25 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 13, 2012

How far along: 25 weeks.

Size of baby: 13.5 inches, 1.5 lb. - A "Rutabaga"  

What developed this past week: Body parts are becoming more proportional, and more fat is forming underneath his skin. Also, his hair is growing and developing texture and color! I wonder what color...

Weight Gain: 20.4 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"

Movement: Still moving all the time. And still looking forward to feeling hiccups! Nothing yet...  

Sleep: Sleep is fine - waking up is not so fine. Sore, stiff back most days...  Trying to decide when to use the pregnancy massage gift card my wonderful sister-in-laws got me for Mother's Day!

What I miss: Not aching - it's amazing what we take for granted! 

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: #1 - Having MANY family members (SILs, Aunt, Niece) [try to] find the baby's heart beat using a handheld doppler (so lovingly given to me by my friend Tiffini)! Since there isn't a good way to have all these girls attend my doctor's appointments, this is the next best thing. Actually it's even better since family just gets to listen at the doctor, not find!

#2 - My mom came over after church on Sunday and stayed until 10pm. We hung out for awhile, then decided to get things organized in the nursery and spare room! We have everything almost all done! Just some blankets and scrapbooking stuff needs reorganized in the spare room! Nursery is ready! YAY! :) Thanks, Momma!!!

#3 - Once again, we are overly blessed with family and friends giving us wonderful gifts! This week we got to open a gift bag full of ADORABLE boy outfits, a book, & baby wash/lotion from my super-thoughtful SIL and Niece, Laurie & Emmie! I'm told they bought some of the outfits before we even knew Baby Farrell IS a boy! They are too cute! Love you girls!

#4 - Talking to my Grandpa (Robert Nicholas) on the phone and announcing Baby Farrell's name to him. He was very touched that we are naming our boy after him - Grandpa said, "Bryson Nicholas? Well he sounds like he could be the President!"  He has told each of kids that we are smart enough to be the President our whole lives, so it's only fitting... :)  He said now Joscelin (my niece) can be his favorite great-granddaughter, and Bryson is his favorite great-grandson. Perfect! (**If you remember back to the bib we bought my dad to announce we are pregnant, you'll see that the men in my family like to say people are "favorites" - always classifying further so that each person can be a favorite in a different way - IE I'm currently the "favorite pregnant daughter", as I'm the only one...).

What I am looking forward to: This week my coworkers are throwing me a baby shower on Wednesday! They have been SO excited about Baby Farrell ever since we announced his impending arrival. It will be great to celebrate with them! Thank you to Joyce & Lynn for pulling it all together!

Just for fun:

Is it just me, or does week 23 look smaller than 21?! I must be standing at a different angle, or maybe I just hadn't eaten dinner yet! lol

 This is a little easier to see the changes...  That very round pregnant belly you see in movies - FAKE! :)



*Note - Click on the images to see them bigger.

24 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 6, 2012

How far along: 24 weeks.

Size of baby: 12.5 inches, 1.25 lb. - "An Ear of Corn" 

What developed this past week: Bryson's lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help air sacs in the lungs inflate once baby hits the outside world. The lungs are now moving amniotic fluid in and out in preparation for breathing, though he still gets oxygen through the placenta.

And, as I found out when Caleb had his hand on my belly and said he could feel Bryson up high in my abdomen, my uterus is now about 2 inches above my belly button. It's the size of a SOCCER BALL!

Weight Gain: 19.2 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"

Movement: He moves all the time throughout the day. I'm trying to figure out if there's any pattern to it to see if he has a regular sleep schedule or if my eating affects him. Haven't figured it out yet.

Many times I've put my hand where he's kicking, and he bumps out the other side! He's a stinker :).  

Sleep: Sleep is hit or miss as far as comfort goes. Most days I wake up with an aching back. I'm still working on the pillow situation to see if I can come up with something that keeps everything in the right place so I'm not sore in the mornings.

What I miss: Not being in pain throughout the day! This last week I've started having really bad upper ab, rib & back pain. The only thing I've found to relieve the tightness/stabbing pain is to actually stand and walk around for awhile. Sitting, no matter how hard I try to have good posture, hurts!  

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: Putting the nursery furniture together! Caleb and I got it done in about an hour and a half on Saturday. Since I hadn't seen the furniture in person, I was a little nervous that there would be something we wouldn't like about it, but I LOVE IT! After assembling the crib and setting up the dressers (they came assembled, just needed to put the knobs on right-side-out), Caleb and I went recliner shopping. To our surprise, we found a chair we liked at the second store we visited! This chair is crazy -  it vibrates, heats, has a cooler & cupholders in the arms! Caleb wants to keep it in the living room forever until the baby comes :).

The other best part of the week was having my SIL, Laurie, over (and niece Emilie for the last hour)Sunday night to help me arrange and re-arrange and re-arrange the room until we figured out the best set up! It took much muscle and lots of time, but we figured out a functional and aesthetically pleasing layout. Then we put up the tree decal and got out the bedding. It's really coming together! Once the room is picked up and ready to show, I will take pictures for everyone to see. Thank you SOOO much Laurie and Em for your help! It wouldn't have been half as much fun without you!

And a big shout out THANKS to KC, as without his help to carry the bed and tv up to the attic, we couldn't have even started the room transormation! :)

What I am looking forward to:  Hiccups! They say it's coming soon... I'm so excited to feel this crazy-awesome phenomenon!