20 Weeks! 20 more to go!

20 Weeks

How big is baby: Believe it or not, baby is the length of a banana from head to toe. That is about 10 inches long! Baby weighs about 10 ½ ounces this week. Getting closer to a full pound every day!

Pregnancy Symptoms: My belly itches! Lots of stretching going on over the last few weeks. There are some other wonderful “changes” happening but they are too icky to blog about! J

Maternity clothes: I’m still working on my maternity collection. These clothes are expensive and add up quick! I am keeping my eye of the sales rack and trying to stay in my pre-pregnancy clothes as long as possible.

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: I have a new fuzzy body pillow and we are starting to get familiar with each other. I have been having some pretty interesting dreams! In a few of them the baby was a boy so we will see! The big reveal is scheduled for December 18^th!

Best moment of the week: Rawley finally felt the baby move!

Movement: Tons of movement. Mostly when I am at work in the morning.

Food cravings: I will eat anything and everything!

Food aversions: Again, I will eat anything!

Belly button: In

What I miss: There is no looking back this week!

What I am looking forward to: Snuggling with our baby and hearing baby laughs! I spent a few hours with Savannah and April today and it reminded me just how special being a mom is! I can’t wait to experience all of those things.

On the to-do list: Baby nursery and nursery furniture!

Milestones: Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

Belly Pics Weeks 16-19

16 Weeks

17 Weeks

18 Weeks

19 Weeks



19 Weeks

19 Weeks

How big is baby: Baby is the size of a mango this week! 6 in, 8.5 ounces. Baby’s arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the body now.  

Pregnancy Symptoms: Aches and pains in my belly, same as last week but add in the legs and back now. Weird how quickly things change! I have also noticed a big increase in my appetite in the last week.

Maternity clothes: Almost time for new bras! YA! J

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Preparing myself for a newborn by sleeping an hour to two hours at a time. I’m trying to adjust to the new body pillow.

Best moment of the week: Feeling those special baby movements especially when there is music playing or singing. I hope this is a sign the baby likes it! Also, our 18 week ultrasound was absolutely amazing. It is so great to check-in and see the baby and how it is growing.

Movement: Some days I have a ton of movement and other days not very much.

Food cravings: Same cravings as usual but adding in the growing craving for turkey and gravy. Hmmmm, wonder why…

Food aversions: None but I have a smell aversion to the deodorant they put in kitty litter. I randomly will smell it even when I am nowhere near the litter.

Labor signs: None

Belly button: Still in  

What I miss: The energy for Zumba! I can’t wait to work out for real after the baby comes.

What I am looking forward to: Turkey dinner!

On the to-do list: Painting the baby room and planning our big boy/girl reveal near Christmas!

Milestones: The baby is growing hair! Also, the baby’s sensory development is exploding! The brain is designing specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch.

Something funny/memorable from work: We had a guest from UofO school of music come to sing for the choir and promote the program. She sang a few opera arias and every time she started to sing, the baby would start moving around a ton! In between songs I felt nothing but as soon as she started to sing again, baby started moving around. Either the baby loves the singing, hates the singing, or is a true Beaver fan!



New Ultrasound pictures and video!

18 Week Ultrasound

Everything looked great! Baby was a bit stubborn and didn't want to make it easy for the ultrasound tech to see all the parts that needed to be checked out. It took about 45 minutes of poking and prodding to get all the pics. Doc said all the organs look great and was really happy with the progress. Doc made several attempts to see what sex the baby was. I said "Come on baby! Show em what you're workin' with!" Rawley said, "As long as it's not a Pat." haha!  They were finally able to determine if it is a boy or girl and wrote that down for us, sealed in an envelope. That will be our BIG Christmas present! Hope you enjoy the pics and the video of baby moving around. :)

18 Weeks

18 Weeks

How big is baby: Baby is the size of a sweet potato this week! Baby Voorhies is about 5.6 inches in length from head to toe and weighs about 6.7 ounces.

Pregnancy Symptoms: The unbearable headaches continue. It has been 5 weeks now since they hit. Caffeine is the only thing that works.  Tylenol does nothing for these suckers. I also am notice what they characterize as “ligament pain”. Minor aches and pains in my stomach region and pubic bone.

Maternity clothes: I’m very close to boxing up the rest of my pre-pregnancy clothes. The last two weeks I have really poped!

Stretch marks: None  

Sleep: Same. Some nights are great and others are lousy.

Best moment of the week: I have been feeling the baby move! Absolutely amazing. I only feel it when I am sitting down and things are quiet. For instance, right now as I am writing this blog. I felt the first “for sure” movement on Friday last week. Something I definitely couldn’t characterize as gas. The feeling is just like they say in the books. It’s like popcorn popping or little bubbles bursting. I feel so much more connected to the pregnancy now that I can feel the baby!

Food cravings: Pretty much anything sounds good right now. When people start talking about good food they ate recently, I can’t get that particular food or restaurant out of my mind. Thanks to Rawley’s work lunch yesterday, now I want fajitas from Casa de Matador!

Food aversions: I wish I had some aversions rather than wanting everything!

Labor signs: None

Belly button: In

What I miss: Life without a daily headache.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing the baby tomorrow in our 18 week ultrasound! I am so excited to see how much our little bean has grown.

On the to-do list: Designing the nursery. We pretty much took care of the baby registry over the weekend and I have to admit, I felt a little silly being only 18 weeks pregnant and doing a registry. Then I saw all the 8 months pregnant women waddeling around the store doing their registry and felt relieved that we did it now while I have the energy and no back pain!

We also need to decide on nursery furniture. I heard from my cousin that it takes a few months to get those things shipped in so we need to make those decisions now.

Milestones: Baby is busy flexing their arms and legs — estremely mobile now! Blood vessels are visible through their thin skin, and their ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from the head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around their nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he or she born. If we are having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If we are having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

We recently decided to find out the sex of the baby. Tomorrow, the ultrasound tech may be able to tell if we are having a girl or boy. We plan on having the tech write this down and seal it in an envelope to announce to our family as one big surprise for Christmas!

Something funny/memorable from work: I was talking with a few girls in my womens choir around the piano this week and they mentioned how much more noticeable my belly was. I jokingly said that I woke up that morning and noticed a big change in size too, not just my belly but my other “bumps”. Oh, how I love having a girls group with no boys! Funny stuff! I told them I was excited for Thanksgiving because I can get away with a little extra “holiday weight”. I said “Tis the season!” and one of the girls said “Tis the season or tits the season?” I laughed for a long time over that one! I had to write it down to make sure I remembered it for the blog!

17 Weeks

17 Weeks

How big is baby: Baby is five inches head to toe and 5 ounces in weight. About the size of an onion.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Not a new symptom by any means but acne. The bad kind. Covering my entire face like a pubescent middle school kid.

Maternity clothes: I can still fit in many of my old shirts but not pants. Pretty soon the shirts are going to have to be packed up because I don’t want to stretch them out. I’m going to need those when I get back to my “normal” size!

Stretch marks: None so far. Still praying they never make an entrance.

Sleep: Every night is a surprise. I have been waking up on my back which I read is totally fine. I am trying to stay of my side but it doesn’t always work.

Best moment of the week: We met with our midwife for our first hour long appointment. She is wonderful! She is completely supportive of our birth plan and has put in a TON of leg work getting the research and information we need to negotiate with the hospital. We are hoping for a non-medicated water birth. The hospital has procedures they like to follow with their diabetic patients that requires you to be on an insulin and glucose pump. However, if they allow us to use a battery operated pump, we may be able to use the birthing tub. This has never been permitted at OHSU before. Our midwife thinks we have a chance of changing this protocol. Pretty great lady!

Movement: Still no movement. Our ultrasound tech let us know that the placenta is currently located in such a way that is provides an extra cushion between myself and the baby. She said it may take me longer to feel movement than other expectant moms. Bummer L but I am hopeful to feel our little baby kicking around very soon!

Food cravings: Popsicles, macaroni and cheese, cheese in general actually!

Food aversions: Nothing new.

Labor signs: none

Belly button: Still in.

What I miss: Wine! Not just a sip but a whole bottle! J There are still those days after work that it would be nice to unwind with a glass of wine. Now I get to take bubble baths which is nice but not the same!

What I am looking forward to: Finding out if we are going to be welcoming a son or daughter.

On the to-do list: Starting the baby registry and getting the crew to come in and re-texture the walls in the nursery so we can paint.

Milestones: Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. His umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes now feature one-of-a-kind prints.

Something funny/memorable from work: My students are obviously noticing the changing size of my belly. The baby has really had a growth spurt in the last week so my baby bump is becoming more like a real bump rather than a food baby. One of my girls asked permission to touch my stomach. I thought this was sweet and a good sign that my students will learn not invade my personal space. I have heard there are not many things more tempting that reaching out and touching someone’s baby bump!



16 Weeks

16 Weeks

How big is baby: The baby is the size of an avocado today! 4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 ounces in weight. In the next few weeks the baby will double in weight and add inches of length. Huge growth spurt!

Maternity clothes: Still shopping! :) Rawley loves that I'm sure!
Pregnancy symptoms: I am experiencing the most painful headaches on a daily basis. Water and Tylenol don't seem to help. Coffee helps a bit.

Stretch Marks: Just received the special cream today.  No marks so far.

Food cravings: Macaroni and Cheese!

Food aversions: Nothing new so far.

Labor signs: None

What I miss: Not feeling guilty about eating "bad".

On the to-do list: Schedule our next ultrasound, decide if we want to know the gender of the baby and begin the design for the nursery.

What I am looking forward to: Holding our baby and seeing Rawley be a dad.

Belly button in or out: Still in 

Movement: I'm still unsure if what I am feeling is movement. Hopefully any day now I will know.

Best moment this week:  The box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that I indulged in for dinner! Best ever! Oh, and Rawley cleaning out the office so we can begin to design the nursery!

Sleep: Sleep is getting better. I don't need to get up as often in the night for the bathroom. I try to stop drinking liquids after 6pm and that seems to be working for me.



Milestones:  This is so exciting! Tiny bones are forming the the baby's ears so they can now hear the sound of my voice. I sing about 4 - 5 hours a day not to mention the amplified sounds of the choir singing around me. This baby is sure going to be hearing A LOT of music!

Something funny/memorable that happened at work:  A graduated student came back to visit me. She saw I was wearing maternity jeans when I bent down for something. She hadn't heard the news of the pregnancy. I also don't think she knew that my class already knew about the baby. She probably thought she was in on some HUGE secret. We had a good laugh about it later when I brought it up nonchalantly. She was very excited!

Nursery Ideas

Rawley and I finished cleaning out the old office over the weekend. What a relief! We didn't realize how big that room til it was empty. It will be the perfect room for a nursery. We spent some time at Babies R Us looking at colors to start planning the next step. Here are some of our ideas. Let us know what you think!

Before pictures:

Tight view of the room from the hallway

                                        Closet space

These are the colors we are thinking of using. We bought this monkey as a guide not as an actually item for the room. We figured with green, tan and brown you can always add touches of pink or blue to make it more gender specific.

We purchased this wall decal from a website online. It is a white decal and we were thinking of putting it right behind where the crib will be.

This picture may be a bit fuzzy. We found it in a catalog. We were discussing doing wainscoting around the room but liked this idea better. Basically it is just a piece of think trim around the room about waist height. We would paint the lower portion of the wall below the trim the green color from the monkey art and the area above the trim piece a light tan.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!