Boy Nursery Ideas

And I would somehow try and incorporate Jake's love of music. Maybe in the artwork?

Girl Nursery Ideas!

13 weeks!

A view from the top. Any gender guesses?


The bottom pic on this one baby is literally looking right at the camera and waving! Can you see the eyes?


Profile

As the first trimester is coming to an end the baby has now reached the size of a peach and is about 3 inches long! The head is now about half the size of the rest of the body, but the body will quickly be catching up and will continue growing overtime (at birth the baby should be 1/4 head, 3/4 body). The baby's intestines, which have been growing inside the umbilical cord are starting to make their way back inside the abdomen to their permanent position. Also this week, the baby is developing vocal cords and can even make a fist or suck his or her thumb. The bones and skull are solidifying and soon ribs may be visible on ultrasound. Fingerprints have formed on the baby's tiny fingertips, the veins and organs are clearly visible through the skin.

Most exciting is we did another "unofficial" ultrasound at work today! The baby has definitely grown and has a little less space in my uterus. No hiccups this time around, so I didn't record any video but we did print off some pictures. It is amazing to see the baby's teeny tiny heart beating. The question is should the baby be called a "she" or a "he"? To my untrained ultrasound eye, I think the baby is a girl and most of my coworkers agree (It's always harder to spot a girl on ultrasound). There was still no sign of a penis. I was convinced that maybe we just weren't seeing it until we did another ultrasound on another coworker who is only a week ahead of me and we clearly saw a penis. So, not a definite, "Yes! It's a girl", but I'm definitely leaning toward it being so. I'll be waiting a little longer to pick out the wall color for the nursery ;)

12 Weeks

Our baby has more than doubled in size in the past 3 weeks, weighing in now at 1/2 an ounce and measuring about 2.5 inches (crown to rump). About the size of a large fresh plum, the baby is hard at work in the development department. Though most of the systems are fully formed, there is a lot of maturing to do. The digestive system is beginning to practice contraction movements so the baby will be able to eat and the bone marrow is making white blood cells. Also the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain has started producing hormones. The baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, it's toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements.

So this weekend I think the baby definitely had the hiccups on the ultrasound and I learned that our baby is able to swallow this week and practices on the amniotic fluid he or she floats, therefore the hiccups. I didn't know the baby could do this so early, but I guess so. Hopefully the baby isn't as unlucky as me, because if I get hiccups once in the day I get them on and off for the rest of day!

"First Ultrasound"

This is a quick first look at baby Vieke. My great friends at work today took me back to OB and we took a little peek with the ultrasound machine they keep back there. We printed off a bunch of pictures but I just had to take a video because apparently our baby is really into jumping jacks! We were cracking up at how much the little nugget was jumping around. What is totally crazy is that I don't feel a thing. Let me just say, doing this made my day! Can't wait to sneak another peek. Enjoy!!

Want to hear Baby Vieke's Heartbeat?

Click on the video above! Holding steady at 160 beats per minute. Old wives tales say it's a girl's heartbeat... we'll see...

11 Weeks

Bella band


Rubber Band




Our baby is just over 2 inches long now (about the length of a sugar packet, or a fig) and weighs about a third of an ounce. His or her body is straightening out and the torso is lengthening. Hair follicles are forming and nail beds are beginning to form. The fingers and toes have separated and are no longer webbed. It would be difficult to see the sex of the baby even on ultrasound but if it's a girl, the ovaries are developing. By now the baby has some pretty distinct human characteristics (no more alien baby) with hands and feet in front of the body, ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of the nose and a tongue and palate in the mouth. All of the baby's vital organs are now formed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week as the baby becomes less susceptible to outside influences (Doesn't mean I can stop worrying yet!).

Jake got a pretty good laugh this week when I showed him the rubberband I was using to stay in my favorite skinny jeans! It's a pretty helpful little trick. Just loop the rubberband through the buttonhole and over the button. Instant relief and allows me to wear more than stretch pants. I am glad that I will be having an expanding belly during the summer months because I will be able to wear a lot of dresses which will hopefully be pretty flexible in growing with me. I also bought a bella band this week which will help me through all my stages of pregnancy. Right now I can use it to keep my pants up and keep me in my prepregnancy jeans. I just love it because it is a little more comfortable and feels slightly more secure than the good ole' rubberband.

And for the record, the above belly picture is not me ;) No other real symptoms to report. I have a OB appointment Friday and friends begging to do an ultrasound on me at work this weekend (like I would ever say no to seeing my little fig!). So stay tuned for some possible baby pics!!

10 weeks and a heartbeat!

I've never loved a little lub-dub so much! Today we heard our baby's heartbeat and it was so exciting. Remember, I spend half my day with my ears in a stethoscope so I am used to the sound, but hearing our baby's brought a little tear to my eye. Is anyone surprised?? I think Jake was relieved that we only heard one and not two or more! Isn't it incredible that our little prune sized baby has a heartbeat we can hear! Today we met with the nurse practitioner and went over health history and education type stuff, do's and don'ts and next Friday we will meet our OB.

At 10 weeks the baby is nearly and inch and half long and continuing to grow like a weed. The bones and cartilage are forming as well as the knees and ankles and the baby's elbows are already functioning. The baby has tiny buds where the teeth will form under the gums, the stomach is producing digestive juices and the kidneys are producing larger quantities of urine. If our baby is a boy he already has testosterone running through his veins! Boys will be boys ;) The baby has also started to grow tiny little nails and peach fuzz hair all over his or her body.