Justin's favorite

Justin just loves mango's, so I thought I'd post this weeks 'fruit' comparison (a day early).

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

We went to our first child-birthing class last night. I decided that I'm really going to like it. It's called the Bradley Method, and it focuses on natural child birth.

The Bradley Method of natural childbirth (also known as "husband-coached childbirth") is a method of natural childbirth created by Dr. Robert A. Bradley (1917–1998) and popularized by his book Husband-Coached Childbirth. Teachers of the Bradley Method believe that with adequate preparation and education along with help from a loving, supportive coach, most women can give birth naturally - without drugs or surgery. The Bradley Method emphasizes measures that can be taken to stay healthy and low-risk to help avoid complications that may lead to medical intervention.
The primary goal of the Bradley Method is healthy mothers and healthy babies. The method holds that in most circumstances, a natural childbirth (drug free) is the best way to achieve that goal. Over 86% (over 95% in Utah) of Bradley moms having vaginal births do so without drugs. The classes teach nutrition, relaxation and natural breathing as pain management techniques, and active participation of the husband as coach. Parents-to-be are taught to be consumers of birth services and to take responsibility to make informed decisions regarding procedures, attendants and the birth place.

Last night we did a quick overview of nutrition and exercise routines and some relaxation techniques. We actually have to track what we eat each week (which I'm looking forward to) and increase whatever exercise time's we were doing before class started. I think we both liked the instructor (which is good, since we're spending one evening a week with her for the next 3 months).

First Photo Shoot

I finally scanned the ultra-sound pictures from a few weeks ago.

Enjoy.

Jane verses John

I absolutely love not knowing whether we're having a boy or a girl. I think the hardest part was finding baby bedding, but I think I would have tried to get gender-neutral bedding anyway. (It's not going to wear out before baby #2, and it'll be nice to not have to change anything.)

It still surprises me that people are so opinionated about us not finding out (even people that don't know me very well). Some (mostly older people) think it's great, and others... well, others seem genuinely angry or annoyed that we want it to be a surprise. (A surprise with 9-months worth of anticipation, not 20 weeks.)

I also really like it when people guess what we're having. Most of my family think it's going to be a boy (Jodi and Jessica admitted that they want it to be a boy to find out the boys name). My dentist looked into my eyes (the bottom of my eyeballs) and said it was going to be a boy too. I know there are lot of other 'tricks' that I'm sure I'll be a part of to figure out what we're having.

I've been leaning towards boy... until last night. My saw my esthetician (she does my eyebrows) last night and I asked her if she'd find out for me. Jan is awesome when it comes to 'listening' to your body, she's figured out quite a few amazing things about me and my body before any doctor could help out. I've learned a lot of 'alternative' or eastern remedies to help with chronic issues from her. Anyway, after she made my eyebrows look beautiful, she got really close to my belly and 'listened' to the baby. I asked her what I'm having, she wasn't going to tell me, but when I was scheduling my next appointment she let me know that I'm having a girl.

It's still anybody's guess (or anybodys multiple guesses on our poll), if anyone else wants to preform any other 'tests' on my belly to figure out, you're more than welcome.

You must like loud noises

Well, baby... you went to your first concert last night. Justin and I went with his parents and brother and sister-in-law to see John Mayer at USANA amphitheatre. (Don't worry if you don't know who that is, I'm sure he won't still be relative when you can read this.) But... we were quite close to the stage and his base and drums were quite loud. I felt every beat in my chest, so I'm sure you were too. In fact, Justin got a little worried and tried standing in front of my (and my ever-increasing belly) to block out some of the sound. You didn't move an inch -at least enough for me to feel you.

And, I have been feeling you move around a bit. I was doing paperwork most of the day yesterday at work, and everytime I'd squish my stomach a bit sitting at the computer, you'd let me know you didn't like it very much. I feel you a lot in the early evening if I'm just sitting around. Justin is pretty sure he felt something on Sunday... but he wasn't quite sure.

In other news... I went to my first prenatal water aerobics class last night. It was great. I will hopefully get there at least once or twice a week, it was a really good work-out and I think we both enjoyed it.

What's up doc?

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Midweek update

I've been wanting to post with all of our ultrasound pictures, but we haven't got them scanned yet, and Justin just left town. So, it won't happen this week.

The ultrasound was fun on Thursday (July 10th to be exact). Not emotional, but really neat. It was weird seeing the baby on the screen, but it didn't really feel like it was our baby. We've seen so many ultrasound photos that it still didn't seem real. When she started making the baby move around, or we saw the baby react to what the tech was doing, it was pretty cool and seemed a little more real then.

I wondered if it would be hard to NOT see whether it was a boy or a girl, or whether I would really want to know. Turns out we didn't see ANYTHING that resembled... anything, and we didn't seem to NOT see it either. So, it remains a mystery. I didn't have any desire to know. I felt so relieved that the baby was growing, all 4 heart chambers were working properly and everything was coming along fine, that I really felt like it wasn't the right time to know what he or she was anyway. I'm not sure I'll feel that way with other pregnancy's, but this one is really fun not knowing.

I'll add the one photo that we do have on the computer (it happens to be one taken from Justin's cell phone) and hopefully add the rest a little later.

In other news... I am finally feeling the baby move every now and then. I have to be sitting pretty still (which doesn't happen too often) and I'm still not sure every movement is coming from the baby, but he's in there (or is it she?).

Justin's is anxiously looking forward to the time that he can start feeling little kicks, but it hasn't stopped him from trying.

That can't be comfortable

Well... I may have felt the baby move last night. I'm not quite sure though. I was laying in bed reading and I had my hand on my stomach and felt (from the inside) a bubbley type feeling from my uterus. Hmmm... maybe it was just gas.

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, taking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you. Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.