Week 22

Baby Grover's eyes have developed, but her irises don't have any pigment yet. She looks like a miniature newborn right now. Her skin is really wrinkly, but that will change as she gains weight. Right now Baby Grover is about 1 pound. Over the next four weeks she is supposed to weigh twice that amount!

She's moving around all the time now, and my belly button is half way popped out. Here's an interesting tidbit I was surprised to learn: blood flows through the umbilical cord at a rate of four miles an hour!!

Brief Baby Update

One of my new found pastimes is staring at my belly. Lane has joined in the fun, and we can regularly see my stomach pop up on one one side and twitch in another. It's fascinating to think that there's a little person in there making all those movements, and more so that she's our daughter!!!

Adrienne told us our niece, Claire stayed up late the other night brainstorming names for her first girl cousin. How precious is that?!?! She's coming in a couple weeks, so I'm hoping to get my hands on that list.

Movin' and a Groovin'

Today I actually SAW my tummy bounce around when Baby Grover kicked. Wow, she sure is getting strong!

And so the madness begins

About six weeks ago, I promised myself I wouldn't buy any (more) baby clothes until after we found out the gender of our baby. I was so proud of myself for not buying a single article of clothing that whole time. We'll see how much I can hold back now that we know we're having a baby girl. So far, I haven't been doing so hot. The morning after finding out Baby Grover is a little girl, I made an order online for dresses and cutsie girly clothes. But give me some credit, they were all on super sale. And who could pass up these darling outfits at Costco??? I never knew they had such cute (and affordable) baby clothes. Watch out, Costco. I'll be back!

More Baby Grover Pics

Here is her little foot. She decided to say hello to her Mommy & Daddy. Her mouth is open in this one.
Here you can see her little nose, nostrils, and her mouth...along with her arm and tummy.

Week 21

Baby Grover has been drinking the amniotic fluid for hydration and nutrition, and even urinates in the fluid. Good thing it is replaced completely every three hours! It’s no wonder I am supposed to drink so many fluids. While her eyes have not yet opened, they are very active. Baby Grover has also started to develop some fat, which helps to keep her nice and cozy warm. Ever since Lane felt her moving for the first time last Wednesday, we’ve noticed her become more active (and stronger) every day!

Yesterday we also had our regular prenatal appointment. At the ultrasound appointment, the doctor said the distance between the placenta and cervix should be 2 cm. When they measured mine, it was 1.8 or so. My obstetrician said that is fairly typical at this stage, and that we’ll do another ultrasound later on to monitor the location of the placenta. She said that it will usually move further away. However, if it doesn’t, a C-Section may be necessary because the placenta could detach early in labor causing too much bleeding. The doctor seemed fairly confident that this is normal, and there isn’t much to worry about. We’ll just wait and see how the next ultrasound looks.

Our spinal bifida screening came out fine, and the doctor gave us a list of pediatricians so we could pick one.

Baby Grover is ....

a Girl!!!

Today we had our big ultrasound. Everything looked just right - all the organs are developing correctly , and we got to see our baby GIRL moving all around. She is one active child! The technician first told us Baby Grover was lying in the breech position. Before we knew it, she had moved so that her head was on the right side, and then all around to the left side. I think she was trying to give us the grand tour of her living quarters. The technician measured the nose, leg bones, and circumference of the head to determine the gestational age, which they decided was 21 weeks exactly. Tomorrow I'm supposed to be 21 weeks, so it's right on schedule. We could see her moving around, crossing and uncrossing her legs, opening and closing her mouth, it was so precious! Baby Grover weighs about 14 ounces, and Lane says she already has a Grover chin.

We are so excited!! And so are our families! Our niece, Claire called to be the first in her family to find out. When we told her and her sister Natalie they were going to have a girl cousin, Natalie exclaimed, "We never had one of *those* before!!". Too cute.

We can't wait to meet our baby girl.