Felt It Kick

I was laying in bed with Kim on Saturday (our favorite pass-time), with my my hand resting on her abdomen talking to my baby. In the middle of my hand I felt a pretty strong poke, my baby had kicked me in my hand. Then I felt some flutters, probably my baby wiggling around like we have seen twice now on the ultrasound. A few minutes later I felt another very good kick, and it made me smile deep down. Part of me is jealous that Kim gets to feel this inside her, a growing thing, and I only get to touch. Then I remember what happens when it's done growing in there, and don't envy her one bit. I wonder, are all fathers-to-be this amazed by feeling their kid moving around? We are half way through this part of the journey, and already my life has changed so much. Yes I AM going to be a Father, but more than that I can't wait to be a Daddy...

Fetal development in pregnancy week 19

Your amazing little baby is now around 10 inches in length! If this seems a bit shocking, you’ll be relieved to know they’ve not actually grown over 3 inches, but that their little legs are now straight enough to be measured. This is when doctors begin measuring fetal growth from head to toe, (no longer “crown to rump” or CR). Lanugo (little hairs) covers the whole body now, trapping that charming cheese-like vernix caseosa (see week 18) to the surface to the skin. This week your lil’ fetus will start on an appetizing diet of amniotic fluid which they are now capable of swallowing, digesting, and passing the fluid as far as their tiny “large” intestines. Fortunately for you, this nice little lump of baby-poop won’t be coming out while they’re still in your womb. Some time shortly after they’re born, this fun lump will become the first in a long line of baby poops. (What finally comes out— commonly known as “meconium” to the science world, will be black and sticky, and you’ll be very glad it happens only once!)

Almost Healthy Here...???

So Kim got home from the hospital on Friday last week, and then on Saturday I started getting sick. By Sunday I thought I was going to die and that lasted through Monday and into Tuesday. Yesterday and today I have felt A LOT better still a little sicky but not too bad. Kim, I think, has a little of what I had. All the antibiotics they had her on at the hospital is protecting her from the worst of the bug I had I think. I still feel bad for her though, I got her all sicky.

Kim went in for her genetic counseling on Monday, and we should have been able to tell if we have a little Dexter or a little Pearl. But the bean was being very uncooperative yet again. This time rolled up in a ball clenching "his" legs and covering up "his" genital area with his hands. As if to say "NO, you may not take pictures of my no no spot you guys, HAH!!!". So the bean is already taking after his daddy, all stubborn and stuff.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 18

We have two more ounces! Your "getting bigger-n-better by the minute baby" is already up to 7 ounces and 6 inches! This is a big week for their baby skin. There are now two distinct layers—the epidermis (or the surface skin) and dermis. Currently, their skin is covered with a greasy, waxy, cheese-like substance, known as vernix caseosa. Sure, it sounds pretty nasty, but this mixture of fatty secretions covering your little swimmer from head to toe is the best way to protect their oh-so-thin skin from bruising and abrasions as well as chapping caused by amniotic fluid exposure (and your little one is swimming in that stuff!). Still don’t like the fact your little darling is currently slathered in fatty cream like a greased pig? Well, you know the birthing process? Where you have to push something the size of a watermelon out a hole the size of a grape? That adorable little greased piglet would have a lot harder time getting through the birth canal without the vernix caseosa. Fun fact for momma’s with baby girls: it’s a uterus within a uterus! Your little girl will have developed a uterus and vagina canal by the end of this week.

7 Days of Yuck! But what a strong Bean!

The Bean and I are finally home! After being released from the hospital on Wednesday after having my gall bladder removed, I ended up back in only a couple of hours later. I ended up having an ERCP done, my common bile duct was flushed, and I'm now gall bladder and gall stone free! Was released again on Friday, and I'm now home and resting, trying to get back to my old self.

What an emotional week! The only thing on my mind the whole time was the baby. Hearing over and over that you might lose your baby is a heart crushing thing.

We have a strong little one on our hands though. Bean made it through both a surgery and a very invasive procedure with flying colors. The OB/GYN ordered monitoring of the fetal heart rate both morning and night, it was SO comforting to hear it each and every time.

Monday we go for our genetic counseling and another ultrasound, and possibly an amnio. We should also hopefully find out if it's a Dexter or a Pearl in my belly.

I love this little one with all my heart and soul. I love Clay more than I can even attempt to express. My family is everything.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 17

Guess what? Your amazing baby is getting EVEN bigger, more beautiful, and smarter every day! As you’ve come to expect, there’s no shortage of growth and development this week: your fantastic little bean stalk has added yet another half inch to its overall height (which makes them about 6 inches long). Their little limbs have reached (or are within one week of) their relative proportions, and will continue to grow evenly with the rest of the body after this week. Reactive listening has begun for your baby, even though their ears are not yet structurally complete or fully functional. Meanwhile, different parts of their astonishingly complex brain are developing to process your little one’s hearing and other five senses, (you know, sight, smell, taste and touch). Mind boggling factoid of the week: if you’re having going to have a little girl, her ovaries have already produced millions of primordial egg cells, which, within a few weeks, will develop into actual eggs! Phew… just wait till she’s a teenager eh?

Mommy's In The Hospital

At about 11pm last night Kim started complaining about pain in her stomach region, which we originally thought was just gas. After a pretty much sleepless night she went to work this morning. I drove her to work as I needed the car today to go do errands. An hour after I got home from dropping her off she called home to be picked up as her pain had gotten MUCH worse. Betty (Kim's Mom) jumped into the car and went to get Kim. Upon returning home, I was informed by Kim that she felt she needed to go to the Hospital. The pain was not centralized in her stomach region at this point. It started shooting around her sides and to her back. We arrived at the emergency room at Winter Park Memorial Hospital at about 12:30 in the afternoon. Triage went pretty smooth, they listened for the baby's heart beat with the doppler and took Kim's vitals. Betty got to hear her Grandchild's heart beat which was 1 of 3 nice things that happened today amongst lots of pain and headache. After the Triage we were waiting room bound, 30 minutes went by and we were called into the patient area. Talked with the Doctor, and he did some probing, and determined that it probably was a gall stone or a kidney stone, most likely the gall variety though. Next, he did a pelvic exam to make sure everything was alright "down there", which it was. After about 20 minutes we were transported over to the sonogram area for what seemed like forever. Pregnant women cannot have a CAT scan, so everything needed to be looked at with the ultrasound. They looked at Kim's kidneys, pancreas, bladder, stomach, and her gall bladder. They also looked at our baby, and took all kinds of measurements and pictures. This was the second nice thing today, as we got to see our baby again on the sonogram. The bean is a freaken gymnast; twisting, kicking, arching it's back, and flailing arms. The little one was not being very cooperative for the tech trying to take the measurements and pictures. WE SAW OUR BABY"S FACE!!! Apparently the tech was not supposed to show us anything, but she said that Kim had been going through so much pain that we deserved a little something. We were transported back to the ER with the hopes that Kim would receive some pain meds. We sat around in the ER for about a half an hour, me in a chair and Kim half naked in a wheelchair, waiting for her turn in the room with the drugs. Finally, at about 5:30 she was started on an IV and injected with precious morphine which was the third nice thing that happened today. At this point we were informed that the hospital was going to admit her, and transported to the observation care center. I took this opportunity to bring Betty in to see her daughter and then get home and pack up a few things for Kim. I returned to the hospital about 45 minutes later to find Kim talking with the surgeon and crying quite a bit. I found out quickly why there were tears, the gall bladder is going to have to be removed. This procedure while very routine and easy could cause Kim to lose the baby. The surgeon explained to us that he was not an expert in OBGYN but the second trimester is the most ideal time to have this type of procedure done. That is if you have to have it done while pregnant. The surgeon went to put a call into the OBGYN to find out exactly what the risks were, and came back to say that it was little risk. We don't know the percentage of risk yet, and will most likely find out in the morning. They transported us back to the observation care center to await Kim's room. At about 9pm we were taken upstairs to her bed while she is in the hospital. I stayed with Kim until about 10:30 and came home, called my Mom and cried, and called my Dad and cried some more. I got a call from Kim telling me that early tomorrow they are going to go in and cut slices off her gall bladder to get a better idea of what is going on in there. I am scared, more scared then I thought I was at first. My rational me knows that everything will be ok and that this is the best time to do this. If Kim was to try and wait until after the baby is born she runs the risk of the gall bladder rupturing, which would be very very bad.

Please send Kim, the bean and I lots of energy the next couple of days. Mostly Kim and the bean though, I will be fine after my crying, hehehe...

I don't know how long Kim will be in the hospital, most likely until Monday at the earliest. If you want to call her there or send her some flowers or a balloon, I am sure she would appreciate well wishes.

She is at:
Winter Park Memorial Hospital
200 N. Lakemont Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32792

Phone#: 407 646-70000 ext 3406 2

Baby Stuff Came Today

2 things from our Baby Registry arrived today!!! We got the Rainforest Travel Tender Play yard w/Mobile, Bassinet and Changer
and the Rainforest: Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym. They are so cool, they didn't have shit like this when I was a kid. The coolest thing when I was little was a lite brite, kids nowadays have MUCH cooler stuff. It will be good fodder for "When I was your age" stories, like: "When I was your age we had to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways".

Anyway, a BIG thank you goes out to Grandma and Grandpa, or as they want to be called: Nana and Bumpa Bob. I really think the bean will love his things!!!

Humidifier

I went out the other night to purchase a humidifier in hopes that it would lessen Kim's dry skin issues. Her belly, arms and especially her breasts have been so dry that she will itch them until they bleed. The scratch marks don't bleed out, they just formed a long itch shaped blood mark or blister. We have noticed a decline of the dry skin since we have had moist air in our bedroom. Turns out the humidifier was a very smart purchase indeed. Also, I read somewhere that pregnant women get nosebleeds due to the blood vessels expanding because of increased blood flow. One way to combat these nosebleeds, that start around the 15th week of pregnancy, is to buy a humidifier.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 16

Over the past three weeks your astounding growing baby has managed to stretch yet another 2 full inches (totaling about 4.5”) and weighs around 3.5 ounces. That’s pretty serious growth, and with it comes several physical developments! For starters, their head to body ratio is finally starting to even out a bit as the rest of the body is actually growing faster than the head at this point. Finally, your little light bulb is not so top-heavy. Their adorable little limbs have lengthened, almost reaching their normal proportions which they will have at birth. Their eyes are still closed but moving now and if you had an ultrasound, which many doctors recommend you have at about this time, you may even see your little one sucking on a thumb, not to mention the necessary signifiers to let you know whether you’ve got a wee lad or lassie.

Names

It's hard to come up with names for babies I have found. You have to think of more than what you as a parent like. You have to take into consideration if the kid will like it or not when he grows up. I know I don't want to name my kid a traditional name like andrew, paul, adam, or something plain like that (no offence to adams, pauls and andrews out there). I also wanted to stay away from those trendy names like Skylar, or Gunnar and stuff like that. If it's a girl there is a good chance her name will be Pearl Anne Bowman. If it's a boy his name will be Dexter Micheal Bowman. Say them outloud for us if you would, make sure we are not crazy that they sound great coming off the tongue.

A Baby Belly is on the way!

My uterus is growing, you can feel it poking out over my pubic bone. If I had a flat stomach to start with I'm sure you'd be able to see it. But, no, I'm a well-cushioned girl with a belly. Sometimes I feel you'll never be able to see that I'm pregnant. That's my delusional self being cruel. It will happen Kim.

These are the things I told Clay I was waiting for last night:

I want to feel Bean move inside me, how incredible that will be. I know there is a little human in there, but to feel it will amaze me.

I want a big, pregnant Buddah belly! I already fall asleep every night with my hands on my stomach. Bring on the belly!

I want Clay to be able to put his hands on that belly and feel his child move inside me. Sometimes pregnancy seems so unfair to the Daddy. He has to live through all the milestones of the baby growing, moving and such hearing about it. When he can lay his hands on my tummy and actually feel Bean move and kick...that will be a tear-jerker for me.

Patience Kimberly, it will all come in good time.

I Think I Will

We will have the option to know the sex of our baby on the 20th of this month. That's when we go in to the genetic counseling place to have the level 2 sonogram done and possible amniocentesis, this will all be to check for Downs Syndrome. Kim has a 1 in 300 chance of have a DS baby. The only reason given to support this chance is her age. None of the blood work suggested anything was wrong, and from reading around I have seen stories of women who after their blood test were told they had a 1 in 50 chance. The last thing we were told was "It's a good healthy pregnancy, no problems".

Anyway, back to the original topic of this post: "Will daddy want to know the sex of his baby?" As it gets closer and closer to the sonogram that will be able to tell us that information the more likely I feel I am going to want to know. This makes Kim happy, as she would really love to know. We have come up with a few girl names that have "Michelle" as a middle name, but have had no luck coming up with boy names. I think that knowing the sex will make us more focused on one set of names and make it easier. Also, we can change the name of this blog to our baby's name.

We want one of THESE, and will be getting it soon. It has the capability of recording the heartbeat for emailing or posting on the web. So when we get it we will post our baby's heart beat here for all of you.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 15

Your nearly four-inch long gymnast is happily mobile inside your womb, and if you're really lucky, you’ll notice a point when your sneezing, coughing or laughing results in a little kick here or a poke there-- although many women don't feel anything until the 17th week or later. Although the poking and kicking isn't very charming during sleeping hours, it’s a good sign as it means your baby is actually reacting to outside events! (Yay! You’ve got yourself one active healthy baby!) Their little elbows and knees are bending more freely this week and their little legs are finally growing longer than their arms and getting them all pumped up for prenatal Richard Simmons. Many of their major organ systems are increasing in capacity—particularly that amazing tiny heart and complex circulation system, which is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood per day, and will increase to a very impressive 200 quarts per day by the end of the pregnancy. As far as hair goes, we’ve got some new scalp patterns beginning to develop on the head, although actual head hair is not yet present.