Week 20

Baby is the size of an Artichoke!

This week your baby is completely covered in vernix, the creamy substance protecting his delicate skin from the amniotic fluid. 
Making sense. Your baby is truly starting to experience the world around him, limited though it may be. His brain has been working overtime to develop the nerve centers dedicated to his senses. As they come alive, he's more responsive to your activity, sounds in the environment, and even the taste of the amniotic fluid. 
Pick up a hiccup. Besides the rolling, diving, and kicking, you might also feel rhythmic jerking. Most babies get the hiccups in utero, possibly due to an immature diaphragm having spasms. No need to worry though — they're not causing him any harm. 
Sprouting a top. This isn't lanugo; it's the real deal, but most of it will fall out about two weeks after birth. Elsewhere in your baby's head, the bones of the inner ear are now fully formed, and the nose is beginning to take shape. 
Measuring up. Your baby weighs about 7.5 to 9 ounces and measures approximately 8.5 inches. You could cup the little guy in the palm of your hand. 

We have officially made it to the half-way mark! Is it just me or is time flying by?!? I admit I have not yet started shopping for some baby basics such as carseats and cribs so it might be time to hop to it! I'll admit, I do find a lot of the conflicting advice and idea out there to be a little over-whelming - you should absolutely get a infant car seat that snaps right into the stroller vs. using a stroller with a infant car seat is dangerous and the infant must lay flat ..... ahh! I know that these studies and ideas change on the daily and I just have to do what works best for our family.... I just need to figure that out also! ha! 

The biggest milestone this week was that I officially transitioned from working over full time hours to very part time hours! My days of sitting behind a desk from 8-5 have come to a close with mixed emotions. I am of course thrilled to be able to spend more time preparing my body, mind and home for baby Anderson and I feel SOOO much better moving throughout the day, but I also know it will be quite an adjustment to give up my own source of income. Thor and I have always worked very well together on these things through the years and Im sure the transition will be smooth, it just quite a change for an independent women! I am still teaching classes at the gym such as RIP and Zumba and will continue teaching for as long as my students and the baby will tolerate it! :)

I did get the opportunity to be an instructor during a 2 hour Zumba  event for a local charity raising money for homeless families. I found that I had to take some breathers when I was not up on stage, but it felt awesome to groove with the bump for a good cause! 

Pregnancy Cravings: Nothing crazy, Still drinking chocolate soy milk every day and now french fries seem to sound good often- but still also really enjoying fruit and salads and I am loving the ability to be able to prep more fresh foods at home now that I am working less!

Weight gain: 11lbs so far - it is expected that from here on out Ill gain about a pound a week... maybe thats why french fries sound so good....

Exercise: With some modifications, I am still maintaining my normal pre-pregnancy workouts. No more narrow legged squats- there is no where for baby to go! I have also dedicated myself to adding in 1-2 yoga classes a week..... being more flexible can only help as I gain weight and prepare to push a child into the world!

Baby kicks: Still very subtle although it is getting easier to differentiate the kicks from other belly gurgles.

Sleep: Like a champ! 8-9 hours at night plus a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoons. Im just going to enjoy it while I can!

Dad update: Thor is already so attached to his lil girl! He loves touching my belly and talking to her and I can not wait till he can feel her movements! 

I think that is it for week 20,,, Ill try to be better about posting about week 21 on time, but I make no promises- I am enjoying not sitting infront of a computer!

Week 19 - Little Mr. or Little Miss.?!?

Week 19 went by fast! Its actually the first day of week 20 so I am scrambling to get this written and posted! So let's get right to the good stuff...

Baby is the size of a Mango!

Six inches long this week and about a half pound in weight, your baby has gone through a little growth spurt and is the size of a large mango. Your little action figure is able to choreograph Matrix-like moves at 19 weeks pregnant. Arms and legs are finally in proportion, neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles and cartilage throughout the body is turning to bone. All these upgrades combine to give your baby more control over limb movements. Which explains all that kicking, stretching and bodysurfing (or rather bellysurfing) you've possibly started feeling by now.

I am still feeling great! My biggest complaints would be that my lower back gets really quite achy and sore if I spend too much time seated, along with some tension in my upper back and neck. Also, I'm still fighting off the occasional bout of nausea but its nothing that I can't handle with a little mind over matter! I have felt some more consistent flutters of movements this week right under my right rib cage. Best feeling ever!! At the anatomy scan, I did learn that the placenta is situated anteriorly which can make it harder to feel those first baby movements; and I thought it was due to my developed abs..... HA! Speaking of the anatomy scan, everything looked great and Thor and I always enjoy seeing our love bug. Thor says that the baby already looks like me and he knew it took after m the 2nd he saw the big hands... ummmm, thanks? haha. We both got a little teary eyed and emotional, although if you ask him he will likely deny that, when we found out the sex. It made our baby feel so much more real- this wasn't just some foreign parasite living in my belly anymore- is was our child, with its first piece of identity and individualism. (side note: that being said, I want my future child who is all grown up and reading this to know that as excited as we were to find out your gender, we would not care in the least if you grew up to exhibit none of the general gender stereotypes or if you decided to align with another gender. You are our baby and we will only love you more and you become your own person and make your own choices in life.)


I felt a little less anxious this week, maybe because we got the gender news, so I felt a little bit more in control of being able to prepare and plan for the baby. Cute baby clothes shopping is great anxiety therapy!! hehe

This past week was very special since I had my dad here for a visit! I actually had him fly into Seattle so that I could take him to Victoria, Vancouver and Lynden for a few days. We packed in lots of fun and I can not wait for Baby A to meet Grandad! On our trip we had a chance to go whale watching, visit Buchart gardens, eat at some delicious vegan restaurants and do quite a bit of baby shopping.

 

 

A highlight of the trip was visiting with Thor's parents in Lynden and getting to share the gender news! Everybody was very excited to learn that baby Anderson is a ...........

Week 18

 

Week 18 arrived and baby gender was on the brain! It was the last week we had to endure not knowing if our love bug was going to be sugar n' spice or slugs n' snails! 

 

Before we go any further - let's see where baby development was this week:

 

 

Baby is the size of a sweet potato!

At five and a half inches long (remember, that's crown to rump) and five ounces in weight, your baby may be large enough now (or anytime in the next few weeks) for you to feel him twisting, rolling, kicking and punching his way around the womb. And now for the skill of the week: The art of the yawn has been mastered by your baby (you may feel those soon, too!). In fact, you might catch a glimpse of that adorable yawn and all those other fetal movements at your ultrasound this month.


For those wondering, I still have not felt much in the way of movement. Apparently the placenta is positioned anteriorly so in order for me to feel kicks, baby has to kick strong enough to be felt through the placenta and my rock hard abdominal muscles.... HA!

The highlight of week 18 was celebrating my 31st birthday with friends. It was a beautiful afternoon, so after painting at Paint & Pints in Spokane, we strolled through the park before dinner. Have I mentioned that baby LOVES miso soup? Has it always tasted this good?!?!?

 

 

I am so so grateful for the wonderful people in my life. I can not wait for this baby to meet these amazing humans and am so thrilled to have their influence and guidance during love bugs childhood.

 

 

 

Just taking a 18 week baby bump photo-op! When I'm wearing a dress and heels you have to catch it on camera!

 

I don't want to ramble on at you too much this week since I have a 6 minute video for you! Wanted to go over some gender predictions with old wives tales, just for a little fun! When I was filming this I knew the sun was in my eyes, but I didn't think the camera would pick that up... oops! Ill have to get better at these things before October!

 

So you know what the old wives tales say... share you guesses!

Week 17

 

Birthdays, weddings and arena football - another fun week with the bump!

Your Baby is as Big as a pomegranate!    

• Baby's rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone.
• And baby's growing some meat on those bones-putting on some fat.
• Baby's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord too.

 

Baby continues to beef up. Now baby's about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces.
Try not to get freaked out by the numbers on your scale. At 17 weeks, baby’s working on getting stronger, and your body’s working on getting bigger. That means putting on some pounds and—we hate to break it to you—getting some stretch marks. Make sure you document your growing bump by taking lots of photos. Sure, you might not always feel so pretty, but one day you’re going to look back at pregnancy and reminisce (really—we promise).

Week 17 started with a trip into Spokane (you will see a theme here shortly), to celebrate my friends birthday with dinner at the Steam Plant Grill followed by and Inland Empire Arena Football game. I was very impressed that the Steam Plant offered a fully vegan entrée item on their regular menu! It is a treat for me to not have to be the crazy lady placing a custom order with the waitress. The arena football game was a lot of fun - kind of made me miss my cheer days to be honest... I can't believe that was over 10 years ago! My favourite part is just getting together with "my squad".  There are 6 of us girls who live in north Idaho and all met through the gym that have found a sisterhood with so many of us having families that live far away. It is not very often that we are able to get all 6 of us together at one time, but I cherish those occasions. Friends are the family you choose!

 

 

The next morning, I turned 31! No mimosa for me this year! In fact, the day started with a couple of dry-heaving bathroom sessions.... baby wanted to let me know it was thinking of me today! Thor and I headed into Spokane (#2) for David and Kelly's wedding rehearsal and afterwards we played in Spokane for a bit. We visited boots to share a pumpkin waffle and some fruit (Thor ate most of the waffle and I think I ate ALL of the fruit!), and then we went to get Thor some much need "casual" clothes from Nordstrom's. Thor felt guilty shopping for himself on my birthday and INSISTED that I find something for myself.... such a sacrifice! I rarely splurge on shoes that are not Payless or TJ Maxx, but I have to say, I'm a little obsessed with my new birthday shoes!

We were able to head back to home for a quick nap and time to get ready before driving back to Spokane (#3) for the Kielian rehearsal dinner. It is so much fun to meet the people that you have heard your friends talking about for years, it is also a little nerve wracking when those people meet you and say, "Samantha? Oh yes, I've heard stories about you!" The rehearsal went smoothly and everyone was excited for the following day!

 

Sunday morning was my 4th and final drive into Spokane for the weekend (yay!), of course it also happened to be the morning of Bloomsday, where over 50,000 people race around the streets of downtown Spokane, but it actually wasn't as challenging as I had feared. It was a beautiful sunny spring day and was an honor to be a part of the wedding.
 

 

 

 

The rest of the week was fairly "standard" and there is little to report on the baby front. I am feeling great, although my body more so than ever is a little restless and prefers movement to sitting. Teaching classes and exercising still feels "normal".  I am anxious for my last days of office work and to be able to spend more time organizing our home and doing yard work.

 

I am starting to have a little pre-baby anxiety, which is new for me since I'm not a very anxious person. I sobbed to Thor the other evening, "I don't know when the baby is coming, and I don't know what the delivery will be like, and I don't know how breastfeeding will go, and I don't know what kind of car seat to get, etc, etc..." I blame it on the hormones! I am hoping that as my work schedule slows down and I am able to get more prepared for the baby to actually be in our lives, this anxiety will decrease. If not I'll embrace the irrational sobbing- I actually felt a lot better after!

 

We are on the countdown to finding out if the love bug is male or female! Tune in to next weeks post for gender predictions!