19 weeks!

so wow, i'm at 19 weeks pregnant! Only one more week until I'm officially halfway done!

and as you all know, this week we found out that we're having a little boy!!! yay!! So let's find out what he's up to this week



this week the baby is the size of....



...a Mango!! whoa!

He is about 6 inches (the size of half a sandwich from Subway lol) from head to butt and weighs about 9 ounces (i know up there it says 8.5 buuut the ultrasound lady told us that our baby weighs 9 lol). His legs add extra length to his body obv. and he could be as long as 10 inches! that's huge!

A waxy layer made of oil and dead skin cells (ewie!) is now coating his body to protect him from the amniotic fluid (being submerged in fluid for 40 weeks straight would prob be a little much so this coating helps keep him protected).



His arms and legs are in proportion to his body now and he's basically just a tiny little person in there! (well, duh, he has been the whole time but he really LOOKS like one now).

His brain is working on developing his senses at the moment and he can hear and is also developing his other senses (you know them, taste, touch, smell, sight). The brain is making special areas right now for each sense!

His kidneys are producing urine and he is starting to grow hair on his head! hooray!



the baby is gaining weight now and he is specifically putting on "brown fat" which is the kind of fat that keeps him nice and warm once he's born (and it will help to make his skin stop looking translucent in there).

His permanent teeth buds are in place now and he is fully in conscious control of his movement at this point too!

His major focus from now on is to gain weight! and apparently that's going to be my major focus also (i've gained 6 pounds so far (but look like i've gained a million LOL)). Most women have gained about 14 pounds by now buuuut I'm happy with my 6 (and seriously, it was only 3 until 2 weeks ago so i'm doing fine haha)

As for me, my uterus is moving up and is almost at my belly button now (my doctor said it was in the perfect position on Wednesday! yay!) and i could experience some darkening of my skin due to extra estrogen? that's weird. It will go away after baby is born though if that does happen.

I am at the point now where i have to sleep on my side and am not allowed to sleep on my back anymore. This is because there are major veins in your back that can have their blood supply cut off if you lay on your back with all that extra weight. It's only inconvenient when i want to read in bed at night and now i have to sit up to do it lol

so that's it! 19 weeks! one more until we're at the halfway point! I can't believe how fast it's going by!

It's a...

I can't believe I didn't post yesterday! (well, I can because I was sooo busy!)

I just wanted to come here really quick and announce that we found out the sex of our baby yesterday afternoon!

We're having a BOY!!!! YAY!

He is perfect and amazing and we are so excited!

I need to do a real update soon, i'm sorry I'm behind! I just wanted to tell everyone that it's a boy!

best.video.ever.

I saw this on an absolutely fantastic (and HILARIOUS) blog that you should all check out: Stacy Says

this is honestly the best thing i have ever seen. It's only a few minutes long but it will make your entire day, I swear it will. Watch it right now, it's SO worth it:

18 Weeks!

okay here we go!

this is the last week (hopefully) that I will be using "it" and "the baby" instead of he or she to refer to the baby in these posts! I'm excited lol

can you believe i'm 18 Weeks pregnant already??



This week the baby is the size of (and get ready, it's totally a weird one)...




lol a sweet potato! (what the hell? lol and seriously could they not at least photoshop out the weird hairs on it on the lefthand side there??)

So yes, baby is a sweetpotato (i'll give you the sweet part and i DO like potatoes buuut i'm not too sure about this one haha). Baby is about 5 and a half inches long and weighs around 6 ounces! Another site said that the baby is about the size of a bell pepper. That would explain why i've been craving spicy food! lol Oh and somewhere else said that it's about the length of a pickle! lol



The baby is gaining layers of fat which will make it look cuter and less translucent in there lol. You can still see the blood vessels through the skin at this point but as the baby gets more fat, they will become less visible.

The baby's ear bones are developed by now definitely and it can definitely hear in there! So exciting! It's learning the sound of my voice, of Ry's voice, of daily activities and things like that. If we are around dogs a lot the baby will get used to dog barks and when it's born it won't be startled by those sounds. Also, the baby is getting used to the sound of my heartbeat and the blood in it's umbilical cord and all of that cool stuff. So cool!



the baby is getting used to the outside world through it's sense of sound. It can become startled by things and it will often move around in response to new sounds or things like that.

Along with that, the baby is SUPER active in there (while it still has the space to be!) It's busy flexing it's arms and legs and doing flips and swimming all over the place. It can suck it's thumb as well and probably does so often. It can do somersaults or even sit cross-legged! wow



a protective layer called myelin is coating the baby's nerve endings. That process will continue for a year after the baby is born. The nerves are continuing to make connections and form pathways and things like that.

If the baby is a girl, her fallopian tubes and uterus are in place and all set up and if it's a boy all of his stuff is in order too. We will definitely be able to see the sex in an ultrasound now (provided that baby cooperates of course).

As for me, my uterus is now about two finger widths below my belly button (i can't feel anything when i press there? i dont know how to know where it is) and it's the size of a cantaloupe (good lord!)

My cardiovascular system is going through a big overhaul right now trying to pump enough blood for everything that's going on. Dizziness is common so i hafta be extra careful (and seriously, that's so true, if i stand up too fast i like can't see anyhting for at least a minute). I'm at the point now where its important that i don't lay on my back for long periods of time (you can compress a major vein and cut off blood flow) and that I lay on my side (left side is preferable).

lol according to one site i should have gained between 10 and 13 pounds by now. That so hasn't happened. I probably have gained about 3. but whatever.

Other stuff: I FINALLY HAVE AN APPETITE! This is so awesome for me! Today alone i already had a bowl of cereal (cheerios in soy milk) and a bowl of angel hair (wheat) spaghetti with sauce! This is like big news for me lol i haven't had an appetite at all until this week and now I'm like actually hungry a lot! progress! thank god! now i just hope that i don't gain too much weight hahaha

Carbs are important to eat right now so that's kinda awesome...but it's important to make good choices obviously and not eat donuts as my carbs lol I've been sticking to all whole-grain carbs and things like that.

so yay! that's 18 weeks! only 5 days until we get to find out the baby's sex! omg so excited!

Materialism at it's Finest

Last October my husband and I went to a wedding in Cincinnati with his extended family.  Just for kicks, here's a photo of us from that wedding:

The wedding took place on a chilly Saturday and while we (myself and my two sisters in law) were waiting in the lobby for my husband to figure out our transportation to the wedding, one of my SILs showed us the shoes she was wearing.

They didn't look like much, to be honest. Just standard black strappy wedge-like heels. But then she kicked one off while simultaneously saying to me, "These are the most comfortable shoes ever, try it on."

I was a little hesitant. I mean, let's be honest, no one really likes de-shoeing in a hotel lobby to try on someone else's footwear but she was convincing so I obliged.

...And she was right. It was the most comfortable heel i've ever worn. Seriously.

Soon it was me turning to my other SIL and saying, "Oh my god, you have to put this shoe on, it's amazing!" I was eyed skeptically but she obliged as well and within moments we were both asking my first SIL where she got these shoes and how they were so comfortable.

She explained that she borrowed them from a friend for the specific reason that these were literally The Most Comfortable Heels on Earth and that she had to have them for the wedding.

Since then my mind has randomly wandered back to these shoes. Whenever I have a fancy event to go to i wish that I could reach for them and put them on instead of strapping myself into some stiletto-like pain machine and hobbling around on pegs all night at whatever event I have to go to.

Gone are my days of parading down the street at night in stylish heels. I enjoy Carrie Bradshaw but I no longer wish to emulate her fashion stylings or her footwear. I cannot justify stuffing myself into 3 inches of pain even if it does ~*complete my outfit*~. I guess I'm getting old. Or as my mother would say, I'm getting smart.

And so now when I think about dressy shoes, especially now that I'm pregnant and my feet are starting to hurt from just shopping in flip flops, I think about these super comfortable shoes that I got to try on in this cold Cincinnati lobby last October.

So where did these amazing shoes come from and how can you find some of your own? I'm here to share, my friends. I'm here to share.

Shockingly these shoes were made by....Crocs.

Yes, Crocs. The people who invented those terrible-smelling and worse looking rubber-boat-like-shoe monstrosities.  The ones with the holes and the back straps that come in any variety of color? The ones touted to be "Garden Clogs" but that people in fact wear everywhere and anywhere (please note: if you are under the age of 10, wearing crocs is perfectly acceptable, smart and even kind of cute).

Crocs. The ugliest shoes ever. The shoes about which i said, "If i am ever wearing those and thinking it's acceptable, you know i've come to my end. Put me out to pasture."

So you'll imagine my shock and surprise when SIL announced that they were crocs and that THAT was how they were so comfortable. Amazing.  Crocs. I probably had to pick up my jaw from the floor.

Was it possible that the crocs people made a shoe that wasn't hideous? Yes apparently it was because just moments before I had one on my foot.

And while it wasn't going to win Most Stylish Heel of the Year anytime soon, the comfort of it far balanced that. And anyway it was still pretty darn cute!

Look:

(the photo takes you to the site, but here's the link anyway: they're only $49.99!)

And like i said, yes the heel is kinda thick and yes, there IS an annoying little crocodile grinning at you from the side of the shoe but trust me, five minutes with these babies on your feet and you won't even care about those things. 

While I was clicking around this site this morning looking for these specific shoes I learned something else about the Crocs people: they make a TON of shoes now!  And I cringe to say this but, a lot of them are really cute! 

For example, this morning I happened upon these adorable little boots:

for just $39.99!!!

and my reaction was literally to gasp and then to immediately copy and paste the link to my husband in a not-at-all-subtle way of telling him that I want them. He doesn't get those hints ever though so I am sure that I will still be without them on the next rainy day. 

But seriously, that is a CUTE boot. And it comes in pink which for me is just about the best thing ever. And the crocs people continued their "all colors of the rainbow" trend but did it right here and extended all of those colors to these boots as well! They also comes in yellow, red, blue, white, black and brown...and each one is adorable!  

How amazing! 

And as of this point I haven't even really gotten through most of their inventory, I was too busy sending my hubby links and rushing off to write this post, but the more i click, the more impressed I am.

Sure there are still the occasional duds:

ugh I mean REALLY? and these are made for WOMEN. Not to mention they're $49.99 (someone would have to give ME $49.99 in order to wear those)

But overall, I was really impressed with what they've done to the place. Color me surprised! (in either pink, yellow, red, white, blue, black or brown apparently).

So I guess it's safe to say that I've been made into a believer. That i am a convert of sorts. 

Guess I'll meet ya in the pasture. But hey, at least i'll be super comfortable while I'm waiting there. 

(and you'll still never catch me in those damn garden clogs!)