It’s a… (20 weeks)

Decide for yourself:

It’s a…

Please excuse my bare belly.



























BOY!


So, my Intelligender prediction kit was correct!   Oh, and my mommy intuition was also correct!

If you watched the video above, you already know how ecstatic Joe was to find out he’s going to have a son.  He has a very close relationship with his own father and is looking forward to having a great relationship with his son (and daughter, of course).  Now we have the best of both worlds!

Other than finding out the sex of our child, everything else checked out OK during the ultra-sound.  We had an issue finding the left arm because he kept it beneath his head, but he finally moved it in the end and did a little wave. 

Here are some more pictures:

The money shot.


Little baby foot!  I can’t wait to nom on it!


He’s facing the scanner.  You can see his eye sockets (eeeek) and his little chest. 


This is a view from his left.  I labeled the parts since it’s always so hard to make out these photos.

We’ve decided on a name as well (I’m pretty sure).  Joe wants to pass down his name to his son, so this baby is going to be Joseph Bruce <lastname> III.  I’m not sure if we’ll call him Joe, Joseph, Little Joe or some other variation of his name.  Anna has tons of  nicknames, so I’m sure I’ll come up with quite a few for our son.

We are just so very excited and thankful that God has blessed our little family with a daughter and now a son. 

_____________________________________________________

20 weeks…


Here’s where we are this week:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (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.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).




Image and verbiage from babycenter.com


How far along: 20 weeks

Total weight gain: I've gained 10.5 lbs. total (down 2 lbs. from last week - must've been water weight).  It's so odd because I don't remember losing any weight when I was pregnant with Anna (I steadily gained), but I actually feel fatter with this pregnancy.  I thought boys were supposed to make you cute and girls were supposed to steal your beauty.  My skin is glowing, but my ass is growing! 

Sleep habits: Since Anna’s toe disaster, I haven’t really wanted her to sleep in her bed.  Call it mama guilt or insanity, but Anna has been sleeping in our bed the past week.  Which means we get no sleep.  Old habits die hard because my child is still sleeping like this:

And we still have a queen bed.  And two cats.  And I’m less stick-like now.  I also have the inability to sleep late…ever.  Even on weekends when sleeping late is a requirement.  Nope, I’m still up at 6:30 a.m.  Even the roosters are like hell naw. 

Maternity clothes: I finally bit the bullet and bought some new jeans from Target and also a few new tops.  



I also bought some of these maternity leggings from Motherhood.  Oh man, are they comfortable.  However, I can’t help but feel like I’m wearing pantyhose, so it really limits me with the tops I can wear (even though they’re not sheer at all).

 
Since I’m long-waisted, normal tunic-length shirts fit me like regular shirts, so I have to be careful so as to not look like this chick:



I stepped out, for the first time, in boots over jeans and felt OK in them.  I actually sent this photo to my friend Kent (my personal stylist) to make sure I didn’t look like an asshat going out in public.  These are my Target jeans and my new tunic shirt that is supposed to be long.

I did put the other boot on, by the way.  And, yes, my mirror is disgusting.  Welcome to my life.

Best moment of the week:  Finding out about our son, of course!

Food cravings: Baked potatoes are topping my list lately.  So is cheese.  Lots of cheese.  Lots of cheese + being pregnant + prenatal vitamins = hell on earth.  Heed my warning.


Symptoms: Oh my gosh, sciatica is hell on earth.  I never had this with Anna, but my son enjoys tormenting me by sitting low on my ass nerves.  If you look at the video above, you’ll see how low she had to scan to see him.  He likes to hang out on my bladder and my ass nerve all day long.  Move up, son, move up!

Movement:  My son has been a bit quiet lately, so I like to shake my belly to wake him up.  Either that or I just talk – that always seems to get him moving.  I love how he responds to my voice.  It’s downright adorable! 

What I’m looking forward to:  Thanksgiving!  I’m going to attempt to make the Pioneer Woman’s Mashed Potatoes and also Pumpkin Crunch Cake.  We shall see!

What I miss: I miss nothing.

Next appointment: November 28th for my regular monthly appointment.