Pitter Patter of Baby Feet

Big Milestone: Landon was able to feel the baby kick for the first time last night.

Also, Friday I went to a local carseat check to see if we'd installed the carseat correctly. Looks like we did. It was entertaining though to see what the seat check people had to say about installing a carseat in our car. A state trooper even came over and told some of them to pay attention to this type of car because you don't see it very often. It's really not made for hauling around children. Everyone else had mini vans or something of the sort.

Random Picture from my camera: Landon feeding our Siberian Huskies (l to r)- Sukari, Drakul, Xue

Week 22

Fruit: Papaya (Week 21-24)
Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.


Week 21 picture.

How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 3 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Nope, still holding out.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Going well.
Best moment this week: Going shopping for baby books.
Movement: Atleast once every day
Food cravings: None.
Gender: Still waiting for July 22nd
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: That I'm gonna have to start buying maternity clothes
What I am looking forward to: Knowing if we're having a boy or girl
Weekly Wisdom: If you think the AC has quit, check the breaker first.
Milestones: Now in month 5.

Random 10 Friday

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. There's a Good Reason These Tables...- PANIC! At the Disco
2. One Foot on the Path- Kenny Wayne Shepherd
3. Lateralus- Tool
4. Nothing to Do With Love- Kenny Wayne Shepherd
5. Close to the Edge- Yes
6. Day Tripper- Type O Negative
7. Fall For You- Secondhand Serenade
8. PJ & Rooster- Outkast
9. Playmate of the Year- Zebrahead (?)
10. Army- Ben Folds Five

*Bonus* Billie Jean- Michael Jackson -Rest In Peace, you will be missed and remembered forever for your music.

******
Landon got his first tattoo yesterday. It's an old school Yamaha motorcycle tuning forks logo. Check out the pictures below.

Week 21

Week 21- Banana
Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.



Week 20 Baby bump picture.

How far along? 21 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 3 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Nope, still holding out.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Not too bad.
Best moment this week: Feeling (what I think is) the first movement yesterday (June 20th)!
Movement: For the first time yesterday!
Food cravings: None.
Gender: Still waiting for July 22nd
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Nothing
What I am looking forward to: Knowing if we're having a boy or girl
Weekly Wisdom: I really should listen to what I've been taught about tornados living in Kansas my whole life- get a storm radio. It's hard to know what's going on when you don't have electricity, thus no TV or internet.
Milestones: Felt the first movement!!!

Picture Time!

My husband kayaking in a flooded wheat field.



Storm clouds right before the tornado sirens went off. We only had a few tree limbs down, but there was more damage around town.


Awnings on Main street destroyed by the wind.



Diaper cake from my old room mate's baby shower.

Random 10 Friday

I found this on crazyland (http://wheredidiputthat.blogspot.com/) and thought it'd be fun. Here are the rules:

1. Put your music playing device on shuffle
2. Write down the first 10 songs that come up.
3. No cheating and taking off Kenny Rogers or Liza Minnelli because you're embarrassed.
4. Only hit skip if the same song comes up twice in the same post.
5. Write down your random thoughts-- in full sentences or not. We don't care.
6. Sign up via Mr. Linky.
7. Sit back and check out all the new tunes you will find.

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Quick warning before I start my list. My Zune has songs from my siblings and when I do this kinda randomness it always come up with a song I've never heard before. Quite an exciting discovery sometimes. Enjoy!
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1. Never Let You Go- Third Eye Blind
2. Prisoner- 311
3. If You Could Only See- Tonic
4. I'm a Fake- The Used
5. That's The Way- Led Zeppelin
6. Just the Way I Am- Big Daddy Weave (I don't even know this song....)
7. I Feel Love- Blue Man Group
8. Photograph- 12 Stones
9. Finding Myself- Smile Empty Soul
10. Birdcage- The Wallflowers

Bonus (Just cuz I love the next song): Broken Again- Another Animal

*****
Random thoughts today: I love blogger's auto save. Firefox just crashed during this post, but everything was saved, Yay! I don't know why Firefox has been crashing these last too days, what is going on?

Hmm, I forget when the new Spore expansion is released. I should go look that up, it looks fun.

I grew up listening to Rock music and continue to love it. Landon grew up on old country and Christian/gospel and is now obsessed with 80s rock. I wonder what our kids will like.

Random photo from my camera:

The Healey Family

We watched the Healey Family on Discovery Health. This family has 6 kids from a previous marriage and 7 more from the mom's second marriage. They have 3 sets of twins. This is such a cute family, you have to watch the video! It's nice to see that even though it's one of those big family stories, the parents don't home school and all the kids seem disciplined and well adjusted.



If the video doesn't work, here's the link: http://health.discovery.com/videos/discovery-health-viewers-choice-reel-meet-the-healeys.html

Help?

No matter what I try, Monday's post font will not change colors. I don't know why. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm playing around with the blog layout and design, please be patient with me as I try new things and tweak old ones.

Update from May 7th post: We decided to not have the quad test.

Freaky?

So this is what our baby might look like, haha. Not bad actually, compared to most of these combining pictures things (I used some awful pictures of the two of us too.

In other news, the doctor called and pushed back the gender check sonogram two days to July 22, grrr. Nothing I can do about it though.

Frustrating

This weekend my car's alternator decided to give up again (or atleast we thought). This has happened three other times now. We took the alternator to AutoZone and O'Reilly's to have it tested and get a new one, but the tests said it was fine. Now we don't know what's wrong with it. Cars hate me. Seriously, I have had more cars break down on me than anyone I know. At least my dad's a mechanic, otherwise I'd have bigger problems. So now Landon is gonna try to find out what's wrong with the car and get it up a running again.

Yesterday I signed up for childbirth classes at the hospital. For one Saturday in September, we'll learn about what we have to do and get a tour of the maternity ward. Last night I felt miserable and could not sleep. I've never had heartburn or acid reflux in my life, but last night I felt like I was gonna die from the reflux. It's stupid that now that I'm in the second trimester, I'm feeling sick. I thought it was supposed to be easy now. Maybe the baby's making up for no morning sickness.

This weekend is a baby shower for my former roommate (the only one I actually got along with), I'm excited to see her again and celebrate her baby due in August. Father's day is also this weekend. I don't plan on doing much, and Landon didn't do anything for Mother's day, so he doesn't get anything for Father's day--we'll wait until next year.

Baby Bump

Here's a update of what's been going on (taken from The Heir to Blair blog). The picture is me at 19 weeks (haven't taken a picture this week yet).

How far along? 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 0. I lost a pound each trip to the doctor until last month, when I was back to the initial weight.
Maternity clothes? No, but my jeans are getting alot tighter- it's coming soon, I'm just putting it off 'til the last minute
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I have a hard time getting comfortable and feel a bit nauseous.

Best moment this week: Being halfway there.

Movement: None that I can distinguish yet.
Food cravings: None, except I'm liking Mexican food more?
Gender: Waiting until July 20th
Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Nothing that I can think of.

What I am looking forward to: Knowing if we're having a boy or girl
Weekly Wisdom: Garage sales are awesome for baby stuff.

Milestones: Halfway there!

Week 20- Halfway there!!

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

Halfway to the baby's due date! I can't wait! I'm still not really feeling any movement, I think.

Newborn Photography

I absolutely love photography, so I want to make sure we have an awesome photographer for the baby's newborn photos. Most studios say to have the pictures taken within the first two weeks before baby acne starts showing up and so you can capture the curled up pictures. And, studios are always booked in advance, which means I need to find and schedule a photographer by August. I've found a couple local studios that I like and I'm now looking forward to what pictures they can come up with.
Here's the problem...Landon doesn't want to have a newborn portrait session. He says that I could take pictures that would be just as good, and it won't cost anything. Thanks for the compliment on my amateur photography skills, honey, but I disagree. I don't have the fancy cameras that professional photographers have (although, now that I think about it, buying one would cost about the same as the portrait session...), I don't have studio lighting and props, and I'm not very good at Photoshop.
So, here's our compromise: We'll get a newborn session (I'm not backing down from that), but I'll take the 6 month and maybe 1 year photos. Unless....and I haven't told Landon this yet....the photographer has a good (i.e. cheap) package deal for those sessions.

Here are some local photographers I like:
L. Hardin Portrait Design - http://lhardinphoto.com/#
Gingeroot Photography - http://www.gingerootphoto.com/

Sucking

One thing I am not looking forward to after this baby is born is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is gonna suck (haha, a pun...) I know all the positives of breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding and have always planned on breastfeeding. So, it's really not that that I'm dreading, it's breast pumping. Ugh! I do not want to do that at all, and I don't want to pay the $200+ for a pump (I know it's cheaper than formula, but still). I will be going back to work about a month and a half after the baby is born, and I have no idea where I will be able to pump. It's this thought that keeps me up at night (I know, sad...). Two of my schools will be okay for pumping. I can lock the door and no one would know. However, the school that I'm at the most (yeah, figures) is what I'm nervous about. Plus the kids are older there, so I suspect they might know what's going on. I have no idea which pump to get (I've done a bit of research and think I want a Avent). How loud is it gonna be- I want it to be virtually silent, but do not want a manual pump. How long will it take? What happens if I don't have time to pump one day?

If anyone has the answers to these questions or can recommend a good pump or book about breast feeding, please let me know.

Side note: I will NEVER breastfeed in public, some people are crazy...

Pink or Blue

Test can tell baby’s sex 6 weeks into pregnancy

Fetal DNA checked for Y chromosome; experts worry about ethics, accuracy

updated 3:35 p.m. CT, Tues., May 15, 2007

LONDON - A new test dubbed “Pink or Blue” promises to tell parents the sex of their fetus just six weeks into pregnancy, but critics question its reliability and say it could pose an array of ethical issues.

[...]

“The earlier in pregnancy that you do these tests, the less fetal DNA there will be around, and possibly, the less accurate the test will be,” said Dr. Patrick O’Brien, a consultant obstetrician and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“At six weeks of pregnancy, it’s questionable whether the technology is that good.”

Parents willing to wait longer can get a head-to-toe ultrasound at 20 weeks that is almost 100 percent accurate. Invasive procedures like an amniocentesis — which carry a small risk of miscarriage — can be done at about 11 weeks.

This news story caught my eye today, as I've been sitting here anxiously waiting until July when we will know if the baby is a boy or girl. I have to admit that I'm irritated that we can tell at this point, but have to wait until the scheduled ultrasound. Would I get this new test? I would say no. What I've been hearing on CNN is that it's not that reliable, granted sometimes the ultrasound is wrong too. I can also see how this test could have a negative impact, and apparently that's why it's not available in China or India, where boys are desired. There are so many things that people can use as an excuse for an abortion, and to me this is just one more. In my opinion, if you're that picky about your baby's gender that you'd have an abortion if it wasn't what you wanted, then those people shouldn't have kids in the first place (ha, along with many other reasons some people shouldn't have kids...anyway...). I think that finding out gender by ultrasound would decrease abortions, because they're done so late (average 20 weeks) and at the same time you're looking at the baby on the monitor. Tests like this can begin a slope towards genetic selection, gender being just one piece. (Has anyone seen the movie Gattaca?) Personally, abortion is wrong regardless, why not just use the test for it's intended purpose (early gender detection) and leave it at that.

Week 19

Fruit of the week: Mango (I just realized that I've been posting these without showing what the fruit/vegetable is.)
Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

Your Baby

Your mini-gymnast weighs approximately seven ounces and measures approximately nine inches long. His arms and legs are now properly proportioned. The motor neurons between the muscles and the brain are connecting, giving him control over his movements, so he kicks, rolls, and stretches whenever he feels like it. His gums have tooth buds, and throughout his body, rubbery cartilage is turning into bone. Myelin, a protective substance, envelops the spinal cord.

45 Days

So, at our doctor appointment today, we set a day to find out the gender. We have to wait until the sonogram person has a slow day and can just fit us in really fast to do a gender check for free, instead of having to pay for a whole ultrasound. That means, we have to wait until July 20th!! 45 days! That's too long... We also listened to the heartbeat again, which was in the 140s, which is normal. Landon also got the call today to go back to work after being laid off for 3 months. Luckily we didn't feel too much effect from it, since he was getting enough on unemployment, and I'm getting paid enough. Still, we had to cut back a bit on the fun things we used to do.

Say goodbye to $$

Today, Landon and I went to Wichita and decided on a crib. It's the same one from the picture in the previous post about crib shopping. Too bad it won't be here until the middle of July?! We also bought a mattress and changing pad. So, most of the big items that we need to have are now checked off our list. All the little stuff is going to add up now. We haven't started painting the nursery yet since we'd still like to carpet the basement first. But, now we have a month to work on it before we even have a crib to put there. I finally found crib bedding that's going to work with our color scheme, and that is unisex. It's from Carousel designs, which has an awesome collection of bedding (http://babybedding.com). I'm having fun finally buying things for the baby, I can't wait until we know what it is so that we can start buying cute clothes, etc.