15w1d

**Baby Update - Mommy is 15 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Your baby's crown-to-rump length is approximately 4 inches and she now weighs approximately 1.75 ounces. Your baby is close to the size of a softball and you can easily tell that you are pregnant now! Your baby is growing at an amazing rate and looking more like a human every day. Because your baby's skin is so thin, you are able to see blood vessels through the skin. Lanugo hair covers your baby's body, but it will be gone when your baby is born. The hair on the eyebrows and head continues to grow. Some babies are born with little or no hair and others have a head full of hair! If you have an ultrasound at this point, you might be able to see your baby sucking its thumb. Even though the eyes continue to move to the front of the face, they are still widely separated. Your baby's ears look like normal ears and continue to develop externally. The bones that have already formed continue to get harder and retain calcium. The baby is very mobile and flexible at this point. She can bend her arms at the elbows and wrists and she can also make a fist with her hands. **

Happy 15 weeks to me! Lately time really seems to be flying by. A new baby seems right around the corner. I'm really wanting to get all the baby stuff out of the attic and start taking inventory for what I need to get. I have a feeling I'm going to need more than I did for Jacob because he was so hard on things and I ended up throwing stuff away. I know he broke the baby swing and most if not all of the baby bottles weren't holding a seal anymore. We have been looking at yard sales and consigment shops for baby gear. I got a lovely diaper changing table complete with the changing pad and covers yesturday for only $15! Of course, we didn't use a diaper changing table with the other two but we also didn't have a 5 year old and a soon to be 3 year old running around the house. . . along with dogs, cats, birds, etc. Plus this time I have a lot of other stuff I have to buy to accommadate my growning family. Like I'll need a new kitchen table and chairs because it only seats 5, I have to buy Jacob a big boy bed because I'll need him off the crib mattress before the baby arrives, I have to get a new carseat/stroller combo because even though there is nothing wrong with the one we have - the carseat is expired. Plus, most of the things I was able to pass down to Jacob because Chloe had doubles (like toy boxes / dresser / bookshelf) we don't have triples of, so that means we'll have to get a new dresser for the baby. So it's nice that we are starting early. . .

My doctor's appointment was yesturday and I gained an entire pound! Woot! Woot! The appointment was so fast and easy it was almost boring. Basically all that happened was I got to leave a urine sample, seen the doctor - she said everything looked good, heard the baby's heartbeat, I had no questions and we left. However, next time it will be exciting! We get to have our gender ultrasound, to find out if we are adding pink or blue! Chloe will be in school and I believe Susan is going to watch Jacob - otherwise he will be the only child with us. But unlike all the other times I've gotten an ultrasound - this one they will record for me!! All I have to do is bring a recordable DVD!! That will be nice to show Chloe when she gets home from school! Although she will be devastated if it's a boy. . . lol!

Other things that we did yesturday, since I was feeling so good, were. . . We shopped for Chloe's school supplies! I believe I have two or three more things to buy her and she is 100% ready to start Kindergarten next month! Yay! I am nervous about sending her on the school bus, but excited that she gets to go back to school. It will be good for her and Jacob to be back on the school routine. . . plus it will give me the time I need to get things ready for a baby around here and finish potty training Jacob. He's doing great, and has no accidents if we are out and about or at Grandma's house. But when we are home he dosen't always tell me when he needs to go! But I put no fault on him, I think it's mommy and daddy who have to try harder to remember to ask. . . it will be nice to have to only buy diapers for one child. . . not two.

Well we are going to be getting some storms this afternoon, so I need to get out and get the yard stuff done before it rains cats and dogs. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few more pictures tonight.

14w2d

**Baby Update - Mommy is 14 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Only 180 days left! Now that you are into your second trimester, you may be starting the best part of your pregnancy. You will probably start to feel more energetic and you may get the `pregnancy glow`. Your uterus is beginning to swell week by week and maternity clothes are probably necessary now. Baby's face is becoming more developed. The cheeks and bridge of his nose appear and the ears move from the sides of his neck to much higher on his head. The eyes continue to come closer together. A big development from this week onward is the development of lanugo. Lanugo is the fine hair that grows over almost your entire baby. The hairs grow in whirled patterns that follow the grain of his skin. These patterns later give way to your baby's fingerprints. The lanugo will be shed before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser hairs. Your baby's thyroid gland has matured and starts to produce hormones. If your baby is a boy, the prostate will appear and the ovaries descend from the abdomen into the pelvis in baby girls. **

I'm begining to hate Missouri weather! This heat is really, really starting to get to me. Just a few short minutes out in the sun and heat and I spend the next couple of hours sick! Today's heat index was 113. . . not an ideal day for a pregnant woman! I'm wishing for fall and 70 degree days! LOL.

Even with the heat and summer sun, I am still getting my weekly exercise by mowing the grass! LOL, I know. . . most of you are thinking that Jerry should be doing that. But really, I don't mind. I actually prefer to mow the grass and I only do it after the sun is down, which means after 8pm. Tonight after I mowed the grass and took the trash to the curb. . . Chloe and Jacob took turns spraying me with the garden hose. It was so refreashing and fun. . . we must have been a funny sight to see as the town folks drove by. . . to kids chasing mommy with the hose! I wish Jerry was here to take some pictures of the fun we had tonight.

Well not much else is happening here on the home front. I only have 2 days of work this week then I am on another 6 day vacation. Yay! I think Wednesday or Thursday we are going to Cole Camp to go on a boat ride with Grandpa. Friday is my next doctor's appointment so I am positive that next week will bring an exciting update! Let's hope this time they find the heartbeat and don't scare me into another ultrasound!

Until next time, happiness!!

13w3d

**Baby Update - Mommy is 13 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Welcome to the second trimester!!! :o) The crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 2.6 to 3.1 inches. Your baby is now about the size of a peach. Fetal growth is amazing from now through about the 24th week of pregnancy. Tissue that will form your baby's bones is being laid down, especially around the head and limbs. The nose and chin are becoming more prominent. Your baby's eyelids meet and fuse together and they will not open again for nearly four months. The eyes started out on the side of your baby's head and they are now moving closer together on the face. The ears come to lie in their normal position on the sides of the head. The sockets for all twenty teeth are formed in the gums, and vocal cords are beginning to form.**

It's very exciting for me now that I am in the second trimester. Already the morning sickness and nausea have let up and hopefully gone forever! With the milestone of the second trimester; tonight I took my first belly shot. Some days I don't look pregnant at all, and then other days (like today) I feel like I already look pretty far along. Funny thing is that still the only people that know of this baby is my close friends and family. Still no one at work knows - okay, only 2 of my close friends that I work with know, but absolutely no one else. I just don't feel the need to spread the word through the Walmart Social Network, because quite frankly no one really needs to know until I get fat enought to have lifting restrictions, and even then no one is going to tell me what I can't do. I'm pretty stubbord when it comes to people thinking that they can baby me just because I'm pregnant. I will do what I want to do and when I want to do it!

With my entrance to the second trimester, I have began feeling a lot of stretching - at least that's what I think it is. It's quite painful on my side and lower abdomen. It feels a lot better when I lay down and get my feet up for a little while. So maybe I should institute a mandatory nap time when I get home from work! LOL.

12w3d

**Baby Update - Mommy is 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant!! Your baby's crown-to-rump length is almost 2.5 inches and now weighs between 8 and 14 grams! In just three weeks, your baby's size has more than doubled and begins to look a lot more human. Even though you won't be able to feel your baby moving at this time, you can stimulate him and he will squint, open his mouth and move his fingers or toes. Your baby's skeletal system now has centers of bone formation in most of the bones. The digestive system is capable of making contractions that push food through the bowels and it is also able to absorb sugar. The pituitary gland beginning to make hormones. The baby develops reflexes and the skin is very sensitive. The brain is fully formed, and the child can feel pain. The baby may even suck his thumb. The eyelids now cover the eyes, and will remain shut until the seventh month to protect the delicate optical nerve fibers. You will probably be able to hear your baby's heartbeat with a Doppler at this time! By the end of this week, your uterus is too large to remain completely in your pelvis. And this week may be the first week that you begin to feel better! Morning sickness often tends to improve or diminish at this time. You may begin to show slightly, especially if this is not your first pregnancy.**

Happy 4th of July!! Okay, I'm a day late, but I spent all weekend at Mom and Dad's house. The only thing that could of made the weekend better, was if Jerry was able to be there - unfortunately, he had to work all weekend. As much fun as the kids and I had, I am so happy to be home. I just wish the laundry/cleaning fairy would come and clean my house.

I was able to finally see some of my family face-to-face to tell them our awesome news about Baby #3. I think the only one that doesn't officially know is Grandma Kay, because so far we've just been able to play phone tag. I am begining to notice that the shocking excitment of announcing a pregnancy wears off when you get to #3. Oh well, I'm sure it will be total excitment once they get a new little baby in their arms.

On a positive note, the morning (afternoon & night) sickess seems to of gone away. . . Thank Goodness! That was starting to get really annoying! Now if only I could get some energy back! Pregnancy really stinks in it's early stages, but Friday is my official move into the 2nd Trimester. Woot Woot!