11 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden. She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

I can't believe that this baby can already get hiccups! 2 more weeks till I'm in the 2nd trimester. I seriously can't believe that!!! And 1 more week till my first OB appt! I hope everything looks okay! I'm still getting queasy every day, although it's easing up quite a bit, as are the headaches. Thank goodness...I couldn't deal with those migraines all the time.

All the snow we got on Saturday is completely gone now! Yay! I'm not a winter person. at all. The kids did have fun building a snowman with daddy! And I actually did have fun putting a snowball down daddy's shirt! :D

The kids and the snowman they worked so hard on. I do have to say that Chloe worked the hardest, though. That sweet little baby just toiled and toiled to make sure that snowman was just right....only to have to watch it completely melt away by the next day. She had fun though!!! That's all that matters, right? :)

What mom? No, I wasn't on my belly, face-first, chowing down on the snow!! Why would I want to do that?

My little ladies

Aren't they sweet?
I just love them.

Baby Shark

Chloe's kindergarten class had their program last week...all about animals! :) She did a wonderful job...they all did! Isn't that song hilarious?? :D

Oh, and you probably noticed that she had quite the wedgie the whole way through the song. :) geez.

10 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.


I am 1/4 of the way through this pregnancy! The morning sickness has started to get a little better, although it's still there. I go to the dr. in two weeks, and it can't come faster. I'm hoping she does an ultrasound. I had an ultrasound at around 8 weeks with Eliah and Isaac, but that was only because my cycles were really off, and I couldn't give them a for sure date of my last period. But since I've already told them the date of my last period, she probably won't give me one, unless she thinks my uterus feels smaller or bigger than it should. Mike keeps thinking we're having twins. If we go by how much I've eaten these past few weeks, I'd say he's right. I've gained about 4 pounds so far... Hopefully my appetite will calm down soon!!

The boys were terribly sick this whole weekend with a nasty stomach bug. I caught it on Thursday and was in bed all day. Mike had to come home from work early, because I could barely move. He had the day off Friday too, so we went through this whole house and washed every article of clothing and bedding and pretty much everything else we could actually put in the washer & dryer. We scrubbed down all of their toys, along with the couch and chair (they're leather), tables, countertops, the crib, the doorknobs and all other nonporous items we could think of with antibacterial wipes. I'm so tired of someone constantly being sick in this house. It's getting a tad bit ridiculous.

9 weeks

Your pregnancy: 9 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Not too much new to report. The morning sickness (aka all day sickness) has gotten bad enought that I had to call the after-hours number at the OB office and talk to the dr. on call. He prescribed me zofran, which I have yet to take (although I know I'll need it before the day is done) but am hoping it helps. I have a horrible headache right now, which is mainly caused by shoulder tension. At least that's what it feels like. My neck and shoulders hurt so bad right now. I have the weirdest pregnancy symptoms ever. A few examples of the weird things that trigger my nausea: Just thinking about taking a nap. Hearing the same song twice (we have to drive without the radio on). Going into our bedroom during the day. Going downstairs...the air freshener down there...gag! Getting on the desktop computer in our room...although I don't know if that's because it's in our room, or because it smells like the air freshener downstairs, which is where it used to be...which means I can only use the laptop, and that even makes me a little bit gaggy. I would just love for this to pass. I am a little concerned that it has just now started because I know the m/s started with Isaac when I was 6 weeks 3 days, and just last night, I was reading in a journal I kept when I was pregnant with Elijah (apparently I did have journals for my other pregnancies...I just forgot about them...) and I started having it a 6 weeks then too. By my estimations...or the date of my last period, my morning sickness started at 8 weeks. I hope I'm not 2 weeks behind what I thought I was! I don't know how that would have happened...possibly late ovulation? Anyway, I'm just anxious for my first dr. appt., which is still 3 weeks away...

Woman Sings While In Labor

Okay, you all may think I'm completely insane, but I just wanted to share this beautiful video with you. I've decided that I want to try to give birth naturally this time, so I've been You Tubing videos on how to deal with contractions and I came across this video. It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. I love this song, and this woman has a beautiful voice. I just love how, even in the midst of pain, she's worshipping our God! It's so amazing!

8 weeks

Your pregnancy: 8 weeks

See the big picture
How your baby's growing:

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.See what's going on in your uterus this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Morning sickness. It's here. I started feeling so sick yesterday evening and this morning I gagged while I was making breakfast for Elijah. I called the dr. office and spoke to a nurse, telling her all of my symptoms and she spoke with the dr. and called back to let me know that they called a prescription in for me. I can't remember what it's called. It's not zofran...which is what I've heard of most people using for nausea. Hopefully it works!

We took the kids to the zoo on Saturday...it was such a nice day too...in the low 70's pretty much all day! We bought a family pass so that we can go all the time. The kids love it, and walking around is such a good workout for me!

Here's a link to some pics from our day.

Names

We have officially decided on names for this little bundle of love due to join us in October! If it's a boy, it will be Jett Michael (I LOVE the name Jett!!!) and if it's a girl, it will be Journey Elizabeth! :) So either way, we will have a kid with a J name. We went back and forth between Van and Jett and between Tatum and Journey. I like the name Jett better, but I love the names Van Hall together, but really, how many times am are we going to call him by his first and last name? :D I just like Journey better because the girls' names both end in the -e sound, and I didn't want her feeling left out. ;) Mike really likes Nevaeh, and it's okay for me, but I like Journey better. I can't understand how people don't know their kids' names till they deliver them. I mean, it's not a bad thing, we've just always had our kids' names picked out within the first few months. :) I'm excited to find out what we're having...I can't wait to start shopping for baby stuff again!!

My cravings have been all over the place. Barbecue, toaster strudels, spinach and artichoke dip w/chips. Oh man. Just thinking about that makes my mouth water. I love to eat! Seriously! And I feel like it's all I've been doing, but luckily it's not showing up on the scale here at home. I still don't have morning sickness, although I do still have a headache pretty much all day. I'm still waiting for it to kick in, and if it doesn't, I will be completely surprised. And happy.

Week 7: Blueberry

Baby's brain -- both hemispheres! -- is growing fast, generating about 100 new cells every minute. Arms and legs are emerging as joints start to form, and a permanent set of kidneys (baby's third!) is now in place.

Still no morning sickness!! It's good, but it also makes me a little concerned. I know that having morning sickness is a sign that your pregnancy is going well. I realize that not having it doesn't mean that something is wrong, but you know how your mind wanders...

Mike and I had a fabulous weekend! My mom came to our house and stayed the night on Friday so that Mike and I could stay at a hotel Friday night and go to a marriage conference on Saturday at our church. Our hotel was super nice, and it was so relaxing not having to worry about who to feed and who to bathe and what fight to break up. My mom is so wonderful! I don't know what I would do without her! She offered to pay for our hotel, but there is no way I could let her...I mean staying with our kids is definitely enough! :) The marriage conference on Saturday was amazing! It was a live simulcast from Focus on the Family featuring so many great speakers...Gary Smalley, John Trent, Beth Moore (who doesn't love her?), Gary Thomas, and Dell Tackett. Jeremy Camp was the worship leader. It was so good!!! I took so much away from it, and my prayer is that our marriage will continue to thrive with God at the center!

One of the things we had to do while we were there was to get in groups of 3 with people whom we had never met before, and pretty much tell them our whole life story. Mike said that one of the guys he was with had been married for about 5 months, and his wife had a 5 year old from a previous marriage and he was having a hard time trying to have a relationship with this kid, and it was hurting his marriage. He said that he got a text on his phone from Focus on the Family about the marriage seminar and they decided to go. He also said that he had never stepped foot inside a church before, and after being there and listening to the speakers, he and his wife had decided to come to church the next day. On Sunday, during the alter call, we were singing and Mike pointed out a guy walking down the isle and said that it was that guy he had met the day before! I just though I'd share that, because it encouraged me so much! God is so amazing!!!