20 Weeks

How far along?: 20 weeks
Baby's size: BK is the size of a banana
Total weight gain/loss: Up about 5-6 pounds total
Stretch marks?: None
Sleep?: Pretty good this week
Maternity clothes?: Regular pants to work, but maternity pants for everyday outfits.  Wearing a good bit of maternity shirts as well
Best moment this week: On Monday, we had the anatomy scan.  BK was confirmed a boy and they measures lots of his body parts, he's measuring right on track.  Also, we got his closet finished and I'm absolutely obsessed!  If you want more information on the closet, click here
Worst Moment: I really didn't like the place we were sent for the Anatomy Scan (it was different from my normal OBGYN because this place had better equipment).
Symptoms: Backaches and heartburn
Cravings?: I did get some chocolate covered strawberries, nothing else really
Miss Anything?: Nothing really this week
Movement: Loving how much he's been moving!  I also love that since we saw him at the appointment, I have an idea of it's a kick or a punch that I'm feeling
Anything making you queasy or sick?: Nothing really
Gender: B-O-Y!!!
What is baby up to?: From What to Expect When You're Expecting: "If you're having a boy, his testicles have begun their descent from the abdomen to their ultimate destination — the scrotum. And while your baby is definitely getting bigger (weighing in at about ten ounces and measuring six and a half inches), there's still plenty of growing room in there, which allows him to twist and turn (and allows you to feel his acrobatics!)."

Nursery Closet Makeover

"I saw this idea on Pinterest..."

 

The words that so many husbands hear that make them sigh and ask what the new plan was.  This time, it was an idea for BK's nursery closet.  Before we even knew if BK was a he or a she, I found this pin and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I knew that we could alter it to make it boy-ish or girly so it was happening regardless, if my Dad and Jason could figure out how to tackle it.

 

We started with this pin as inspiration: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/36169603231531169/

 

Based on their blog, I knew that the main closet dividers were from Ikea, and I'd never been to Ikea, so I was pumped to make the trip!  Jason stayed home to prep the closet walls, we painted them navy as you will see, and my parents and I went to Ikea.  We ended up with two of the Expedit Shelving Systems and 5 fabric bins to go into the slots.  We wanted the closet drawers too, but unfortunately, they were sold out.  You can find the links to all of the products here:

Shelving System: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116274/
        *We got TWO of them in white
Bins: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30219281/
        *We got five total- 3 lime green and 2 aqua
Drawers: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40251708/#/90204936
        *We wanted these in white, but they were sold out

The rest of the products that we bought were from Lowes: particle board to make the frames for the shelves and four clothing rods

 

Even though the blog that we based our closet off of used L-Brackets, Dad thought it would be more supportive if we made a frame for each shelf to sit on, so there was lots of cutting and attaching to the wall, but they made a frame per shelf and made sure everything was even of course!

 

The closet started like this, plain builder white, and we had already painted the room grey

Step 1: Painting the inside of the closet navy blue

Shelf number one being installed (only took about 10-15 minutes to assemble).

Based of the blog we were following, our closet is much less wide than theirs, so once the shelving was in the middle, there were 21.5 inches on each side so they knew how big to cut the supports.

Installing the supports to hold the shelves (to be cut from the second Ikea shelving set)

One shelf in, working on shelf two.  The process was:

1. Insert the three supporting sides

2. Cut shelf from Ikea shelving

3. Attach

All four shelves in, working on the colored bins now

Final Product!

Final picture after adding his clothing into its spots.  The top left bar has Newborn, 0-3 months and 3-6 months.  They are separated by closet dividers that I purchased off of Etsy.  The clothes go up to 24 months that are in the closet.

I couldn't be more thrilled with the closet.  I often find myself just sitting in his room staring at the closet in awe of Jason and Dad's work.  They not only conquered the pin, they made it even better!  BK and I are very blessed!!

19 Weeks

How far along?: 19 weeks
Baby's size: BK is the size of a mango
Total weight gain/loss: Still up 4.5 pounds total
Stretch marks?: None
Sleep?: Not so good this week, I have a brutal cold so it's hard to breathe.  We're going on a week with the cold
Maternity clothes?: Wore a maternity shirt one day to school this week and everyone commented :-)
Best moment this week: We had a short but sweet appointment and got to hear BK's heartbeat
Worst Moment: This darn cold
Symptoms: Indigestion/heartburn.... fun
Cravings?: Chocolate covered strawberries.  I haven't had any, but I do want to try that new McDonalds drink if we ever aren't snowed in anymore
Miss Anything?: Nothing really this week
Movement: Still a wiggle worm
Anything making you queasy or sick?: Nothing
Gender: B-O-Y!!!
What is baby up to?: From What to Expect When You're Expecting: "Have you ever seen a mango dipped in cheese? Well, that's what your baby looks like this week due to a little growth spurt (he's about a half pound in weight and six inches long) and a substance called vernix caseosa. This greasy white stuff covers your baby's skin, protecting it from the surrounding amniotic fluid. (Without it, he'd look totally wrinkled as he entered the world.) The vernix sheds as delivery approaches, though some babies still sport a bit of the coating at birth."

18 Weeks

How far along?: 18 weeks
Baby's size: BK is the size of a sweet potato
Total weight gain/loss: Up 4.5 pounds total
Stretch marks?: None thankfully
Sleep?: Good sleep with all the snow days this week!  We only went to school 2 days out of 5 and both were two hour delay days
Maternity clothes?: Tried maternity jeans today, they weren't too bad!
Best moment this week: We got his crib!!!  We Jason also painted his walls during the one snow day
Worst Moment: Trying to find a date for the baby shower that suits everyone (what an impossible task!!)
Symptoms: Nothing too bad, just a sore lower back sometimes
Cravings?: None really
Miss Anything?: We sold pretzel sandwiches for the KJF and I REALLY wanted one, but couldn't have the lunch meat :-(
Movement: He's being a wiggle worm!  (Only I can feel him so far though)
Anything making you queasy or sick?: Nope
Gender: B-O-Y!!!
What is baby up to?: From What to Expect When You're Expecting: "Your pregnancy back pain may have you tied up in knots, but your baby's getting ready to bust a move. At five and a half inches long and five ounces in weight, he now may be large enough for you to feel him twisting, rolling, kicking, and punching his way around the womb. Plus, he's developing yawning and hiccupping skills (you may feel those soon, too!) and his own unique set of toe and fingerprints."

Womb With A View

When I heard from my OBGYN that we wouldn't find out the gender of our baby until between weeks 20-22, I knew that there were places that would look for gender sooner.  Many people recommended Womb With A View in Lancaster, so I scheduled my appointment there for 17 weeks and 1 day.

 

They recommended bringing everyone you want with you, so that's exactly what we did.  I did call to confirm that "everyone" in our case meant over 10 people with just siblings and parents alone, but they welcomed the group and said they'll bring in more chairs if they have to (they didn't need to).

 

The waiting room wasn't much to write home about, but once we were back in the ultrasound room, I quickly forgot what the waiting room looked like.  The girl was very nice, and while my fear of all 11 people staring at me was put to rest, we got to see everything you would in a normal ultrasound up on a TV which was on the wall.  It was placed on a wall and there were couches and chairs facing the wall instead of facing me, so that was reassuring.

 

Meghan was the photographer and Eric was the videographer, so here were the pictures Meghan took:

 

If you're contemplating going early, I would recommend going to Womb With A View.  We got a cute little hat, as you can see, new ultrasound pictures (some in 3D when he cooperated) and a DVD of the whole thing.  I loved knowing early!!