17 Weeks

This week our baby went from the size of an avocado to an onion. (Source.) Baby Brez is just over 5 inches long, which is the size of an aluminum soda can or the size of a keeper Maryland Blue crab. 

Linking up with FLAP like you know I do! Shirt is a new fave from Target. Gap jeans. Blanqi undershirt. Red Toms Pope (Emeritus) Shoes (not pictured). Fashionable hair style is c/o the Florida humidity.

I must mention quickly that the next 40 Days for Life campaign is coming up (September 25 to November 3)! Find out if your parish is doing anything and SIGN UP! Being that we should be moving soon (!!!), Will and I signed up for one hour of prayer one day per week during the duration of the campaign. It's that easy. Join us!

Stepping down from the soapbox all smooth to talk business . . .

Overall Weight Gain: ~9-10 lbs. This ship is sailing steady.

Exercise: I had an uptick of fatigue symptoms again this week, but I met my goal with three gym workouts. Sticking with my elliptical, planks, dumbbell arm workout, and squat routine. Also a lot of long walks with the dogs. 

Cravings: Cookies 'n' cream milkshakes every night this week. Not sorry.

This Week's Highlights:

• Our brand new nephew, Titus, arrived this past week! Can't wait to go meet him!

• At our 16 week appointment, our due date was pushed up four days to February 19, based on our first dating ultrasound around 9 weeks and current fundal height measurements. (We're coming for you Shannon!) My big ol' uterus was measuring more like 17-18 weeks. I had an AFP blood test so we decided it was important for the dating to be correct, particularly if we were further along than suspected. (The higher the protein amount, the further along you should be. If it's too high, it's a red flag.) I was on Clomid and wasn't charting so I won't argue. 

• Baby's heart rate was "140s-150s." As you can see, we keep things very accurate around here. At 9 weeks, it was 179, and at our 12 week appointment it was 160. Thus, heart rate mythology points to GIRL.

• Comparing bumps:

Shannon at 18 weeks in our brother's messy bedroom. Don't worry - we get to compare bumps in person next week! I'm due for another Maryland trip. I clearly have crabs on the brain.

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Well, it's that time, folks . . . . .

PINK OR BLUE?

We have an ultrasound tomorrow and our Miami friends are throwing us a gender reveal party later in the week. So we get to see our baby (yay!!) but we don't get to find out the sex right away (no!!!). We'll be asking the ultrasound tech to write down the sex and we'll be dropping it right in the mail en route to our hostess(es) with the mostess(es). It's going to be tough knowing that at least three people know the baby's gender for several days before we get to find out. Between this, Breaking Bad, MPRE results (which should come tomorrow), and base assignment, the suspense kills me! But it will be worth it, of course, for the fun surprise.

Most people are guessing boy, with a couple exceptions:

Me: Boy.
Will: Boy.
Our Midwife: Boy.
Shannon: Girl.
Mom: Boy.
Dad: Boy.
Our Neighbor, "Ricky Smiley": Girl.

Yup. Daisy thinks it's a girl, too. 

Any guesses?