Oh boy!!! :-)

Say hello to our son! I was 18 weeks pregnant when these were taken, which was last week. Sandy and I are very excited to know we have a boy on the way! I knew it had to be, because I've had 4 baby boy dreams, rapid hair growth (especially whiskers on my chin) and horrible indigestion.

Baby boy dreams:

1) Rachel and I were watching our babies crawl on the floor. She picked up her son and I picked up mine, but didn't know it was a boy until I saw his face.

2) I was driving and breastfeeding. As I tried to steer, my son, at first an infant, grew suddenly into a toddler, and then into a child. His feet were almost touching the door of the passenger side!

3) I was at home, watching tv, and every time I glanced down from the tv to my baby, I saw my son's face, but it changed. The last time I looked down, it was a black baby with a tiny afro!

4) It was like a baby shower, but I had already delivered the baby. I wasn't in the hospital; more like a community room reserved for a party. Sandy was watching a tv on the wall and I kept asking him the weight and how long the baby was. Sandy said "oh, he was.. 7 lbs and something.. he was long.. um..."

5) I was in a mall somewhere and had to go to the bathroom, and my son was in the car seat. I left him in the middle of a hallway and went to go use the bathroom, and came running back, freaking out that I forgot my son somewhere!

Now, onto the abundance of blue and trying to figure out what to name our son! We have a name in mind... But we're not going to announce it until we're absolutely sure we're sticking with that name.

19 weeks today.

Week 19
(counting from first day of last menstrual period)
Around 17 Weeks After Conception

Please keep in mind that this information is approximate. Each pregnancy is different and growth rates vary. If you have any questions, please check with your care provider.

Fetal Development:

Along with the lanugo, vernix caseosa forms on your baby'sskin. Vernix is a white cheesy substance that protects your baby's skin from its aquatic environment ~ imagine how your skin would look if you sat in water for nine months! The placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby. Multiples: If you're expecting twins, you're probably half-way there already! Check our Multiples Cubby for more information on the duration of multiples pregnancies.

Maternal Changes:

You may be noticing several skin changes. These are hormone-related and will disappear after delivery. You may have the "mask of pregnancy" - blotchy patches on your forehead, cheeks, nose and chin. Itchy skin is also very common. Your skin may be dry and flaky in certain areas and many pregnant women develop rashes, particularly on the stretched skin. You can't prevent stretch marks but lotions or oil can ease the dryness and itching.Drinking lots of water and eating a healthy diet will go a long way in reducing dryness.

Ideas for Dad:

You've felt your baby move within Mom's womb, and BLAM! It hits you like a ton of bricks - YOU'RE GOING TO BE A FATHER! You're excited and then terrified. You may be questioning yourself as to whether you're ready to be a father or whether you'll be a good dad. If you didn't have a good role model as a child, you may be even more concerned. You may be wondering if you can take care of a family or if you can provide for one. This one little kick can open a Pandora's Box that you weren't prepared to handle. If you find yourself preoccupied with such thoughts, don't worry. You're experiencing a normal reaction to impending fatherhood. Mom is probably having similar thoughts about herself in her role as mother. Go ahead and discuss these feelings with Mom. Read up on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. And - give yourself a break when you need one. The fact that you're here reading this already says a lot about the kind of parent you'll be! Books for dad . . . The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-To-Be by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash Fathering Right from the Start: Straight Talk About Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond by Jack Heinowitz

Inspirational Thoughts:

Babies are such a nice way to start people. ~Don Herold

17 and 18 months

Week 17
(counting from first day of last menstrual period)
Around 15 Weeks After Conception

Please keep in mind that this information is approximate. Each pregnancy is different and growth rates vary. If you have any questions, please check with your care provider.

Fetal Development:

This is a period of rapid growth as the fat begins to form underneath the baby's skin. Baby and placenta are about equal in size now. The tiny heart is pumping as much as 25 quarts of blood a day! The reflexes are probably in place now as the baby sucks, swallows and blinks. Maternal Changes: Your uterus is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches below your belly button. The baby is going through a growth spurt and chances are, you may be gaining too! Average weight gain is between five and ten pounds at this point.

Have you felt any fluttering in your uterus? You may be feeling your baby move any time now if you haven't already!

Ideas for Dad:

Mom may be feeling the baby moving within her but you may not be able to yet. She may yell for you to quickly put your hand on her tummy, but you feel nothing. Don't worry - the baby has nothing against you. They play games very early! Humor mom, place your hand on her tummy and one of these days, you'll feel your little one - and your heart will be stolen forever.

Inspirational Thoughts:1

What's done to children, they will do to society. ~Karl Menninger 16 weeks 17 weeks 17 weeks 18 weeks Week 18 (counting from first day of last menstrual period) Around 16 Weeks After Conception Please keep in mind that this information is approximate. Each pregnancy is different and growth rates vary. If you have any questions, please check with your care provider. Fetal Development: Our little one is nearly half a pound now and very human looking. Pads are forming on the fingertips and toes, and the eyes are looking forward rather than out the sides of the head. Meconium, the baby's first bowel movement, is accumulating within the bowel. If your baby is a boy, his prostate gland is beginning to develop. If you notice your belly making jerky movements in sync, don't panic; your baby may have the hiccups! Maternal Changes: Feeling dizzy, lightheaded or faint are normal during pregnancy. These symptoms aren't harmful unless they occur frequently or severely. "Postural hypotension" is low blood pressure due to a change in position and happens frequently in pregnancy because your cardiovascular system doesn't react as fast. Your uterus is just below your belly button now. If you're having an ultrasound to verify fetal age or for other reasons, your careprovider will probably schedule it between now and 20 weeks. It's often possible to determine your baby's sex at this stage, and you'll be able to tell arms from legs and all sorts of delightful details! Ideas for Dad: Are you a "Mr. Fix-It" kind of guy? It's common for dads to feel very protective of moms. Often, Mom will need a big shoulder to cry on and get out all of those crazy pregnancy emotions. Dad can feel rather helpless listening to Mom carry on, and in his frustration, try to do what he can to "fix" whatever she's grumbling about. Dad, relax. Nine times out of ten, Mom just needs to vent and really doesn't expect you to act upon her complaints. As hard as it may be for you, just LISTEN! Give her your undivided attention. This is the best gift you can give to Mom. Inspirational Thoughts: If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much. ~Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

4 months

Week 15
(counting from first day of last menstrual period)
Around 13 Weeks After Conception

Please keep in mind that this information is approximate. Each pregnancy is different and growth rates vary. If you have any questions, please check with your care provider.

Fetal Development:

If you have an ultrasound now, you may notice your baby sucking his/her thumb. The bones are getting harder each day. The baby's skin is very thin and transparent; you can see blood vessels through the skin. Lanugo, a very fine hair, covers the body and will continue growing on the baby until around the 26th gestational week ofpregnancy. Maternal Changes: Your uterus will begin rising past your hipbones any time now. You can feel it about three to four inches below your navel. During your appointments, your care provider will be measuring "fundal height" to make sure your baby is growing consistently and adequately. Fundal height is the distance from the top of the uterus (fundus) to the pubic bone.

Boy or Girl? Should We Find Out?

If you have an ultrasound in the next few weeks, the technician may be able to make an "educated guess" at the gender of your baby. (Keep in mind, gender determination via ultrasound is not 100% reliable and is only as good as the person doing the scan.) If you have an amniocentesis, gender can be reliably determined via the chromosomes. Neither of these tests are performed (or should be performed) just to find out the baby's sex. If your care provider recommends these tests for various reasons, ask yourself if you really want to know your baby's gender. The majority of parents nowadays do want to know, but if you love a special surprise, it's perfectly okay to tell the tech/care provider that you do NOT want to know the gender. Read what other StorkNet readers said about this

Ideas for Dad:

Make sure you hug mom often. Research tells us that the more hugs mom gets, the more she'll hug the baby (and you too)! Week 16 (counting from first day of last menstrual period) Around 14 Weeks After Conception Please keep in mind that this information is approximate. Each pregnancy is different and growth rates vary. If you have any questions, please check with your care provider. Fetal Development: If you haven't already, you may begin to feel movement as the baby's bones harden. If you are somewhat overweight, have a thick uterus, and/or if this is your first pregnancy, you may not be feeling baby yet or feeling baby regularly. Don't panic! You will soon. The legs are now longer than the arms, and s/he is moving those arms and legs frequently, especially since there's still lots of room to move within the uterus. Fingernails and toenails are growing too. In fact, some babies need their nails clipped right after birth! Multiples: Each twin is about 4 inches and 120 grams! Maternal Changes: Do you have a stuffy nose or nosebleeds? As mentioned before, your blood volume increases 40% - 50%. This affects yourestrogen levels which in turn swells your nasal membranes. This increased blood volume also causes your heart to work harder to support your pregnancy. This isn't a problem for a healthy heart. Your ligaments continue to stretch, and you may be feeling achiness and pain in your abdomen. If you're planning to have anamniocentesis, it may be scheduled between 16 and 18 weeks. Multiples: Breast tenderness has probably subsided along with the nausea. Your waistline is definitely a thing of the past, and your feet may be swelling by the end of the day. Ideas for Dad: Dad, do you have a life insurance policy and a will? It may sound morbid to think about now but this is a perfect time to get both. If something should happen to either of your baby's parents, the other shouldn't have to worry about mortgage payments, college tuition, etc. Inspirational Thoughts: I imagine the moment of quickening as a sudden awakening of my own being, which never before had life. ~Evelyn Scott Your heart continues to increase the blood volume output to supply the baby with oxygen. Your enlarged heart is pumping about 20 percent more blood than it did before you were pregnant. This volume will actually continue to increase throughout your pregnancy and will result in an increased heart output of 30-50 percent by the time of delivery. However, this increase in blood volume may lead to a stuffy nose or even nose bleeds on occasion. As your blood volume increases it affects your estrogen level, and that leads to swelling of the nasal membranes, resulting in the stuffy nose or nosebleeds. I became 15 weeks on September 29th, 2030 and 16 weeks (4 months) pregnant on October 6, 2010. So I thought the morning sickness would of gone away by now, and for the most part, it has. But I throw up frequently, especially late at night and after I've eaten certain foods that my body just does not want in there anymore. I am feeling movement, and it's so exciting!! I describe it to my friends as a mild cramp, where it doesn't hurt, but just slight pressure in certain areas around my abdomen. BUT there are some moments where it feels like a sharp jab and makes me stop what I'm doing and put my hand there to comfort myself. When I become 18 weeks, we will go for another sonagram to find out the gender of the baby. So far, things are going great. I haven't been keeping up with knitting the baby blanket. I'm so tired most of the time. I can easily sleep all day. In other news, I just wanted to say, when women become pregnant, most people think "oh your life is over, you're going to have so much responsibility, what are you going to do about money?" Well. Things are working out in our favor. Sandy passed his GED so this means when he gets his diploma he can look for a better job, I can keep my lifeguard job (working at a table by the stairs to prevent people from sneaking into the aquatics venue) for as long as I want, a tenant living in the add-on apartment in the house Sandy and I rent a room from is being evicted so we get to move in there as soon as she leaves (and for the same cost as the rent we pay now! $700/m), AAAAAND Sandy bought a car a couple days ago! It's an '88 Dodge Aries, an old hoopdy, but it runs and it's 4-door so it'll be easy to get a car seat in and out of. This helps so much because if I'm working and he has the kid, he can just run him/her to my parents so they can watch the baby until I get off work and can pick him/her up. I'm covered by state insurance, so I get free medical visits and free dental (which I need to do ASAP because a couple teeth are bothering me). The insurance I have (Amerigroup) also covers the hospital bill for delivery, which can run over $6,000! Everything is falling into place and I'm no longer nervous about anything! I am fully supported by my friends and family, and cannot wait to have everyone meet this baby. I love him or her so much already.