Weeks 15 & 16

Week 15

Baby: Girlfriend is now the size of an orange. She can move her joints and limbs now and she averages at about 2.5 ounces and 4 inches long.

Weight: I am officially up two pounds. We went to the doctor Friday and I weighed in at 102 lbs.

Symptoms: I have felt great this week. I have had the itch to organize all the things, which I go through almost every year during this season so I am not sure that is officially "nesting".

Sleep: I still fall asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow and I haven't even been all that busy these days. I haven't worked on the house much, besides the daily cleaning schedule. I guess I do chase my dogs around every day. We can't seem to keep Griffey in the back yard and he now leaps over the fence like a deer.

Cravings/Aversions: I have been a big fan of the Pillsbury sugar cookies that are out at every holiday. I bought pumpkin ones and devoured them in short of time so I went to the store and they have Christmas ones out!

Clothes: Some of my most favorite sweats pants and pajama pants are getting too tight. I am trying to wait it out because I know the mediums will be so long on my, but I guess I won't be able to wait much longer. I officially had to unbutton my jean pants on the way to work the other day, they were way too tight.

Random: Baby girl is still nameless! But, I kind of love when Cam refers to her as baby girl. He started calling me baby girl not too long ago, but I have all the heart eyes when he calls her that. I have finished out our registery for all the essentials and I am anxious to start receiving and buying all the teeny tiny things! I get  weekly emails from Baby Center and one email was about receiving a breast pump that would be covered by your insurance. I researched it a little bit and decided to go ahead and apply and see what they said. I was approved and just accepted the Medela breast pump start pack and it is supposed to be shipped to us in the coming weeks. I almost forgot! I officially felt the baby move. I am not sure what she was doing, but I was laying in bed one morning deciding if I wanted to get up yet and I felt little twinges on the left part of my stomach.

Doctor's Visit: The doctor visit went will this week. Due to the abnormality in my gene testing Cam had to have his blood tested, but we haven't received those results. As mentioned earlier, I am up two pounds. My blood pressure was normal 114/64.


Week 16

* I sent this to all of the sisters because I was kinda freaking out

Baby: Baby girl is the size of an avocado and Sunday she decided to show herself. I felt so big all day long. Baby girl can hear my voice now and she is growing hair, lashes, and eyebrows! I suspect she will have a lot of hair because Cam and I both came out with tons of dark hair. She is 4.6 inches long and 3.5 ounces.

Weight: This is the same as week 15, still up 2 pounds.

Symptoms: Pregnancy brain is real. I can't seem to remember much of anything if I haven't written it down or put it in my phone. It has been driving me crazing. I am still experience the opposite of glowing skin. I have felt pretty emotional this week. I may have snapped at Cam more than a few times unfortunately and felt the need to cry over the littlest things.

Sleep: Getting up to pee once a night. Some nights this week I was able to stay asleep, but was basically about to burst once morning rolled round. I mostly didn't want to get up because Griffey was still asleep and that pup wears me out letting him out in the night. He thinks he has to go everywhere I go most of the time, which is cute and not so cute at 3 am.

Cravings: Still on a sugar cookie kick. I also can't get enough french fries. When does the craving of healthy fruit kick in?

Clothes: This hasn't changed this week.

Random: I can't wait to feel the baby move more prominently. I also can't wait to see her little face on the ultra sound in a few weeks.

Doctor's Visit: We head back to the doctor in three weeks for the gender scan. We will be able to "officially" see that she is in fact a she. The blood test is 99.9% accurate so I am not expecting any surprises here. I am also anxious to hear that we are clear on all the other blood tests.

Love

In September I started going to Bible Study Fellowship with my mother-in-law Cheryl and mutual friend Melissa. If you are interested in BSF I encourage you to check out their site and read up on their mission. This is my first year going to BSF and my first time ever doing a true in depth study of the bible. Yes, I went to bible study in college, but this study forces you to delve deep into His word. I was and still am intimidated, but every Monday evening I leave with a good feeling and something learned. 

Last Monday was especially convicting. 

The speaker started out the discussion by using an analogy between dogs and people. And if you know anything at all about me it is that I love dogs. 

She went on to say that God wants us to love people. He wants us to love people even more than dogs! I kind of felt my heart sink. 

I often times joke that I like dogs more than most people. Dogs have so many good qualities. They are loyal to the core. Dogs give best bear hugs. They give you unconditional love. They are always there for you. Dogs are always happy. My dogs will be just as excited to see me if I am having the worst day or the best day. They don't care if I come home a hot mess. Dogs do not hold grudges. They do not argue, although they sure can be stubborn. Dogs do not get mad at you for going on a shopping spree. Heck, they don't even get mad at you for being gone all day and leaving them home alone. They look out the window and wag their little tails or bodies like crazy as soon as your car pulls up into the driveway. 

That little statement got me thinking about how much more God wants me to love people. He is not telling me to love dogs less He is just telling me to love people more. 

Jesus showed love to everyone. His love is a lot of the love of dog's that I talked about earlier. He loves no matter what and all the time. 

Y'all, people are hard to love. People can be mean and snarky. People are rude. People can be hateful. 

BUT, if we want to have a heart like Jesus we have to show those people love. 

This is going to be a life long lesson for me, but it is a great reminder. God's people are His treasure. He treasures each of us. What makes us think that we shouldn't treasure each other if He thinks so highly of us? It is just crazy. 

So instead of holding on to my anger or sadness or whatever I may be feeling I am going to try to show people love every time. I am not going to hide my feelings, no I don't think that is what He wants either. He wants us to love despite all the feelings. 

Next time my husband walks in the door I am going to try to be there jumping up and down with my dogs at the door. And I am going to try to show him love when we both have had bad days because sometimes all a person needs it a little pat on the back or scratch of the ear... wait that's just a dog huh? :) 

Weeks 13 & 14

Week 13

Baby:According to my app the baby is now the size of a kiwi. Saturday we found out Baby Mav is a SHE! All of her little organs are developing and the lungs are already practicing breathing.

Weight: I weighed in at 97 one morning this week so I guess I haven't technically gained much of any weight. My friend who happens to be an OBGYN told me my main goals were to sleep and eat because she thinks gaining weight will be one of my issues. I am curious to see how my body changes throughout this pregnancy.

Symptoms: I finally kicked my head cold to the curb and am feeling great. I noticed some stretching or weird tightening in my stomach Saturday while getting ready for the reveal, but that didn't last long. I have felt tiny little flutters and haven't really decided if that is in fact the baby or just my body. I can't wait to feel her kick in there!

Sleep: Sleeping is pretty good. I do find myself being more uncomfortable and of course this will only become more true as time goes on. I just have to move around a lot. I am waking up to pee about twice a night these days, which is the complete opposite of pregnant me. I have noticed that once I wake up to pee I have a hard time falling back asleep. I know those moments of sleep are going to be few and far between in the future so I am trying to enjoy all the times. When I am awake at weird hours in the night I can't help but think about how in the Spring I will be awake with my sweet baby girl and not just my pups.

Cravings/aversions: I am still not a big fan of meat, unless its a bbq rib or fried chicken. My appetite is growing though and I need to head to Walmart to stock up on new snacks and more healthy food. I still haven't had many cravings, but just really like the salty foods and my cereal.

Clothes: I wear sweats almost every day to work, which is awesome, so I haven't had the need to find maternity clothes. On the days when the belly is out I notice some of my sweats are tighter, but they haven't bothered me yet and  I feel like the belly fluctuates a lot throughout the day based on when and what I am eating.

Random: We are so excited that we are having a baby girl. I keep having to remind myself that she is a she and is going to be all mine. We are talking names, but so far Cam has vetoed all but one. I have always had a list of names on my phone that I have added to over the years and he is stuck on having a name that isn't common and no one he knows has it. Plus, he was team boy forever so I am not even sure he ever thought of girl names before reading our results. I have started a registry! Who knew a baby needed so many things!? Actually, as a nanny I knew what babies needed for the most part, but having your own is a game changer! I am so excited to go to BUY BUY BABY with Cam and test out all the strollers and baby things. So far I am registered online at Amazon and Target.

Doctor's Visit: We go back to the doctor at week 15. I did get a call from our doctor's office this week about our inheritance test results. I am a carrier for a gene mutation tyrosinemia and Cam has to be tested to see if he is also a carrier. I have read about this mutation and it is not something that I am choosing to worry about right now. I know God is in control and He will give us what we can handle. Plus, there is still a 1 in 100,000 chance the baby could be passed this gene mutation. We will know more about this after our doctors appointment in two Fridays. For now we are going to rely on God and continue to dream up all things baby!

Week 14

Baby: Baby girl Mav is the size of a peach according to one app and the size of lemon according to the other. She is about 1.5 ounces. She is moving and grooving in there although I can't yet feel it. Her kidneys are functioning and she is growing tiny little hairs. Baby girl still does not have a name, but we are getting closer to choosing. We have two that we both really like and I am having a hard to choosing something so important. The name we pick will be what she is called for the rest of her life, pretty crazy.

Weight: On my home scale I weighed 100.0 and we go to the doctor tomorrow for our 15 week check up.

Symptoms: I am feeling really good. I am still having weird breakouts, but my skin is becoming a little less crazy so thats encouraging. I have noticed I am super forgetful and have miss typed and miss read a handful of things at work and at home. Wednesday of this week I really felt like the bump was out in all her glory, but by Thursday it was back to normal.

Sleep: As soon as I hit the pillow I fall asleep, but am woken up throughout the night having to use the restroom or by my lovely dogs. I also have noticed that I seem to get hot at night and I am looking forward to our Texas temperatures dropping and staying low.

Cravings: I still choose salty food for the most part, but have been eating more sweets. Halloween candy has been dangerous as well as those little sugar cookies that are out at every holiday. I was really looking forward to eating at my favorite Italian restaurant Saturday and my sister and mom drove there to only find out they closed up. So, we drove 17 miles out of our way to the next Zio's. And yes it was just as good as I had hoped!

Clothes: I have noticed some of my favorite pj pants are getting tighter and will have to be retired soon.

Random: I am super anxious to start on the baby room and organize all the baby things!

Doctor's Visit: We head to the doctor tomorrow for our 15 week appointment and I am anxious to hear her little heartbeat again. I am also anxious to speak with our doctor about the inheritance findings and what to expect in the coming weeks. I am hoping that maybe they will surprise us with another ultrasound, but I will settle for a heartbeat either way!