Daddy Feels Brianna Kick for the 1st Time...FINALLY

No, that is NOT a picture of my tummy, but I thought it fit this blog pretty well. :) Read below...

Well, we have exciting news...Eric FINALLY felt Brianna kick tonight. I have been trying and trying to get him to feel her kicking, but as soon as he would put his hand on my belly, she would stop. I guess she was not ready to show off for Daddy yet.

Well, tonight Eric and I were watching a movie on the couch and Eric decided to talk to Brianna and tell her how much he loves her. He also decided he would lay on my tummy during one of the commercials...well, she kicked him right in the side of the face...and I mean right on the cheek! It scared him so much that he jumped up and said, "Was that it? I know I felt that and it was NOT your stomach. Is that her???" I of course was laughing so hard because of his reaction. Once I got calmed down and stopped laughing, she really started to kick so I had him put his hand on my tummy. She kicked him twice in a row. I think it hit home as reality now that he can actually feel her. I have been feeling her for about two weeks, but I know it was so special for him to feel her kick himself tonight.

Keep it up sweet girl! Daddy loves it so much. :)

Baby Cantelope - 20 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby has established sleep patterns akin to a newborn now. (Brianna tends to kick a lot around 11:30pm - 1:00am...YIKES! Although, this afternoon I felt her more than I ever have. Is it what I ate or the fact that she is getting bigger now? I mean a cantelop is pretty big...or so I think...) Many babies even have a favorite sleep position already. Some snooze with their chins resting on their chests, while others nap with their head flung back. Many babies at this age fall into noticeable cycles of sleep and activity, so you may know before she arrives whether you have a night owl or an early bird.

From this point forward, your baby will put most of her energy into gaining weight and, not coincidentally, so will you! (As of this morning, I have gained 8 pounds.)

By pregnancy 20 weeks time you are at the midpoint of your pregnancy, and onlookers are definitely starting to notice your bump (most people still are shocked when I tell them I am pregnant...I guess they just think I have a pocket of fat there? It's not as noticeable unless I am wearing a fitted shirt)! After pregnancy week 20 your uterus has likely reached your bellybutton. Growth typically starts to become more regular from this point in time on, so you should be noticing regular changes in your belly. In the last four weeks the baby has grown quite a bit and its weight is almost four times more. The baby is big enough for you to feel the fluttering or quickening movements on a regular basis by now. From the baby’s movements you can tell whether the baby is awake or asleep by now. As the baby keeps growing in size some women experience trouble during breathing or taking deep breaths as the lungs become restricted with the internal organs especially if you have a small body frame (I have felt this for a few weeks now...especially after I eat!). This is not a serious issue but can be very uncomfortable nevertheless. You will be relieved of this problem only in the last month of the pregnancy when the baby drops into the pelvis getting ready for the delivery and the pressure on the upper organs reduces considerably. The top of the uterus is the same as the level at the belly button and you could gain around 8 to 10 pounds at this point. After this point you can expect to gain around ½ pounds to one pound per week. You need to get a regular feedback about your weight gain from your medical practitioner to find out if there is any need of alterations.

Remember that you are halfway through your pregnancy by 20 weeks pregnant, only 20 more weeks to go! Some ladies will deliver slightly sooner than 40 weeks, while others will delivery shortly after. A typical pregnancy usually lasts anywhere from 37-42 weeks (which means I could have her anywhere from November 23rd - December 28th....but I am due December 14th which is the Monday before we are done with school for Winter Break). Where you fall in this spectrum will depend on a number of factors, including the accuracy of your due date, the health of your baby and even your genetics!

Eric and I feel very accomplished now. We picked up our crib a few weeks ago and finally put it together because the painters came this past Saturday. It took them 8 1/2 hours to texture and paint the room. Apparently the person who painted the mural also used PERMANENT marker on the wall....WHO WOULD DO THAT??? So ya, they had to use some chemical to dissolve the permanent marker, dry it, wipe it off, and do it again 4 times...and it still did not come all the way off...so they had to wing it and use a special Kiltz to cover it...not fun needless to say. I am SO GLAD though that we did not have to paint it ourselves. I can just imagine if it took professional painters 8 1/2 hours, what would it have taken us??? The crib was a nightmare to put together to say the least. Our neighbor has the same set (we did not know that until after we got it home) but in the oak finish instead of the cherry, and warned us that the directions were wrong. We knew that, however, we still followed them and then realized when we tried to put on the ending piece (the springs)...so ya, needless to say, we had to take it all apart, figure it out, and then put it back together again. It was NO FUN. I got so emotional that I cried and said to Eric, "I don't have the patience for this!" He thought it was pretty funny until he realized I was serious...and then he felt bad. Well, we finished the crib at 2:00 a.m. So now we just need a mattress and the bedding. I painted letters spelling Brianna's name to match the bedding so we are definitely set on the name and bedding from http://www.lonestarbaby.com/ now! (See the pictures above.) Once we hang the letters, I will post pictures of the new wall color (bye bye Dr. Seus...) and the built crib! This past weekend Eric and I's friend, Wynne, came to visit. It was a lot of fun because she is 5 weeks ahead of me...so we were able to compare stories and take fun pics of our bellies (she has gained 32 pounds already though...my only question is...Where is it all????...see the picture at the top. She is in the pink.)

Well, until next week...

Baby Mango - 19 Weeks Pregnant

This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named "brown fat" she'll need to keep warm when she gets evicted from her comfortable uterine home. She is now about the size of a mango. (I have been looking forward to this week because I LOVE mangos right now!!! I have a mango smoothie almost everyday. YUMMMM!) Other highlights this week:Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby's skin, appears all over your baby's body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid (imagine taking a bath for 9 months...how would your skin look?). Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin' on. ... Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby's body. Don't worry, your Mini won't look like Cousin It when he's born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance. Good news: Your baby's kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. By pregnancy week 19 your baby is starting to produce meconium, the baby's first bowel movement. When your baby is born she will start passing meconium the first few days of life. Meconium is very normal but can sometimes turn dangerous. Typically when babies are developing they ingest and then excrete amniotic fluid every day. Meconium is a combination of this build-up of material including amniotic fluid that occurs during pregnancy. Typically it is greenish-black in color and tarry upon excretion. Usually your baby will pass this after delivery. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. (We have been trying to buy a package of diapers each time we go to the grocery store...however, I know we can always use more!) But so far you're safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid.He or she now weighs about 8½ ounces (Brianna was measuring 9oz last Thursday and I have still only gained 6 pounds so I am doing "really well" according to my Dr.) and measures 6 inches (and she measured about 6 1/2 inches long, or in the 52 percentile), as long as a turkey sub from Subway on warm, delicious Italian Herbs and Cheese bread...too bad you can't have deli meat though right? Just a few more months... By pregnancy 19 weeks your baby's brain is also forming pockets to specialize in smell, taste, hearing, vision and even touch. By pregnancy week 19 if you are having a girl she already has produced six million eggs in her ovaries, though this number will decrease by 4 million by the time your newborn baby is born.

I love this: http://www.hisboyscanswim.com/dads-pregnancy-guide - It's a week by week guide for Daddy on what size the baby is, along with an explanation! This week's explanation: "Pregnancy Week 19: Why do they call it a softball?It huts like h___ when one hits you. Your baby is the size of one." HA HA!

So my friend Wynne (http://wynnech.xanga.com/weblog/) (who is 5 weeks ahead of me, due November 7th) and I were talking about how you can tell people are wondering, "Okay, is that girl just fat, or is she pregnant?" It's like they want to ask, but are just too afraid. Well, Wynne is definitely out of the "fat girl" stage where you can definitely tell she is pregnant...I, however, don't think I am....remember though, she is 5 weeks ahead of me. I keep thinking...okay, about 5 more weeks and people can tell. Of course when I go to Babies R' Us or Lone Star Baby, or anything like that with Eric you can tell people are just wondering your due date. Funny story though...when Wynne was 19 or 20 weeks pregnant some lady actually had the nerve to ask her, "Okay, so sorry if this comes across rude, but are you pregnant or is that just a really big beer gut?" I told her that she should have said that it was a beer gut just to embarrass the lady...ha ha! She of course told her that she was pregnant. We were also talking about how people see that you are pregnant and you can tell that the first thing they do is look to see if you have a wedding ring on your left ring finger. I told Eric that when I get too swollen to wear my wedding ring, I am going to Claire's (or some cheapy mall jewelry place like that) and buying a big fake diamond to wear. I am not going to go ring less like I am not married because I don't know how I would handle those stares...ha ha. :)

Just in case you did not know, Eric and I are having a little GIRL! Yes, you read that right, a little GIRL! Her name is going to be....drum roll please....Brianna Taryn Grounds. I have to admit, I have to give all of the credit to Eric on the name. We argued over names for weeks and came to the Taryn part as a middle name (I think Eric found it on a website and I also had a friend in college with that name), however we had the hardest time finding a first name that was different, but at the same time, was not too weird. Well, Eric text me and wrote, "I was looking online at names and ran across this one...What do you think about Brianna? It's feminine, classy, easy to spell, and common but not a name you hear everyday." I of course KNEW that would be her name. So there's the story behind her name. :)

Eric and I still need to go register for most of our baby things now that we know that we are having a girl. We have started registries at Babies R' Us (http://www.babiesrus.com/ , Registry #74006802), Target (http://www.target.com/ , Registry ID: 014399700554579), and Lone Star Baby and Kids in Frisco (http://www.lonestarbaby.com/ Registry ID: 6286) for our bedding. I am hoping to get Eric over to do some baby registering this weekend...we will just have to see though...

Week 18 Sonogram - It's a....

Introducing Brianna Taryn Grounds...

Yes, that means it's a GIRL!!!

Or as Eric puts it, "Oh no, I am going to be in trouble."

*****At the very bottom there is a little "play" button triangle. (It just looks like a black area with a play button, (you might be able to see the part that says, "It's A..." so don't miss it!) If you click on that, you can see the live video (along w/ beautiful music that Aunt Susan, Mary Lee's sister added) of the sonogram.

When she (the sonogram Dr.) starts moving the mouse around, that is her saying, "See, here are the girl parts. If it was a boy, you would see a little sack and then something pointing to 12 o'clock. As you can see, there is nothing there and it is flat...see here? No boy parts what-so-ever...so...It's 100% a GIRL!"*****

18 Week Sonogram - Little Foot - Showing all toes are there!

18 Week Sonogram - Another profile shot - her legs are almost up over her head with her toes almost touching her face. She was being quite acrobatic as you can see!

18 Week Sonogram - Her profile and two hands - showing all 10 fingers!

18 Week Sonogram - This one is hard to tell what it is, but if you look in the middle of the black area (amniotic fluid), you can see 2 little feet with all 10 toes! She is healthy as ever said the Dr.!

18 Week Sonogram - Looking in-between her legs - top leg is hard to see, but bottom is easier. The bright white part of the leg is her bone. In between the legs you can see it's all girl parts - no boy parts what-so-ever! They are 100% sure it's a GIRL!!!

18 Week Sonogram - Showing it's a GIRL!!!

Baby Sweet Potato - 18 Weeks Pregnant

Picture taken at Mariam's Bridal Session

(Wait until you see me in this dress September 12th when I am 26, almost 27 weeks pregnant!)

Eric and I had a GREAT past week. I can't remember if I wrote about us bumping into one of Eric's old friends a few weeks ago...so here is the long story short: A couple of weeks ago Eric and I were walking Caesar and saw a guy mowing his lawn 4 houses down from us. It ended up that it was one of Eric's buddies that he played soccer with for SEVERAL years, Roy. We talked for several minutes and found out that his wife, Heather, is also expecting (although she is 13-14 weeks ahead of me...she is due at the beginning of September).

So anyways, Eric, Roy, Heather, and I pretty much hung out all weekend. We get along so well that both Friday and Saturday night we hung out until almost 12:00 a.m. Neither of us have been up that late in months! It's so nice to have friends that live 4 doors down the street and are in the same boat and have the same likes as us. We both really enjoy hanging out with each other and will have babies about 3 months apart in age. They are having a little boy. She is due in 9 weeks so it's getting super exciting.

Well, exciting news for us...this past Tuesday, July 7, I felt the first kick of the baby. I honestly was not quite sure if it was gas (yes, you have lots of it...sorry...) or the baby, however, after feeling it a few times and realizing it was not coming from my intestines (they are now pushed up a lot higher and I can tell where they are now), I knew it was the baby. I did not feel a whole lot on Wednesday, but on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I felt the kicks quite a bit!

We find out on Thursday if the baby is a boy or girl! We can't wait...seriously this week is going to go by SOOOOO SLOW for both of us. (Especially now that I am done teaching for a couple of weeks.) If you want me to text or call you to tell you what we are having, send me an e-mail at mlrust1@yahoo.com so I know to add you to the list!

We picked up our baby furniture Saturday morning. We took the crib out of the box, but have not taken out the dresser (it is HUGE and SUPER HEAVY...so big we could not get the box in the house...so as of now it's in the garage waiting to be opened). I am sure I will get stir crazy this week and unload it. We will then have to put it together. We are waiting to put it together until after the room is painted. I am going to try to schedule it to be done this week or next...

Here is the info on the baby this week:

By 18 weeks pregnant your baby is now anywhere from 5 to approximately 6 inches long at 18 weeks and weighs a little over 5 ounces! In case you are wondering that is about the size of a small can of soup!

By pregnancy week 18 your baby's heart is developed enough to show some signs of defects. Ultrasound may be used to help detect any structural abnormalities that might exist. Most babies will be born without any congenital abnormalities. If an early ultrasound does detect something abnormal, you can plan ahead for any interventions or surgeries that may be necessary to support your newborn baby after birth. At pregnancy week 18 your baby is now starting to produce a protective covering along the nerves, called Myelin. This substance will be produced through the ninth month. By now your baby's genitals should be distinguishable, though you may not yet have the opportunity to view them at your health care practitioner's office. (Once again, we will find out Thursday if the baby cooperates. Eric and I both said that we will not leave until we know! HA HA!)

Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that your baby can hear now. Your baby will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices (Eric talks to my belly every day now. Its so exciting! I just wish that he could feel it kick too. I am assuming this will happen in a few weeks.), blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if he hears a loud sound.

You should be able to feel your uterus now just below your bellybutton. If you put your fingers sideways to measure, you can feel your uterus about two finger-widths below your bellybutton. You should definitely be showing a bit by now. Most women will have gained anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds at this point in time, though some will have gained less and some more. (I have gained about 7-8 pounds now and am showing a little bit still. Unless you know me, I don't think it is super obvious that I am pregnant yet.) Your uterus is the size of a small melon or cantelope by this point in time.

Baby Onion/ Pomegranate - 17 Weeks Pregnant

These are the "Secret Fit Belly" pants/jeans that I talk about later in the blog. I LOVE THEM. If you ever get pregnant, buy them...trust me. They are waaaay more comfortable than other maternity fit bottoms.

Your baby's weight has doubled in two weeks. Your baby is anywhere from 4.4 to 4.8 inches by pregnancy week 17 and weighs almost 3 ½ ounces! If you were to hold your baby at 17 weeks pregnant, she would fit snuggly in the palm of your hand. Your baby is about the size of a small pomegranate or an onion by 17 weeks of pregnancy. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.Your baby during week 17 is now very mobile, gleefully moving his joints here, there and everywhere and will continue to do so as you continue your pregnancy week by week. The cartilage making up the skeleton in your baby's body is starting to transform into bone. At pregnancy 17 weeks time your baby should be hearing things. Your baby will start putting on some layers of fat in the weeks to come, though at this point in time your baby is made up of primarily water. You may be feeling your baby move intermittently after pregnancy week 17, though as your pregnancy progresses you will likely start feeling your baby move more and more. At this point in your pregnancy, a 5 to 10 pound weight gain is normal (I have now gained 4-5 pounds...it varies during the day) . Other people can probably feel the difference in your lower abdomen if they were to rub your tummy. To be the most comfortable, you should be wearing maternity clothes or clothing that is too large for you. (I bought a ton of maternity clothes about 2 weeks ago and I love them. The "Secret Fit Belly" is the way to go! It is the soft one that expands. You can either wear it high up or fold it in 1/2 to make it low or below your belly...I like to wear it both ways depending on how I am feeling. It amost makes me never want to wear regular waist pants anymore...ha ha. I am sure I will not be saying that for long!)

6 Reasons to Wear "Secret Fit Belly":

1. The seamless fabric smoothes out your belly without rubbing and can be worn up or folded down for a customized fit. And, with no seams, you don’t need to worry about holes, rips, or broken seam threads. This amazing fit is exclusively ours. 2. Super-comfortable - hugs your belly during all stages of pregnancy and after baby is born. 3. Smoothes the appearance of the belly and belly button. 4. No telltale “maternity pants” line under tighter shirts or constricting band across your belly. 5. Can be worn folded down or up for a customized fit. 6. Light, breathable fabric – no thicker than your favorite layering cami.

At 17 weeks pregnant your uterus will start changing shape as your pregnancy progresses, to resemble a large egg instead of a round ball. It will gradually grow to inhabit most of your pelvis and abdomen. While this happens your organs, including your intestines get pushed to the sides. By this point in time you will likely be showing a little bit, though some women are still able to hide their pregnancies for many weeks to come. By pregnancy at 17 weeks your uterus should now be about 1.5 to 2 inches below your bellybutton, so you should be showing a little in your lower abdomen.

Eric and I had a great 4th of July. We ended up having a few neighbors over and just watching the fireworks from our backyard since they were being shot off less than a mile away. We probably had one of the best and most comfortable views in McKinney!

Well, I think we have come up with our names. We have narrowed it down to one boy name and one girl name. We have ran it by our families and both love both names...so they are probably a go. We have about a week and a 1/2 (July 16th) before we can start calling the baby by it's name. We can't wait to find out. Eric and I have both had dreams that we had a little girl...so we will see. My dad is so convinced that it is a girl that he said to not even consider boy names. My sister now calls the baby "her niece." Boy will we all be shocked if it is a boy. We will be happy to have either though honestly. There are benefits to both sides. Our only request is that the baby is healthy (and smart of course...ha ha)! Until next week...