24 Week Survey & 6 Month Belly Picture

How far along? 24 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I'll find out at the doctor's today.

Sleep: I've slept amazing this past week. Now that I'm back to school I am exhausted when I get home! I've slept between 9-11 hours every night, without laying awake, I'm in heaven!

Food cravings: Nothing

Best moment this week: Getting to hear the heartbeat this afternoon will make my week!

Movement: Every day and loving it!

Gender: WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Not a darn thing

What I am looking forward to: Our appointment today and getting to hear our little girl's heartbeat.

Weekly Wisdom: Kegel, kegel, kegel

Milestones: Reaching the viability mark, Baby King would have a good chance of living outside the womb now!

6 months pregnant (that is SO crazy to write, I can hardly believe it!)



And the comparison... I TOLD you this baby girl has grown like crazy the last 4 weeks!

24 Weeks

(Still rocking the papaya)

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.


He will continue to gain weight in muscles, developing organs and the deposit of brown fat. The purpose of the brown fat is to retain body heat. Newborns are notoriously bad at regulating body temperature at first. This is particularly a problem for a baby born early. Changes are occurring in lung development so some babies are able to survive (with intensive care services) if born today. Surviving babies may have disabilities and require long-term intensive care. A good estimate is that a baby born now would usually stay in the NICU until their official due date.

ramblings

I've had so many thoughts going through my head lately, and yet I struggle to wrap them up into a thoughtful blog. So tonight I choose to ramble, don't say I didn't warn you.

*I can't believe how I constantly think of all of my real life friends, and online friends who are still dealing with infertility. There is something about being pregnant after dealing with infertility that leaves me longing so badly for the rest of the "infertile crew" to have this same opportunity. I have a friend that recently suffered another miscarriage and I think of her and her husband ALL of the time. I am SO grateful for the precious baby girl in my stomach, but I still ache for the others who have yet to experience this.

*Is it weird that I still can't believe I'm pregnant?!? I was asked by a few parents at school this week when my baby is due and I stood in awe that a)I'm actually pregnant and b)my belly looks pregnant enough for them to ask without knowing that I actually am pregnant. I thank God for this baby every day but I am still so amazed that I truly am pregnant.

*Exactly one year ago this week we learned that we were miscarrying our first baby. It was the hardest week of my life and I learned what a phenomenal husband and friends and family I had. I remember sitting in our church's annual "special" service that is held on the campus of our local college, and watching cardboard testimonials go across the stage. Basically music is played, and then people put a sentence about their life struggles on a piece of cardboard and walk across the stage. I had JUST began passing the baby the night before we attended this service. About 3 people into the series there was a young couple that held a piece of cardboard together, when they flipped it over it said something like "4 years trying to conceive, 3 miscarriages, learning to trust God". I lost it. I sat next to my mom on one side and Matt on the other and I cried uncontrollably. My shoulders shook and tears flowed. My mom handed me a napkin from her purse, and before I could look up she was grabbing one for herself too. That was such a hard time for me. It is unbelievable to think that one year later I will be sitting in that same service on campus again this coming weekend and instead of being heartbroken, my heart is full to the rim.


*I am in awe and in love with feeling the baby move and kick. It is absolutely the most phenomenal feeling in the world. I find myself with a grin from ear to ear and sometimes even giggling when she starts to kick like crazy. I am so in love with this little being inside of me, I already feel like the love I have for her is spilling over, I don't think I can even begin to imagine how much more I will love this little girl once she is here.

*Worry. Need I really say more? I worry SO MUCH about our baby. For example, today I have been having pains down the side of my stomach towards my pelvis, which has me worried like crazy. The rational side of my brains knows its almost certainly ligament pain from my uterus growing. The irrational (and louder side of my brain) thinks the worst: surely something has happened to the baby and my body is trying to contract and expel it. Sick, I know. I just can't stop worrying. And tonight, of course, I have not felt her move. I put those two facts together and I turn into a ball of worry. I wouldn't change being pregnant for anything, but I would LOVE to not have all of this worry constantly hanging over me. I don't know if it's my personality to worry, a side effect of infertility, something that will always hang with me because we have previously lost a baby, or a mix of all of the above....sigh... I hope this will be better when she is here, but I'm thinking it will only be worse, right?

And on a closing note, a letter to our babe:
Dear Baby King,
Your daddy and I love you SO incredibly much! I think about you all day long, and dream of what you will look like and act like. I hope you will have your daddy's straight, perfect teeth, and his perfect little giggle. But I hope you get my blue eyes, your daddy's eyes are a mushy brown color. I love you with my whole heart. Keep growing and kicking so your mommy doesn't have to worry so darn much about you.

Love,
Your Mommy

23 Week Survey

How far along? 23 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Being home and not eating 24/7, and being outside in the ridiculous heat, I lost a pound this past week. Total of +1 from conception.

Sleep: I've slept ok this past week. I think the thought of going back to work yesterday, selling our house, etc has kept me up a lot during the night. I'm usually awake for several hours in the middle of the night.

Food cravings: Nothing

Best moment this week: Starting back to work yesterday and having everyone talk about my baby bump.

Movement: Every day and loving it!

Gender: WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In, and I'm thinking it might stay that way.

What I miss: Not a darn thing

What I am looking forward to: Reaching the 3rd trimester, about 2 to 5 more weeks (depending on which book/dr you go by).

Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy your spouse, your time alone together will soon be different.

Milestones: Starting back to work and not falling asleep by noon!

23 Weeks

(Fruit pictures are now for the entire month, so baby King is still a papaya)

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 (about as much as a large mango), 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.

The body of your baby is getting plumper but his skin is still fairly wrinkled due to the lack of subcutaneous fat. He's starting to drink the amniotic fluid he's floating in, and his digestive system is mature enough to absorb nutrients. Not only is your baby starting to drink and taste, but all of his sensory systems are maturing as well. Your baby's face and body is looking more and more like those of an infant.

Babymoon

Matt and I had an amazing time in Tennessee this past week on our babymoon! We laughed at the stupidest things, made ridiculous jokes, and talked to our baby girl like it was our job. It was a relaxing vacation, and exactly what we needed amidst the chaos of selling our house, choosing floor plans for a new house, and preparing for this baby girl.

We headed out Friday afternoon and were met by this lovely storm:

I was SO freaked out by the fact that we couldn't really see the road, but my chauffeur (he drove the entire 26 hour round trip) did a good job of giving me food and keeping me calm. =)

We stopped in Louisville, Kentucky Friday night and then headed on to our cabin in the Smoky Mountains Saturday morning. Here is our beautiful cabin!

The "great room", with pool table that Matt LOVED!



The view from our back deck, which dropped off below our deck and overlooked the mountains, so pretty.


We had a friend show up about 5 minutes after we arrived at the cabin. Meow-meow as we called him, was our little black cat that greeted us in the driveway every time we came back, and sat on our back deck and looked in our windows whenever we were inside. Matt wouldn't let me feed him the first day because he said he would never leave us alone, but after he didn't leave us alone anyway, he caved and I was free to feed meow-meow all I wanted. He LOVED my treats. He ate til his little heart was content and then would pass out on the deck, he was so cute (and he helped me get through my anxiety from leaving my two babies back home with Grandma). I know, pathetic. =)

Meet Meow-meow:



The second day we were there we headed to Dollywood, which is basically Dolly Parton's version of disneyworld, on a smaller scale of course. Some friends of ours hooked us up with free tickets so we were pretty pleased about that! The day we went it was 96 degrees and ridiculously humid, so it was a bit rough going for this pregnant girl, but it was still neat to see.
Here we are at Dollywood dying of heat:


It was SO weird to not be able to do hardly any of the rides at Dollywood. Don't get me wrong, I'll take being pregnant over roller coasters any day, but it was so weird to not be ABLE to go on anything, instead of just choosing not to go on them.

Matt got in on a little basketball action at Dollywood, he did great and had all the little kids lined up after him to give it a go.

After Dollywood we headed to the Dollywood water park, where once again I couldn't do much, but I did find an awesome lazy river. The water was a much needed relief from the heat!


The last day we were in Tennessee we headed through the Smoky Mountain National Park, it was beautiful!! The trees were so pretty, the mountains were amazing, and the views were spectacular!



Another bonus of this trip, feeling our baby girl kick some monstrous kicks! She has gotten so much stronger in the past few weeks. Matt was able to feel one of her huge kicks and got quite a laugh out of it. I'm loving feeling her move every day now!

I'm so glad that we had a chance to get away for 5 days together, relax and enjoy all that we are so thankful for right now. Now onto the start of school, eeek- I go back Monday!, selling our house, finalizing plans for our new house, and of course getting ready to welcome this little princess into our lives!

22 Week Survey

How far along? 22 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: Thanks to a wonderful babymoon vacation, I have now officially gained =( Up 5 lbs in the last two weeks, told you my stomach has been growing like a weed!!! Total of +2 from conception.

Sleep: I've slept great lately, that is until I wake up with a mouth full of vomit/vile/nastiness. I'm assuming it's heartburn kicking into full force, not sure though.

Food cravings: I was really into french fries while on our drive to Tennessee this past week.

Best moment this week: Getting away on an awesome babymoon vacation and having time to do nothing but enjoy each other and laugh A LOT! And the fact that I think I finally look unmistakably pregnant.

Movement: I am feeling kicks and movement every day now, I love it!

Gender: WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In, and I'm thinking it might stay that way.

What I miss: Not a darn thing

What I am looking forward to: Reaching the "24 week viability" milestone. At 24 weeks the baby has a greater than 50% chance of living if she were to need to be born.

Weekly Wisdom: Nothing, didn't really talk to anyone this week, except for Matt of course. =)

Milestones: Only 2 more weeks until I'm in the 3rd trimester, that is SO unbelievable!!!

22 Weeks: papaya (month 5, weeks 21-24)

At 11 inches and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Your baby is getting bigger and his brain begins a rapid growth process now. The fetus has fully formed fingerprints and loud noise can wake up the baby. He may begin kicking and turning around, too. Your baby's heartbeat can be heard with a stethoscope. His nose is taking on a more defined shape as cartilage (the soft bone) appears.

House for sale! (We are nuts, I know)

So we officially put our house up for sale yesterday! I know, we are nuts. Our hope is to sell our house quickly, build (we are building modular) by December, and welcome our little girl in December too.

And in case there is anyone in the local area that might know someone looking for a completely updated 5 bedroom house, here are the stats. You can have them email us at the email on the right, or leave a comment on here. Thanks friends!

• 2,530 finished square feet
• 3 car garage
• 5 Bedrooms– 4 bedrooms on upper level and 5th bedroom studded in basement with egress
• 1/2 Acre spacious lot in quiet, family-friendly neighborhood
• 1 ½ bathrooms in addition to shower & sink in basement
• Large master bedroom with walk-in closet
• Large formal dining room
• Updated bathroom with rainfall shower, tile & river rock flooring
• New siding, shingles, gutters, high-efficiency furnace, refrigerator, stove, washer & dryer
• Large living room with 12ft. ceiling
• Family room with ½ bath
• Spacious eat-in, updated kitchen with island

Backyard


Front of the house


Family Room



Master Bedroom


Living Room


Kitchen

21 Week Survey

How far along? 21 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: We have had a crazy week (more info to come soon hopefully- no worries, no baby related) so I haven't even THOUGHT of getting on the scale, oh well. However, I literally feel like my stomach grew every single day this week, so I'm sure some weight gain came with that.

Sleep: I've slept okay this week, some nights straight through, some awake for a while.

Food cravings: Nothing at all. It has been over 100 degrees with the heat index so eating is not appealing.

Best moment this week: MATT FELT THE BABY MOVE ON SATURDAY!!! I had been waiting for this, it was so cool to see his face when he felt her "booty bump" as I call it.

Movement: I am feeling kicks and movement every day now, I love it!

Gender: WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In (I would LOVE for it to pop out any day so I actually feel like I look pregnant)

What I miss: Not being out of breath so easily

What I am looking forward to: Our last vacation (for a long time anyway) with just Matt and I. We leave soon so I'm getting excited to relax.

Weekly Wisdom: If you can't feel the baby moving, drink orange juice and lay down.

Milestones: Matt feeling the baby move, and finally believing that I look pregnant. I kid you not, this has been a HUGE growing week for my belly!

21 Weeks: banana

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. 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.

Your baby is still pretty active and continues to move all over in the amniotic fluid. However, towards the end of this trimester the baby will begin to settle, usually in a head down position. The hair on his scalp is much more visible. He wakes and sleeps in regular intervals, similar to what a newborn would do. This may be apparent to you by his movement patterns. He regularly ingests and absorbs large quantities of the amniotic fluid and excretes urine.

A few of my favorite things

The past few months have kept Matt and I quite busy as far as photography goes. We have had some really awesome families, babies, and kids to photograph. I thought I'd share just a few of my favorite photos from the last month or so. Head over to my other blog, www.baileykingphotography.blogspot.com to see more.

Isaiah's 6 month pictures:



Clark family photos:





Burkle Twins' 5 month photos:



Duncan twins' newborn photos:

20 Week Survey & 5 month belly picture

How far along? 20 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: -3 lbs (on our home scale), +2 lbs at the doctors office

Sleep: I've slept really well this week. I got a crazy rash (turned out to be a virus) on my arms so my doctor had me taking benadryl which made me sleep through the night for THREE NIGHTS in a row!! Amazing!

Food cravings: BLT's, more specifically- bacon!

Best moment this week: SEEING OUR BABY GIRL ON MONDAY!!!!

Movement: I am feeling kicks and movement just about every day now, I love it!

Gender: WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? In (I would LOVE for it to pop out any day so I actually feel like I look pregnant)

What I miss: Not being out of breath so easily

What I am looking forward to: Feeling more and more movement and shopping on our babymoon at the outlet malls for girl's clothes!

Weekly Wisdom: Boy or girl, you just want healthy.

Milestones: Finding out the gender of our babe and reaching the 1/2 way point, I can't believe how fast this has all gone!

5 month belly picture

THE BIG ULTRASOUND!!!

We just got home from our big 20 week ultrasound. To say it was amazing is an understatement. I've loved all of our other ultrasounds, but the one today was beyond words. To see every feature of OUR BABY, and to see the movements, and expressions, the thumb sucking... I was totally in awe.

And since I know that none of you really care what I thought of the ultrasound, you just want to know the gender, I'll get on with the news.

Matt and I are proud to announce that...




WE





ARE





HAVING





A





GIRL!!!!!


WE ARE THRILLED!! I'll write more later when I can get my thoughts straight. For now, meet baby girl King!


20 Week Ultrasound Pictures:

all girl


our little princess


already sucking her thumb!


I think we're in love!





And, our first purchases after we found out:

20 weeks: cantaloupe

Over the last four weeks, your baby has grown an incredible amount, and has just about quadrupled his weight. He's big enough that you should be feeling fluttering or quickening quite regularly now. In fact, from his movements you may be able to tell if your baby is awake or asleep. Your baby is anywhere from 8 to 10 inches long (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe)and weighs 10-11oz.

Your baby has started to practice breathing motions, even though his lungs are not yet mature enough to breathe enough air to allow him to survive outside your body. Your baby's ears are fully functional now and he enjoys the sound of uterine noise. All the organs and structures of your baby's body are formed and your baby is now entering a period of simple growth. And you may be getting ready to be a grandma already: if your baby is a girl, her uterus is beginning to develop!

In other news... WE FIND OUT THE GENDER TOMORROW!!! I can't even wait!!!!! Only about 30 more hours!