21 Weeks

Today the baby is the size of a Pomegranate. A 10.5 inch pomegranate. A what? 

I'm pretty sure that would be a pomegranate the size of JD's head. I'm now skeptical of this fruit scale. 

Pregnancy Symptoms this week:

-Heartburn/Indigestion: Only after I ate 10 mini eclairs....it was probably the cream filling.

-Braxton Hicks Contractions: Not that I know of...maybe that's what I'm thinking are the baby's movements...

-Leaky boobs: Haha....no.

-Dry, itchy skin: YES. Trying to hunt down the remedy. What I'm using seems to only last for a little while. Looking forward to Lexie's homemade goodies.

-Stretch Marks: Not that I've noticed yet. But I've only gained 9 pounds overall.

The baby is making lots of movements...though I can't tell if I can feel them or not! Seriously...I know it's supposed to feel like a flutter or a tap tap tap from the inside. 

But is that what I'm feeling? Or am I feeling my lunch digest? Dr. Kesselman said I may or may not be feeling them but in a few weeks I'll really be able to tell. 

This past week I managed to come down with a cold. It's really not fun to be sick and pregnant. Everything I read in the books said it's ok to take Sudafed. I don't care for Sudafed because it makes my heart race. At our Dr. Appt today Dr. K. said stay away from the -feds. Glad we asked. 

Speaking of Dr. Appt...we were SUPPOSED to have an ultrasound this morning. Where we get to see every inch of our baby. They called 45 minutes before our appt to say the Sonographer called out today and they have to reschedule. I immediately started crying. First of all...why do you only employ ONE sonographer? That is your entire purpose of being a Dr.'s office. You have a fancy machine, maybe you should employ more than one person who can read them. Secondly...can we add to our medical record that my husband works 1.5 hours away and we can't reschedule appt's willy nilly? We ended up getting them to move other people around, because I'm more important, and we have an appt. first thing Monday morning. Maybe JD will let me find out the sex of the baby!? I'm so excited to wait and be surprised but the suspense is KILLING ME! 

Very Very Very excited for May 1 - JD and I head out on our babymoon to California to visit the West Coast Schoppe/Cronks. And we can't wait! 

This is just hilarious and made me think of Amanda...no idea why.

So I will post again after our ultrasound for an update! But the Dr. said today that the baby's heartbeat is very strong (150bpm), my blood pressure is perfect, and weight gain on target (gained one pound since last month).

And this poor little guy just made me smile:

21 Weeks

Week 20 - Halftime

Hello all - This week's post coming from the testosterone portion of your program.  Amazingly, we (read; Rachel) are halfway through this amazing journey of adding a new Rogers and Schoppe to the family trees.  Each day and week the excitement and anxiousness grows!!

Thus far, Rachel has been an absolute rock star and shown toughness, physical and mental, I can only hope our youngun inherits.  Honestly, this has almost been to a fault.  My limited and culturally swayed perception of pregnant women certainly includes "cravings".  She has these, but painfully will not satisfy them.  Or, allow me to.  The amount of times I've heard "I want chocolate sooooo bad" or "I want baked cookies sooooo bad" leads not to me being able to get them for her, but:

One thing she does succeed in - when she's craving the bed covers, they are taken.  The new husband, her body pillow, has something to do with this..I will say, my book (Dude, You're Having a Baby) claims "You'll (as in, me) start developing the same cravings and eating habits as your partner".  I've never really had a sweet tooth, but it's been bad the past few months.  Also been eating more ice cream than I really ever have, though that may be Irv inspired.

The Spring could not have gotten here sooner.  Exercise and the lake will be great for the nugget.  Though, with the man of the house on crutches for 90 inches of snow, Rach did get some exercise through the winter.  You're welcome.  We made our first trek on foot over to Lake Sr.  Little over 20 minutes.  Not surprisingly, as they're pulling out all trickery to see nugget as often as possible, my folks initially had told us it was only 17 minutes.

We have also started reading to our precious little rugger-to-be.  Beatrix Potter made up words.

Without further ado, here be Rach and her belly at 20 weeks.  I promise she has not eaten an adult brownie.  I think she just REEAAALLLLY likes her mask:

At 20 weeks the nugget is about size of a banana, another favorite health snack of the Rogers.  Not quite on par with sweet potato, but...Little one now has developed taste buds, so I'll be sure to make more and more salads and less cooked veggies.  He or she is also ingesting numerous ounces of amniotic fluid every day now.  I'll assume that's a good thing.

Week 20 symptoms:

Vaginal discharge - No habla Ingles

Leg cramps - Not that I've heard.  I know Rach's back has bugged her.

Heartburn - Si, been times when I can tell there's some acid reflux going on

High energy - Hmmm, loaded "symptom".  This depends highly on if it's before or after meal time.  Though I suppose "hungry monster" would still be considered high energy.

Mild Swelling - At first I thought this said "mind swelling".  This would have been an emphatic yes.  There has been swelling in certain, gentleman-pleasing areas.  Dunno besides that.  I don't believe so.

Shortness of breath - I would hope a) Rach would alert me if so and b) that I could tell if my beautiful pregnant wife wasn't inhaling and exhaling.

So, we begin the 2nd half of our first foray into parenthood.  As mentioned we are so incredibly excited!!  Been trying to listen and hear them wiggling around in there, I like to think I have heard.  We'll be back next week for Week 21!

JD & Rach

19 Weeks

This girl has got ice cream

This girl has got ice cream

She's walking on ice cream

This girl has got ice cream

(For those of you who are confused, this is to the tune of "This Girl is on Fire" by the fabulous Alicia Keys)

Well, 19 Weeks. Almost to the halfway point. That is crazy and a topic I will save for next week.

This week - 19 Weeks, 19, 19! Got it? 19. The baby is the size of a mango....yummmmm. Don't get any ideas though, because the baby is starting to grow its Vernix Caseosa (compared to a greasy cheese...doesn't that just make your mouth water?).

Nugget is about 6 inches long and weighs about 8.5 ounces. All 5 senses are starting to develop as well. I'm supposed to start eating a wide variety of food items so that when the baby grows up and starts eating real food it will actually like the taste of cooked vegetables (unlike my husband), fruits, and spicy foods.

On an awesome note: June and I went on a Maternity shopping spree this weekend and I am now SET for the rest of the pregnancy. We picked out lots of good stuff!! Thanks again Mom!!
This is how I look:

Week 19 Pregnancy Symptoms from TheBump.com

-Aches and pains in your abdomen: These are fun. It's like when you have a broken rib and you can feel a sneeze coming on and you pray it goes away because you know you're about to experience a truly painful  moment. That's abdomen pain. Sneezing, laughing, getting out of the car awkwardly...all lead to this. Luckily, it doesn't last long.  And as long as it is quick and painful there is no need to fear!

-Dizziness or lightheadedness (which isn't a real word): So far the only time this has happened is when I go a little too long without food. But that happened before I was pregnant. I think JD is having Sympathy Pregnancy Symptoms because he has had a few dizzy spells lately. Maybe he should make an appointment with my OB/GYN.

-Leg Cramps: I have not suffered leg cramps. I had a toe cramp the other day though. 

-Hip Pain: This one is funny. The bump recommends sleeping with a pillow between the knees to help but.....that is EXACTLY what is causing my hip pain! I bought a body pillow so that it would be more comfortable to sleep on my side. I end up sleeping on my side the entire night and wake up at 5am and my hip is sore and achy. So I have to awkwardly swing the body pillow onto my other side under the duvet and quilt, sometimes a cat, and try not to wake up JD. I usually do. All I want to do is sleep on my back, but I'm not supposed to...unless I want to end up with varicose veins, hemorrhoids or constipation...nobody wants those! 

To Dos:

-Make ultrasound appointment: Yes, scheduled for April 26th!!!

-Start searching for a Pediatrician: WHAT?

I couldn't decide...these are both awesome.

Ok...I'm sorry...I recently discovered HOW to use GIFs and it is amazing!! I'm a little obsessed. They are so funny when you find just the right one for your needs. 

JD was supposed to guest write the blog this week but he is very important and is very busy at work. He will try to post something this weekend. 

Until the next time I overwhelm you with GIFs....

Don't be scared...It's a mask.

18 Weeks

OMG People!! OMG!! 

It is so fitting that the baby is the size of a sweet potato this week!! 5.6 inches long and 6.7 ounces and growing. "That's why you're probably feeling so hungry" - No thebump.com, I'm always hungry - pregnant or not! 

Crazy to think that when the baby is born it could weigh that much in pounds.

The baby is moving around like crazy right now - I only wish I could feel the nugget move. But, apparently it is yawning, hiccuping, sucking on its thumb (awwww), and swallowing. He/She is also twisting, rolling, punching and kicking...I haven't felt this yet, but I'm pretty excited to! 

We had a pretty eventful week. Friday night we finally met the elusive girlfriend of a family friend - OK Nick, she's real. Saturday we held an awesome 60th birthday party for Grandpa Rogers. - Thought we gave the man a heart attack when we all surprised him.

Sunday was Easter - ah Easter the Overtime of holidays. It is the last glutinous holiday before Thanksgiving rolls around again. JD thinks he eats a lot on The Fourth of July - but really he is full because of the beer consumption, not the food - doesn't count. 

Easter was great! Rose at 6am for the Sunrise Service at Lake Sr. followed by a delicious brunch at Jurve's. Man they can cook! Blue corn waffles, bacon, ham, asparagus, fresh fruit and the most amazing mashed potato casserole in the world. Not to be outdone by the potatoes, there was a refreshing homemade Key Lime Pie. Thank god we moved home so we are closer to all this food!! Then we rounded out the day with dinner at Lake Sr. Leg of lamb, roasted root veggies, asparagus and mashed potatoes. I forget what we had for dessert, not because it wasn't memorable but because I was most definitely in a food coma by this point. All in all an excellent Easter 2013. 

Now Easter has always been the true start of Spring for me. There should be crocuses and daffodils coming up. This entire week has been sub-30 degrees and windy. Hey Spring! I DO NOT fit into my pants anymore so my legs are freezing. Please show up soon or I will call you Winter and forget you exist.

Pregnancy Symptoms at 18 Weeks from TheBump.com

-Baby Kicks - Probably but I can't feel them yet. And hey, that is not a symptom, it is a pleasure! (Maybe symptoms aren't always bad things...are there positive symptoms?)

-Swollen Feet/Hands - Nope! As long as I keep my water intake up and salt intake down. 

-Back Aches - None since I got my new husband...I mean, body pillow. It really has worked wonders. Plus, my belly isn't so big that it causes problems yet. (Speaking of, I feel like my belly is in the 20% percentile. Its pretty small...and squishy.)

-Leg Cramps - None! 

-Varicose Veins - No new ones anyway...stop crossing your legs!! 

-Trouble Sleeping - Not at all. I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. Only issue is I usually wake up just before JD's alarm goes off around 5am. But I'm pretty sure this is due to the fact that I am asleep by 9:30 and not that I'm not sleeping well. 

-Nosebleeds - Yes....oh yes. They are very annoying but the lesser of all the above stated evils. 

Really not a bad week for symptoms at all! Feeling good people. 

I had a bunch of kale that I needed to eat quickly. So I made a smoothie. Holy yummy! Kale, Frozen mango, banana and OJ. It was so good! I wish I had more kale to put into it! I'm going to buy two bunches of kale at a time from now on. One for my dinner veggie and one for my smoothies. 

You won't like me when I'm angry! 

Our babymoon starts in 28 days!! 

Next week JD will be guest-writing the blog. I have encouraged him to add his own tidbits when he wants but it's fantasy season so he's busy! 

Little nugget

I hadn't 'doed my hair yet so no judging!