talk about names which kind of drives me nuts but once we find out for sure what the baby is we can worry about a name then.

Big News: We haven’t told any more of our friends or family this week. With some people it just slips right out but with others it’s hard to find a good segue into talking about it.

Symptoms: Some of my pants are getting tighter, yuck. I don’t want to have to go buy maternity clothes this early. My boobs are definitely bigger, maybe they’re back to their pre-first pregnancy size? I’m getting heartburn easier and more frequently. I’m getting headaches a ton. My skin is starting to feel dry and itchy most of the time. My hair and nails seem to be growing a lot faster than usual.

Thoughts: I am getting run down a lot easier this time around. I definitely need to rework my schedule so that I’m not such a crazy person trying to accomplish more than I have time and energy for. We bought baby some little jammies. They are blue and have foxes on them. I figured they were as gender neutral as we were going to find.

Cravings & Aversions: More and more things are not sounding good. Too mushy of a texture grosses me out. Eggo waffles sound delicious. Veggies and fruit taste really good, I just need to be better about buying them and remembering to eat them. 

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Baby is: Eleven weeks

Size of: a strawberry

Big Developments: Baby is starting to kick and move his arms. Baby is developing sex organs. A little boy will begin to make testosterone and a girl will make estrogen.

Gender: We refer to the baby as ‘he’ but it’s still anyone’s guess. I went shopping with my mom for fabric and couldn’t find anything neutral like I wanted. I did find some cute boy and girl stuff tho. I’m still undecided about telling everyone when we find out the gender. I kind of want to wait till the baby is born but I don’t know if I will be able to keep a secret that long.

Symptoms: Constipation has been a major issue this week. I think I may have a bladder infection as well. I’ve been pretty dizzy and am still battling migraines. My dr got me a prescription to help with the pain so I don’t have to miss so much work.

Thoughts: I’m trying to figure out what to do about the sleeping arrangement when the baby comes. Hiccup still needs to be in his crib so we will probably have to buy a new one or borrow one for the baby. We don’t want either of the kids downstairs by themselves since they are so little so we will have to figure out a way for them to share the upstairs room which will be interesting. I want to be able to buy the baby some new stuff so he isn't stuck with everything hand-me-down, but I don’t know how that will work.

Cravings & Aversions: I ate some chicken this week and it was ok. I figured out if I have it in small pieces I do ok, it’s the bigger pieces that are more meaty and have tendons in them that really gross me out. The smell of hotdogs grosses me out so I can’t even think about eating one. I’ve been craving pasta and breakfast stuff. 

Hiccup's Birthday Wish

Journal entry from July 17, 2013

I’ve been feeling pretty crummy the last few days; headaches, backaches, crampy, dizzy, really bad breakouts, and super short-tempered. I was supposed to start yesterday so I thought that probably had something to do with it; although in the back of my mind I was also considering the exact opposite.

Being a day late, and impatient as ever, I took a test before I got in the shower...and it came up with an error message! What the heck? It totally drove me nuts. I was having an off morning anyway and I was super emotional so this didn't help. After I dropped off Hiccup at the sitter's I headed to Target so I could buy me something for lunch and another pack of tests. I thought I'd be patient enough to wait till I got home to take one but of course I wasn't. I headed downstairs with my shopping bag as discretely as I could. The directions said the result would take 2 minutes to show but I saw the plus sign almost immediately. I got a little teary eyed; I felt overwhelmed, relieved, and excited. 

I waited till we were all home to break the news. I headed downstairs to get ready to watch a show and Casey put Hiccup to bed. While he was up there I sent him this message on his phone. 

He saw that he had a text when he got downstairs and just stared at his phone. He kept looking back and forth to me and the message. I told him that I wasn't kidding, and if he didn't have anything to say right away just to give me a kiss and let it all sink in. 

Getting pregnant with Hiccup took 20 months and this time it took only two. We were both really surprised that it happened so quickly. My babies will be 20 months apart which is a little closer than I planned on but I think will work out just perfectly when the little baby arrives. 

At Hiccup's birthday party, when it was time to blow out his candle, I jokingly helped him wish for a little brother. It's funny that less than a week later I found out that I was pregnant. 

This will be a big change for our family but it will be such a blessing. We go in for our ultrasound appointment on the 15 of August; what a good anniversary present. 

Things to do at Christmas

Our Christmas Advent Calender

We have things to do as well as little treats in each pouch of our calender. Here's what we are going to do this year:

Put up the Christmas tree & decorations

Send out Christmas cards

Pick out a new ornament

Wear Christmas pjs to bed (I like to do Christmas pjs early in the month so Hiccup can wear them as much as possible)

Put our shoes out for Sinterklaas (you can read about our Dutch tradition here)

Have fun with cousins at the Bailey Chirstmas party

Watch Elf

Have hot cocoa & toast

Go shopping for our little angel girl (depending on the year, if we don't have enough to pick an angel we donate $ to the bell ringer's bucket)

Pick out a new Christmas book

Kiss under the mistletoe (we bought a new decoration this year and have to test it out)

Read a Christmas storybook by the tree

Visit the city lights

Have an adventure and sleep away from home (Hiccup stays with his cousins while we stay overnight in a hotel for my work Christmas party)

Watch Home Alone

Play in the snow (make a fort inside if there isn't any snow)

Make Christmas cookies

Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Read a Christmas storybook before bed

Get cocoa to go and drive around neighborhoods to look at lights

Breakfast with Santa 

Read the nativity story from Luke

Watch The Santa Clause

Read the night before Christmas

Some other things I'd like to do once Hiccup gets a little older include: visit a live nativity, visit an elk farm (a friend of mine suggested this and I remember doing it once when I was little), build a snowman, have a snowball fight. 

Some of our other favorite Christmas movies are Mickey's Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch, Jack Frost, Prancer, and the little puppet classic Christmas stories.