A Confession....

For those of you that don't know yet, Chris and I kept a secret for almost a full three weeks! We had our "big" ultrasound on December 11th, but wanted to wait until we saw our family for Christmas to share the results. Thinking it would be easier if people didn't even know we went, we kept that mostly a secret, too.

So... the results! Bambino was VERY active during the ultrasound, playing with toes and kicking mommy. The ultrasound tech had to work harder at her job, but she was able to confirm that everything was growing properly and we left with absolutely no concerns about the health of our baby.

And.... that she's a GIRL!! We've seen the "goods" and we can confirm that we actually have a BambinA on the way, not a bambino :)

Here's a side view that gives a great shot of her head, body, spine and one foot kicking mommy:

Week 21!

Week 21 -- Baby is a Banana! Average baby is about 10.5 inches and 12.5 ounces.
Week 21 seems crazy to me! I've sort of looked at the first 20 weeks as an uphill climb, and the second 20 weeks as a downhill coast.... so this is a bit scary to me.

Chris is working on the nursery this week. Our theme is "froggy tales" and we're using the colors of pale green, pale yellow and pale pink throughout the room. The walls will be yellow, with a few thick green stripes and thin pink stripes on each wall. Nothing crazy - more whimsical. So he's over there sanding and painting like crazy, with the hopes of our furniture arriving in about a month, to tie it all together.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Chris, Julie and Bambino! We wish everyone happy holidays and safe travel!

Bambino is LOVING Christmas. I eat anything yummy and I get instant gratification of a few kicks within a minute or so :)

Week 20

Week 20 - Baby is a cantaloupe! I know, I know, mango to cantaloupe?? Remember, it's all about length and weight. Average baby at this point is 6.5 inches and 10.5 ounces.

Baby is doing great. It's active every day and I feel it on and off all day long. I was getting angry with mall traffic yesterday and was chastised by 4 kicks in a row - like "mom, chill out." No feeling from the outside yet, but I can sure feel it on the inside!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Week 19

Monday night the baby knew I was wondering what it was up to..... so it gave me my first night of major activity! I could feel it squirming around and kicking and generally just letting me know it was there. Ever since then, I feel the baby daily.

Week 19 - Baby is a mango! Average size at this point = six inches; Average weight = 8.5 ounces.

Next week = Halfway! :)

Week 18

Last week was a big week of change! I'm feeling the baby just about every day now - lots of tiny kicks. :) Also, Chris seems to be bonding more with the baby, because I think it feels more real to him, too.

Week 18 - Baby is the size of a sweet potato! Average baby at 18 weeks is 5.6 inches and 6.7 ounces. Developmentally, babies at this stage are a lot more active: moving, kicking, yawning, hiccuping, etc.

*Kick Kick* Baby's mad!

My back was hurting, so I was (being bad, I know) laying on my stomach. It doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable to me, and I was going to ask my OB about it tomorrow, to see when it starts being iffy for the baby.

I was just thinking to myself that I was in a prime position to feel the baby, because I usually feel it when there's pressure on my stomach, when *kick, kick*! It felt like I was being flicked on the inside.

I took the hint and got off my stomach.

Week 17

Baby is the size of an onion (length and weight)! We did the measurement conversions of what my website said the average size would be at this point, and that's about 5 inches and 5 ounces. Wow.
Developmental milestones typical for week 17:

*Baby's growing fat, its cartilage is turning to bone, and it now has fingerprints!

*Baby can now start hearing things outside the womb pretty clearly now. I'm sure it liked the Vivaldi at the church Christmas program today much more than the Romanian techno music it heard last night at Tommy Keegan's (yes that's an irish pub, but it's owned by a Romanian and yesterday was their national holiday).

I had someone tell me last night that I "look wonderful" and am "glowing". Nice time for me, huh? :)