Welcome week 9!

Hello family & friends!

I think this week's post should be dedicated to my Uncle Wes. He loves martinis with green olives!

So Week 9 began on Friday 7/23! And according to about.com pregnancy & childbirth our baby stats are this:

We have elbows! Your baby is now approximately 13-17 mm crown to rump length, or about 0.51 - 0.66 inches. S/he also weighs in at 1 gram! Toe rays are present as the toes begin to form. Gonads have become testes (for boys) or ovaries (for girls). Baby will move away if touched through the uterine wall, and can spontaneously move as well. Ossification (hardening) of the bones may begin.

And according to thebump.com:

Baby's now the size of a green olive!
Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like...well...a baby!

I don't want to jinx it, but I have been feeling better during the days, recently, the evenings have not been so great. For example, last night I felt horrible and extremely exhausted (although, I could have been recovering from the weekend still). Rob and I went to our friends' wedding in Syracuse. It was a lot of fun, but I am realizing that traveling makes me more tired than normal. And as far as food aversions, I don't really want anything to do with raw meat. Not that I eat raw meat, but it makes it difficult to have supper ready for Rob when he gets home; it's fine once it's cooked, but before then-blah!

I have to say that I am excited that our baby is growing but it's funny to think that I have a little olive in me, especially one that has elbows! People have been asking me "what are you doing to prepare for baby?" And I feel shocked, the baby is not due until late February, so I still have lots of time! And there's really not a lot that I can do yet because I don't have any ideas about a nursery yet! I will admit, I have been looking, but nothing is striking me. Once I go on the road for work, I will have lots of opportunities to "get inspired".

On another note, Rob's gardens are still over-producing (not necessarily a bad thing) but we have more cucumbers, green peppers, zucchinis and green beans than we know what to do with. I am always trying to find creative ways to cook and store them. I told Rob's mom that I feel like a squirrel getting ready for winter! However, the sweet corn is ready (which I'm pretty excited about) and the "little kids" as he still calls them (our nieces & nephews) will begin selling soon. We are having some sweet corn for supper tonight!

And for me on the work front, work is good but busy! We have lots of prospective students and families visiting, of course which is good, but when I'm talking with students and families, I find myself out of breath. I'm hoping this is something that only I'm noticing and that the students and families aren't thinking "what is wrong with this chick?"

Until next week!

We're having a baby!

Greetings family and friends!

As most of you know (I apologize if this is the first time you're hearing of it) Rob & I are having a baby! Rob's family is very excited because they haven't had a baby near them in some time and we have been told that we will have a lot baby sitters! My mom is excited, even though she does not want to be called "Grandma" because she thinks she is too young for that! But we all know she will melt when she looks into the little one's eyes and she will let the baby call her whatever she/he would like! (She's really a softy).

Yesterday, Rob & I went for our first ultrasound for viability & due date. I am due February 25th (so about 8 weeks along), not 10-11 weeks like we previously thought. Much to my dismay because I was really looking forward to week 12 and feeling better! However, I have been lucky and have not had to "throw up" like other women I know, just feeling nauseous pretty much all day long.

At week 8, our baby stats are this (according to about.com: pregnancy & childbirth):

Your baby will be about 8-11 mm (crown to rump) by the end of the week. The baby's hind brain is clearly visible. This week the baby's gonads will become either testes or ovaries. And spontaneous movement begins! There are a lot of things that we do know about life before birth.

Bones and joints this week have many things going on. Elbows appear and the process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins. Toe rays become present, almost ready for you to count!

At the ultrasound they said the heart beat was 168-which is very healthy! We did get to see the flicker of the baby which we were told was the heartbeat. The ultrasound tech also showed me where both of my ovaries are (which wasn't super exciting because what am I going to do about that). I also had to give a large sampling of blood, and I'm not sure if I have much left!

Here is our baby's first picture:

I think that it looks like a little blob, others say it looks like a bean or a peanut. Rob says, "It's a baby" and KNOWS the head is on the right hand side.

I have to say that I'm pretty amazed that this little person is growing inside of me.

On another note, votes for names of the baby are coming in. James (Rob's brother & my brother-in-law) requested that his godson be named James Robert because we have to "keep the name in the family". My Uncle Time sent me a card with a note written in it and throughout the note, he kept saying "Tim is a good name". Don't forget, it could be a girl!

Until next week!