Adorable little baby

The above picture is how a 17 week old fetus looks in the womb. Very cute and looks just like a baby! I have now had the pleasure of feeling baby for almost a week. This morning the baby did the first somersault that I could identify and it was also kicking away. I heard the baby's "schedule" isn't fixed until next week, but so far it seems (s)he is most active at night. From about 6pm to 9pm I feel constant wiggles and kicks. Also, I feel them in the middle of the night visits to the restroom, so I have a feeling we are in for some long nights ahead of us!

Quickening

It's official! Today were my first "real" baby kicks! Once I started feeling it, I've been feeling it on and off today. My new nickname for the baby is "squirrely baby". It all started around 8:30 this morning when I sat down at work to start my day. All of a sudden I felt, slosh, kick, slosh, kick! Like a little goldfish swimming around in my tummy that kicked ocassionally. It's pretty cool. From what the doctor told me what I had previously felt at around 10 weeks was gas (I could feel it better because everything gets pushed more to the surface with a growing baby). This is definitely baby, though! I did hear that once you feel it, it doesn't go away, that you feel the little wiggles throughout the day, though the baby seems most active after I eat a snack or drink some water.

Quad Screen

The doctor called back (in record speed, mind you) to tell us that our quad screen came back normal! So, praise God for that! I wasn't worried about Downs Syndrome or anything, but always wonder about spinal defects, etc. Sounds like baby is perfect! The quad screen measures four things: alpha-fetoprotein (protein produced by baby), hCG (hormone in placenta), estriol (estrogen produced by baby and placenta), and Inhibin-A (protein produced by placenta and ovaries). The purpose of the test is to screen for neural tube defects (like spina bifida) and chromosomal abnormalities (like Down and Edwards Syndrome). So, it does help to put my mind at ease that baby soared through the first tri with no defects. Those folic acid pills seem to work! =)

16 week appointment

We went to our 16 week appt today and things are still on track! We got to hear the heartbeat, and I had Luke record it this time! I'm going to see if I can get him to put it as a clip on here. It was pretty cool! The doc said it was measuring at 150 bpm, but on the video I could see the scanner and it was saying 147. Luke said she just rounded up.. I guess it doesn't matter because both are normal. Things are going so quickly, it's hard to believe that in only a month we will know the gender for certain and will get our last peak at the baby before birth (unless we do a 4D ultrasound). The morning sickness is just about gone at this point, thank God! I did throw up on Sun, but when I do throw up it's usually only once or twice a week. That's amazing compared to after every meal all week long! =) I still haven't had any real cravings, more food aversions then anything. I've got a small bump now, and can feel the pop out of my uterus. By 20 weeks I should really be showing, I can't wait! I still feel like I'm in the stage where a stranger would think "she's either pretty fat or pregnant". I can't wait until there is no doubt! Also, what I thought was the baby a few weeks ago tapping away in my belly turns out to have just been gas...*sigh* so starting this week they said I may be able to tell a few flutters, but not likely until I'm 18-20 weeks. That's the next landmark I'm shooting for!

Diapers!

I never thought I would even imagine I would consider it, but I'm now thinking of cloth diapers! I'm not a huge "environmental freak", but I do try not to be wasteful. From what I've been reading, it looks as though one child on disposable diapers could equal 1-2 TONS of waste. Plus, the cloth are a whole lot cheaper, about $350 total, whereas the disposables are around $1500. Plus, if we have more kiddos I can reuse them! That's exciting. I still plan to use disposables at night and maybe on vacations or if someone is babysitting, but either way it seems like mostly cloth is the way to go! I ended up purchasing the Bum Genius 3.0 AIO diapers, can't wait to see how they work!

I'm amazed at how time is flying by with this pregnancy. I'm 15.5 weeks and have my next OBGyn appt on Monday. The following appt is my ultrasound! I can't wait. However, I've had two recent dreams that really make me think this is a boy. The first dream I had a toddler and a newborn (both boys). The second dream I had a seven and a five year old in school (both boys again). In both dreams the older boy looked a lot like me and was obviously biological, and the second child I get the impression was adopted. Which is perfect, because we were planning to get back into the adoption process a year after our baby is born. =) I still eventually will want a girl as well, but figure we can always adopt again if things don't happen naturally. My goal is 3 kids minimum, 6 max. I hated being an only child, so definitely plan to adopt right away if I don't get pregnant within a year after baby is born. It's hard to believe there is just 24 weeks to go!