26 Weeks

Busy week! I've been painting and decorating like crazy. The nursery is nearly complete. All it requires are items from our registry and a baby girl! Derek and I are so getting so excited. I'm almost in the home stretch and will soon be in the third trimester. I can't believe she's going to be here in about 3 months! <3

Pineapples and tater tots. Another banana split or two. I had the pleasure of dining with some girl friends at Sweetwater last week. That was an awesome treat! I've gained a couple more pounds and I'm still feeling really good. Sleeping is starting to get a little interrupted, other than having to get up and pee once every night. I'm finding it harder to stay comfortable on my back for long and I've never been one to sleep on my stomach but now that I totally can't... I want to!

Baby Newton is squirming so much more lately too! Not only have I had the pleasure of feeling her every time, but she's gotten big enough that Derek can feel her movements and others have too. It's such an amazing thing when I'm sitting there and I can actually see a little poke at my belly :)

Cucumber: She's getting longer and stronger! This week baby girl weighs about 2 pounds and measures almost 14 inches from head to toe. Her eyes will open this week and she'll start to produce surfactant, the fatty substance that coats the inside lining of the lungs' tiny air sacs. Her skin has developed its color as well, because her body is now making melanin. She's getting her immune system ready for life on the outside by soaking up Mommy's antibodies.

25 Weeks

Almost 6 months pregnant and feeling great! The nursery just needs to have decor hung on the walls, the invitations for our Baby Bump Open House have been sent out and I've only got two more weeks before I'm seeing the doctor every 2 weeks for the last trimester of the pregnancy. I keep wondering if we picked out enough for the baby registry, although there's already so much on there for such a little baby! It's crazy how many things a baby needs. She's been moving around a lot lately. I guess because of her getting so big I'll be feeling her more and more as the weeks go by.

Yummy Banana Splits made my tummy happy this week. I also got a sugar rush from Crumbs Bake Shop while we visited Philly this past weekend. Little girl seemed to also love the Shake Shack burger and cheese fries. She got to try it for the first time with her Aunt Sam and Uncle Peter ;)

Eggplant: Baby measures 14 inches long and over a pound and a half. During week 25, her nervous system is rapidly developing, and she's enjoying her new sense of equilibrium, knowing which way is up and which is down. Plus, she's growing more hair too! Will she have Mommy's hair color or Daddy's? The suspense of what she will look like is building.

24 Weeks

Some serious nesting has been going on in the Newton house this week! Here's a before and after of the chair I recovered last week. Luckily I was able to find a before shot for all of you that have been wondering. I've been sewing the crib skirt and crib rail guards too and the nursery is really coming together. We just love it!

I got a wonderful deal for a Pottery Barn changing pad with two covers at this cute little consignment shop in Vienna. Then I got perfectly matching colors for the crib sheets and curtains to coordinate with the glider fabric! Can you tell I'm a little excited? I can't wait for more people to see it, but only if you come visit, because I don't want to take a bunch of pictures until I've got the walls decorated too.

I had an appointment this past week for my 24 week checkup. Can you believe only a few more weeks and I'll be in my third trimester? Then my appointments are every two weeks instead of once a month. This appointment was fairly uneventful, since the pregnancy is going so well. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat and it was pounding at the wonderful rate of 150 beats per minute. The doctor measured my belly and it's 23 inches - growing week by week! I've gained a total of 20 pounds so far. That is a scary milestone! I have another appointment in a month and there will be a bunch of lab work and the glucose test. I've heard that's not something I'm going to like the taste of! Maybe by next visit they can make the drink taste like cupcakes?

Corn: Not a lot of change in size this week; baby still ranges about a foot long and weighing just over a pound. Her see-through skin is gradually becoming less translucent and is starting to look more opaque, like ours, but with the beauty of a new pink glow, thanks to the small capillaries that have recently formed. There's a lot happening inside the little girl as well, and while her lungs have developed, they couldn't work outside the womb yet. But the fact that her lungs are fully formed means that she's closer to being ready to survive (and thrive!) in the outside world!

23 Weeks

This week was tiring. Little Girl was growing and wearing me out! She continues to move all around and make me aware of her multiple times a day. I finally got to recover the glider that Derek's sister gave me and I couldn't be more proud of a job well done, for a beginner! The fabric I found is so bright and fun, I just know that the baby is going to love it. I should have taken a "before" picture, but I didn't; so here's the finished product.

I finally got some more donuts this week.... twice! It's my one pregnancy treat and it's been a pleasure enjoying the warm fried dough every now and then. I never craved or wanted a donut before, so hopefully it's an easy habit to break once the baby is here. This week I have eaten enough pineapple and cherry tomatoes to feed an army. It's so weird that there are foods that can taste so good all the sudden and I just can't get enough of them.

Grapefruit: Just over a foot long and weighing between 16 and 20 ounces, she's getting bigger. Plus, she's getting cuter! Ears start to develop and her face and eyes are forming. Now having her inner ear mechanism fully formed, known as the cochlea; baby's more aware of my voice and heartbeat, as well as loud sounds, such as cars honking and dogs barking. At 23 weeks, her nipples are forming, as well as the blood vessels in her lungs to prepare for breathing.

22 Weeks

Hello Outtie! I've never seen you before! Nice to meet you; just promise to go back to the way you used to be after Miss Newton has arrived. Deal? What a new way to start week 22. The second trimester has been nothing but growth! Makes me happy! I feel the baby moving and squirming more and more. She really likes to dance at night when I lay down for bed. It's soothing and I just lay and rub her....

She continues to grow so I continue to eat. This past week we got to spend a long weekend at the beach and I got my fill of Tortuga's Lie Nachos and Plaza Azteca's enchiladas. One day I had a chocolate milkshake and a glazed donut only hours apart....

Papaya: During month 5, the average fetus measures almost 12 inches and weighs anywhere from 13 to 20 ounces. During my sonogram a few weeks ago, the doctor said that Baby Newton weighed around 10 ounces, so I'm assuming that since a couple weeks have passed, she's at least 15 ounces now! Her eyes and lips are more developed and she's looking even more like a newborn. Baby is sleeping in cycles - about 12-14 hours per day! What a lucky, lazy lady! Tiny tooth buds are developing beneath her gums too.

21 Weeks

Another week flying by and this little girl is moving even more! This past week Derek and I registered for all of her things! How does someone so small need so much stuff? Cute stuff too! I've been organizing and putting things away. The nursery is really coming together because we've got the changing table/dresser combo and the crib already. It's all so exciting!

No real changes this week, other than the bigger belly and wider hips! Cravings are not that exciting, other than me just eating every couple hours. Pineapple was a treat that really satisfied along with bowls of cereal and chocolate chip cookies.

Carrot: The babe is almost 11 inches long and weighs over a pound! Yay! She's big enough that I've been really feeling her movements too. As her digestive system preps for the outside world, she's manufacturing meconium - the tarry black substance we'll find in her first dirty diapers (ew)! Amazingly, she's already got a lifetime supply of eggs in her womb - about 6 million of them! She just keeps getting more and more amazing :)

20 Weeks

Halfway there! I've been feeling great and the Little Girl is moving all around and letting me know about it! We've been so excited about having a baby girl and we've been discussing names and can't wait to get out there and start shopping and planning the nursery. My belly is starting to grow faster and noticeably larger week by week. Apparently, I can put on a pound a week for here until the end of the pregnancy. Oh Boy! My sweet tooth continues to make me smile and I'm still  happy that nothing is too weird with my eating habits. So far no pickles and ice cream or any of that other silly stuff. I think it's been a couple weeks since I've gotten a donut; I better get on that soon!

Banana: Baby Girl weighs about 11 ounces and measures 6.5 inches long. She's still got a lot of growing to do though. Baby's using her taste buds finally and she's gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day - that's significantly more than before. This swallowing is good practice for her digestive system.