Gifts are optional!

So I feel mildly guilty and greedy for posting this but people have been asking so there you go. On the left side of the blog is the list of gift ideas/registries. We did cave to peer pressure (mostly co-workers as both of our works are throwing baby showers for us) and registered at Target and Babies R Us. Again, we are much more interested in your good wishes, homemade gifts, used gender neutral clothing w/no cartoon characters! and anyone who wants to come over after the baby is born and clean the kitchen or feed us gets major points. :) But if you can't come over and are more into gift certificates we have links to the diaper service that we will use (as there is only one) and a fabulous personal chef service. I am especially excited about that because if you know us you know Taylor avoids the kitchen like the plague and I am not that fond of cooking either. I e-mailed the chef to make sure she is queer friendly and she seems great so feel free to get gift certificates from her!

In other happenings, I would like to thank Amelia, Mandy, Melissa, Sarah, and Travis for helping Taylor paint this weekend (and Jessica, Brinsley, and Brooklynn for keeping me entertained). I think there are some painting touch ups needed in the bathroom and kitchen and then we are done! We hope to move the heavy furniture this Sunday 9/28, so again if you are around and available let us know.

Have we mentioned that we are co-teaching an Intro to Queer Studies class? I think it is going well but it does make me appreciate the support our family feels from all of you! :)

Megan

Rutabaga

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Thus concludes the week of Taylor yelling "baby corn!" at my belly!

Moving Corn

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

I definitely am feeling a lot of movement starting a couple weeks ago, Taylor has even felt it three times but has to wait for the baby to be really active and sit there with her hand on my belly for awhile. I believe she described it as "cool and creepy". I would say I think about the same, I am loving feeling the movement but it is a little creepy to have something you know is separate from you moving inside your body! I am really enjoying being pregnant though. I am taking a pregnancy yoga class and we are starting a hypnobirthing class in October, I think we will end up taking two childbirth classes but haven't decided on what the other one will be yet.

The 22 week ultrasound was fine although they did see an echogenic foci. I have copied the wikipedia definition of that here.Echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) is a small bright spot seen in the baby’s heart on an ultrasound exam. This is thought to represent mineralization, or small deposits of calcium, in the muscle of the heart. EIFs are found in about 3-5% of normal pregnancies and cause no health problems. EIFs themselves have no impact on health or heart function. Often the EIF is gone by the third trimester. If there are no problems or chromosome abnormalities, EIFs are considered normal changes, or variants.

We have no other risk factors and may have another ultrasound later in the pregnancy but after talking to a number of people we feel really confident that everything is as it should be.

Our prenatal appointment last week was good with my uterus measuring as it should and my blood pressure was good (I had a little ankle swelling but not much yet). I also got a 20 minute leg massage....gotta love midwives! :)

Megan

House News!

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of post...everything is fine with the baby we have just been busy. I think I am going to start making small posts so that at least something is updated and I don't avoid posting because I feel it has to be a long analysis of what we are up to!!

We bought a house! It sounds odd but it was rather unplanned and if you had asked us 2-3 months ago we would have told you we had no plans to buy. We are slowly moving in and Taylor will be painting this Saturday 9/20 if anyone is in the area and wants to help out. Feel free to give her a call. :) It is a tiny dollhouse with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath but a great open feeling and really nice backyard. It is also in the same neighborhood we are in now which we love and only needs some cosmetic stuff (mainly painting) and is move in ready.

Wish us luck and please let us know if you want to stop by to see it. :)

Megan