Keeping in Teutsch

Pregnancy Update: WEEK 16
Size of baby: comparable in size to an avocado; 4.6 inches long and weighs 3.5 oz.
Maternity Clothes: pants, yes; wearing a mix of maternity shirts and regular shirts
Weight Gain: 8 lbs. 
Movement: still some of those "phantom" butterflies occasionally, but nothing that I can say with certainty is the baby moving (I started feeling Juliette moving around week 16, so I'm hoping any day now those phantom kicks turn into real ones)
Sleep: still sleeping well, thankfully
Symptoms: occasionally tired, but nothing like I felt while in the first trimester on Prometrium; I am hungrier now, but eating mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks helps curb the desire to stuff my face; have had some round ligament pain (basically pain from my uterus growing), but thankfully it's only been a couple of times; baby keeps hanging out on the right side and pinching a nerve, so I've had a few days where my right thigh has been killing me; I severely dislike the oily skin; and my hair has been oilier (my shampoo doesn't appear to "work" some days on it...it's weird...I never had that happen with Juliette)
Cravings: Nothing really...most everything that I would normally eat sounds good!
Best Moment of the Month: making it into the second trimester, hearing the heartbeat again, and hearing the baby kicking at the doppler wand at my appointment today--sounded like thuds. We WERE counting down the days until we find out whether it's a boy or girl (27 days until 20 week ultrasound), but when I went to the doctor today, she asked if I was going to find out the sex at this appointment and I was like "what are you talking about? I'm only 16 weeks." She said, "You can find out today...you just have to pay a $50 fee. And we still do the normal 20 week ultrasound at your next visit to get all the measurements." I was so bummed. I didn't have Matt and Juliette with me because they hadn't told me I could do this at 16 weeks, so I had to refuse. I had already been thinking about going to an elective ultrasound place later in the pregnancy to get some good pictures, but now we are going Friday afternoon to find out the sex of the baby!! (This place has all kinds of packages but we are just getting the basic "hamburger or hotdog gender reveal package" and it's just $15 more than our doctor's office would have charged.) Now, instead of 27 days, it's 3 days. SO exciting! (And, just in case you're skeptical, this place is the only one in town--there are multiple ones--that only hires medically-certified sonographers and if they aren't 100 percent sure of the sex of the baby--or the baby is being modest--you get to come back for free later for them to try again. Also I've only read good reviews about them online and didn't see any in which people were told they were having a girl when it was a boy, or vice versa. And, obviously, I'll get a second confirmation at my 20 week ultrasound, and although I might start buying a few things, I won't buy anything that can't be returned should they be completely wrong--which I really doubt will be the case since technology has come so far now days.)

Check back Friday evening for some ultrasound pics and the big news of whether Matt's going to be outnumbered in this house or we get to level the hormones out around here! :)

Then for Easter weekend, it was our year to go to my parents. Since the other kids weren't going to be there on Easter Sunday (but were there on Friday), we hunted eggs that day that my sister had filled. All the kids had overflowing baskets (and can I say, my sister hooked us up with some awesome candy in those eggs...oh, and some money too!).



Here is Juliette's Easter basket. It's kinda hard to see what is in it, but she got a movie, a CD, some candy, a nightgown, and other things I can't remember now that it has been almost two months since Easter.


 And Easter Sunday wouldn't be complete without a family picture before church that Sunday, complete with an overturned play house in the background. (The girls had been playing "tornado"...I guess they were working on conquering their fears.) We didn't notice it was behind us when we hurriedly sat down on the swing and said, "Quick, take our picture before we leave for church." Easter Sunday Picture Fail.

Every few weeks I'll be doing pregnancy updates, complete with a picture. However, the picture we took for 8 weeks was rushed and no good since we were walking out the door, so I deleted it with intentions to take another one during that week, and then I forgot. And then week 9 went by and I forgot to take a picture that week as well, so there is no picture for this first update; however, there is one for week 12 which is below. I do have a week 4 picture, though...or a "before" pic:



Pregnancy Update: WEEK 9
Size of baby: comparable in size to a green olive; .9 inches long (almost an inch!) and weighs .07 oz.
Maternity Clothes: not really (just wearing one pair of jeans occasionally that has a small elastic band because I only have one other pair of jeans that fits, although they are probably about to be sent to the back of the closet; oh, and I wore a maternity shirt for Easter because of its color)
Weight Gain: 3 lbs. (which is really good for me, because by this point in my pregnancy with Juliette I had gained at least 7 lbs or more; of course, I started out that pregnancy weighing 15 lbs. less than I did this one, so I'm trying really hard to not gain too much)
Movement: Not yet, but I can't wait! That was one of my favorite things about being pregnant with Juliette. I am feeling phantom movements (like those early butterfly-like movements) but I KNOW it's not the baby because they have been in the top of my stomach, and I know the baby is no where near there yet.
Sleep: Sleeping good, except I have to make a trip to the bathroom every single night/morning around 4 am.
Symptoms: Tired--some days are better than others; nausea--it kicked in around 6 weeks and I've had waves of nausea all day, every day. With Juliette, I just felt a little sick in the mornings, ate some crackers, and then I was fine. That doesn't work for this one. There have been some times where I have felt nauseous and have been starving at the same time...it's a very odd feeling.
Cravings: Nothing really, except plain, bland food.
Best Moment of the Month: seeing the baby on an ultrasound and seeing its heart beating (158 bpm)



Pregnancy Update: WEEK 12

Size of baby: comparable in size to a plum; 2.1 inches long; weighs .49 oz.
Maternity Clothes: I started wearing them around the 10 week mark...much more comfortable! The last pair of pre-pregnancy jeans have been sent to the back of the closet.
Weight Gain (since pre-pregnancy, not since last update): 5 lbs. All the books say that "normal" weight gain is 3-5 lbs. in your first trimester and approximately 1 lb. a week after that for a total of around 25-35 lbs. I can't believe I'm finishing the first trimester in "normal" range. (My overall weight might not be in normal range, but I'll take the small accomplishments I can when it comes to my weight!)
Movement: I sometimes "think" I feel flutters (in the right area this time). I didn't feel Juliette until I was 16 weeks, but I've read that when it's your second pregnancy (or more) you will often recognize the movement sooner. I don't know if these are real movements are not...I'm going to pretend they are.
Sleep: Still sleeping good and haven't really missed sleeping on my stomach. The middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom have eased up (which they say is normal for around the start of the second trimester since your uterus has moved up some and the baby isn't big enough to use your bladder as a kickball yet).
Symptoms: Still incredibly tired. Only have to take my progesterone pill for the rest of this week, and I am SO hoping the extreme tiredness goes away once I'm done with them. The nausea is mostly gone--it left around 10 weeks...yay! Now, I'm just starving all the time!
Cravings: Not really having any cravings...just been wanting comfort food still. If I had to pinpoint one thing, though, that sounds good pretty much at any time of day, it's a BLT from Sonic (or technically, a BLC--no tomatoes, add cheese).
Best Moment of the Month: Hearing the heartbeat at my 12 week check-up. Juliette had to come with me since school was out yesterday and Matt had to take the oral part of his comprehensive exams (he passed...YAY!). At first the doctor was having a little trouble finding the heartbeat, which can be typical when they are still really small, but she finally found it (whew!) and it was 164 bpm. I'd been praying that the visit would go well since I had Juliette with me. (After Juliette heard the heartbeat and the doctor was about to leave the room, Juliette told her "I prayed for us to have a baby." And the doctor said, "Your prayers were answered, weren't they?" It was really sweet.)
Funny things Juliette has said or done in regards to my pregnancy:  The night we told her we were having a baby she said to me, "So, you and Daddy are my boss, but I can be the baby's boss!" She wasn't too happy to learn that wasn't going to be the case. She now says she's going to be a "helper boss" (meaning she gets to help me and WAY down the road when she and the baby--much older child by then--are left home alone, she gets to be the boss).

A few weeks ago, I told Juliette all about breastfeeding...to prepare her in case I decide to breastfeed. (I couldn't breastfeed her, and I'm undecided what I'm going to do with this one.) Anyway, after having to give way too many uncomfortable details, Juliette was appalled at the whole thing and kept saying, "What? Gross!!" I just had to laugh.

Also, what she has found to be gross...peeing in a cup. Since I had to take her to the doctor with me yesterday, she's learning all kinds of things! She was almost equally appalled about the peeing in the cup as she was the breastfeeding. While we were in the bathroom at the doctor's office, she asked me in a whisper, "Does the nurse know your pregnant?"


I've got some blogging I need to catch up on...stuff like Easter, t-ball, and more. So, check back soon for all that stuff, and then every month I'll be giving a pregnancy update (and patiently waiting until June 25th when we are scheduled to find out whether it's a boy or a girl).