Milestones

22 Weeks

Well I must have hit a milestone in my pregnancy. They're now measuring my belly from top to bottom. I've been measuring it around the mid-section since the beginning and am at 35" this week.

The doctor also gave me a prescription for the ever tasty glucose exam to test for gestational diabetes. Anyone care to comment on how to get through this one?? I've been told you get to drink a beverage that tastes like flat, warm, orange pop and then sit in the office for an hour before they take your blood. If you fail this test, or the results are inconclusive you get to come back and do it all over again, except you're fortunate enough to sit for 3 hours. I'll have to bring the mp3 player & some reading material with me. I have a little bit of time before I need to go in for this test- plenty of time for some pep talks and motivational speeches from other mothers.

James and I have done something that is unorthodox- he knows the sex of the baby and I do not. I'm sorry but he will not be able to tell you until after I know, so don't even try weaseling it out of him. This has not been a difficult thing for James or myself- I did not want to know and he did. To get over this obstacle he changes the gender of the baby on a daily basis. Today for instance we're having a baby girl- she got quite upset with the doctor today after the heart rate monitoring & gave me a good kick in the side. Her heart rate was at 150 today. It has been at that rate for the past month or two, earlier in the pregnancy it was at 160. It was really surprised at my weight gain from the last visit as well. To date I've gained 15 pregnancy pounds. It appears everything is right on track.

We've recently visited a few day care facilities. What a struggle it is to find a place that you will feel good about taking your child to. I've stopped at a place a week or two ago- I wouldn't take my dog to that place! We've been relying on referrals from church friends and have been satisfied thus far with our findings.

Well I'm sure you'd like an updated belly photo so here it is...

The Beginning

I've been told by a few people that I need to start a blog. Hopefully this will become a tool I can use to keep people updated on what's happening in the Shinabery Family life.

Well, many of you know already that James and I are expecting in July. The estimated D-Day is July 30. So far the pregnancy has gone great, the only complaint I have right now is... my body wants to waddle when I walk. I have to make a conscious effort to not waddle like a duck. At this time I'm 21 weeks along, and we've had the 20 week ultrasound. The ultrasound technician said based on the baby's size she would expect me to deliver August 2. Not far off of the original date they gave me back in November/December.

The baby is really active during the 2-5pm time slot. The movements have progressed from flutters to jabs. The baby has also started moving its arms and legs at the same time, which is a really interesting feeling.

Well, I'll post a few pictures (hopefully I'm doing this right), and we'll call this first entry done. If you have any suggestions about what I should write about let me know- this is all new to me.

Here are some pictures

10 Weeks Along

14 Weeks Along

19 Weeks

20 Week Ultrasound- Profile
20 Week Ultrasound- Foot