24 Weeks

Baby is the Size of an Atlantic Puffin "Sea Parrot"

New for baby this week?  13 inches long and 1.5 lbs, developing taste buds, significant lung development, brain activity close to that of a newborn, now has a 50% chance of survival

Total weight gain/loss? 10 lbs

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Regular and still comfortable

Best moment this week? 

Miss Anything? Not really.

Movement?  All the time.  We've got a mover!

Food cravings?  Oreos and milk.  I have 5 almost every night as a snack.

Gender? Joe has pretty much admitted his thinks Baby L 2.0 is a girl.  I guess one of us is going to be right, haha!

Labor Signs? Lots of noticeable Braxton Hicks contractions.  

Belly Button in or out?  Out.  Joe thinks it is funny you can already see it through my scrubs at work, but I also haven't moved up a size yet.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

How is mama feeling? Pregnancy wise great.  But I have had a cold for about 1.5 weeks now which has been kind of miserable.

Looking forward to?  Christmas

With my not feeling well, it has been a pretty boring couple of weeks.  I have been going to bed early, and Joe has been continuing to work on Bran's room.  All of the molding is up, and he built some floating bookshelves.  Painting the trim and walls will be next!

We have found time for a little fun.  Bran and I had some errands to run at the mall, so we stopped by to visit Santa (or "anta" as Bran calls him).  I am not sure that I will every get a crying picture with Bran, he was not scared of the big guy at all.  Santa asked if he wanted toys for Christmas and he said "okay!". I just can't get over how grown up Bran is looking these days. He has changed so much since this summer.  He looks like such a little boy, not a baby.  It is bittersweet.

 We also got to check out the new play area at Tuttle Mall.  Bran loved it! I think we need to take a trip to COSI this winter.

 Joe also got some Christmas lights up outside.  We kept it simple this year, but we were really excited to put Bumble out for the first time. We also got our first snow for the year, but there hasn't been enough to play in yet (plus it has been super cold!).

Bran really needs a little brother or sister to play with (we're working on it little man, just too much longer!). He is always trying to "play" with the puppies, and they are very tolerant of all of his antics.

"Mama, Izzy hat!"

Chasing Buddy with the popper toy and dump truck, until he has to hide.  And Buddy is not allowed on the couch!!

They all look guilty of something.

We also got to celebrate Grace's second birthday.  Bran loved making fruit loop necklaces (even though he just wanted to eat them), coloring a wave hand for the Iowa Children's Hospital, and playing with Cooper's trains.

Joe also bought Bran the Polar Express moving and train.  We let him have this present early because it isn't really meant for toddler abuse so it will be a special treat at Christmas time.  Bran LOVES it.  He chases the train around in circles and likes to have it push the "egg" (the bell from Santa's sleigh in the movie) around the track.

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Photo Ops

A little more cousin love from Thanksgiving.

Family Christmas Pictures 2017

First of all this reminded me I have never posted any of Bran's professional photos from his first year?!?! (And Brittany from Joyful Moments Photography did amazing work!). Maybe I will do a throwback post with some of my favorites before Baby L 2.0 gets here, it will be fun to look back on! And especially to see any similarities from the newborn shots.

We had Christmas minis taken with LeenaBee Photography in downtown Dublin right before Thanksgiving.  I was amazed how many great pictures they were able to capture in just 20 minutes with a very active toddler.  These are some of our favorites! And the last professional photos we will take before we officially become a family of 4 in April.

22 Weeks

Baby is the Size of a Guinea Pig

New for baby this week?  About 1 foot tall and 1 pound, baby sleeps 12-14 hours/day, practicing movement, touch, and balance when awake

Total weight gain/loss? 8 or 9 lbs.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep? Normal

Best moment this week? Feeling so much movement!

Miss Anything? Not really.

Movement?  Movements are much bigger now, although this baby seems to always be shy when Daddy is around.

Food cravings?  Oreos and milk

Anything making you queasy or sick? No. 

Labor Signs? I get some Braxton Hicks contractions occasionally. They feel much stronger earlier on than I remember last time. Or maybe I am just more aware?

Belly Button in or out?  Out

Wedding rings on or off? On

How is mama feeling? Overall pretty good, although definitely feeling more pregnant than I did a couple weeks ago

Looking forward to?  Getting ready for Christmas

We met the Mayhills at the first night of Wild Lights at the Columbus Zoo. It was a short visit for us because Bran was tired (it was a work day) but it was totally worth it to see Bran and Lily laughing and dancing together at the music and lights show by the lake. I really hope we can find a nice night to make another quick visit this season. 

Santa's Reindeer

I took Bran to get his first haircut at Cookie Cutters. They have a great setup with a play area while you wait, and each kid gets to sit in a cool chair and watch something on Netflix during the haircut. He did really well.  The only part he didn't really like was when she took scissors close to his neck. I was sad to see the baby curls go (and we even waited until after we took family pictures), but now I love his new little haircut.  He definitely looks like a little boy now.

Well Baby L 2.0 is working on giving Bran his official "eviction notice". Baby will be moving into the nursery, so we are keeping all of that the same.  But we needed to get started on Bran's "Big Boy Room". As you can see, we have a lovely Barney purple to paint over once Daddy finishes putting up the crown molding. We also converted Bran's crib into a toddler bed this week, and used the rail that will go on his big boy bed for safety.  So far he has done great! He loves the independence of being able to climb in and out on his own.  Mr. Independent doesn't even want to hold our hand when stepping out. We haven't had any trouble with bedtime or naps so far.  He has been asking for "night night",  Then he climbs right in, asks for his blankie (he wants covered up), and starts blowing kisses. It is so sweet. For a couple naps he did yell a bit and climb out of his bed after we left the room, but he gets right back in on his own to go to sleep.  So fingers crossed he keeps this up, and we have an easy transition to his new room here in a couple months.

For Thanksgiving we spent a couple nights at Jeremy and Nikki's (and brought the dogs along so the 3 amigos could hang out). They refinished their basement and Bran now had his own little room (the closet lol), he thought it was the best! We had Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Debbie's with all of the Lude family. Greer and Bran had a lot of play time together all weekend, they loved it. We also stayed around on Saturday to watch OSU beat Michigan!

Boys will be boys. Zane and Bran trying to break in to the safe.

Greer teaching Bran how to do it. He was a pro by the end of the weekend.

Bran riding Chocolate Brownie.  Joe's Grampy made him!

Daddy helping out with the goats, Olaf and Sven. 

Greer is not a very good driver yet! haha

Stop picking your nose Bran!

Future Buckeyes

They could be twins.

After we got home from Thanksgiving we got out all of our indoor Christmas decorations.  And as always, Bran was very helpful. He is also enjoying all of the extra amazon packages getting delivered. 

20 Weeks

Baby is the Size of a Mango

New for baby this week?  10 inches long (the major "growth spurt" is only half true, since measurements are now made head to toe instead of head to rump), 10.5 oz, starting to plump up, practicing breathing amniotic fluid, ovaries or testicles are in place, teeth buds, eyelashes, and eyebrows are forming

Total weight gain/loss? 6 lbs 

Maternity clothes? Fewer and fewer non-maternity clothes are fitting. Shirts areh getting too short/tight. But I haven't had to move up in a size in scrubs yet at work.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep? Normal.

Best moment this week? Anatomy Scan

Miss Anything? No.

Movement?  Lots of little baby kicks.

Food cravings?  Halloween candy has been delicious

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really.

Have you started to show yet? Growing bump.

Gender? I think boy!

Labor Signs? No.

Belly Button in or out? I call it buttoned.  

Wedding rings on or off? On.

How is mama feeling? Pretty normal.  Some ligament stretching pains here and there.

Looking forward to?  Thanksgiving

20 weeks, the official halfway mark.  I just can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going.  As the weeks sneak by I get nervous about being the mama of two and finding a new normal.  But I am also so in love with this new baby and can't wait to see how he/she changes our little family. 

Our most exciting event over the last couple weeks was Baby L 2.0's anatomy scan.  It was a little different than with Bran because we went to a separate outpatient center through OSU for the ultrasound. The sonographer was very nice, and very tolerant of the wild toddler in the room during the exam. Bran was much less interested in this ultrasound and kept Daddy very busy.  I don't think Daddy actually got to see much to be honest. The great news is everything looks great, anatomy is normal, and baby is growing right on schedule.  He/she is in the 55th percentile, yay for an average sized baby! Lets hope it stays that way.  The baby was super active through the entire exam which was a lot of fun to watch.  He/she kept touching their face, waving, and kicking their little feet. 

So compared to Bran this baby is measuring smaller (at the 20 week mark, Bran was in the 70th percentile, but he was in the 50th percentile closer to delivery time). The heart rates are very similar.  Baby L 2.0 was 136 BPM and Bran's at his 20 week ultrasound was 141 BPM.

Feet

Lower leg

Heart, 4 Chambers (Normal anatomy, so thankful!) and 136 BPM. 

Hand

Wide open mouth.

Nose, skull, eyes.

Profile with hand under chin,

I can't wait to see this cute little face!

More feet :)

The following week I had a follow up 20 week exam with Dr. Turner.  They apparently did not disclose the gender to her either, so it looks like we will all be surprised come April! I told her that walking out of the ultrasound I just had this feeling it was a boy.  (Daddy still hasn't committed to a guess.) She said that was interesting because she has seen a research article claiming that whatever the Mom feels like she is having usually ends up being right. Hah, we shall see!  Only other fact she pointed out (which they had not said at the scan) was that I have an anterior placenta this time. It should have no affect on me carrying out a normal pregnancy.  Movements will feel different this time (probably more out to the sides, should I be nervous for my ribs?!) because the placenta is essentially acting as a cushion between my belly and the baby. I also may experience a lot of back labor this time, which I did not experience at all with Bran.  Another interesting fact (after an anterior placenta google search) is that apparently it is much more common for baby GIRLS to be anterior.  Interesting. But I am still sticking with my boy guess.

Childcare has always been a challenge for us, especially with no family living in town and needing care starting at 6 a.m. because of our work schedules. We have been so incredibly lucky to have found Jennifer, who has been watching Bran for us in her home since I went back to work.  Bran just loves her and has done great in her care.  Unfortunately with both of her girls in school, and her school program winding down, our days with Jennifer are going to be numbered.  So Bran and I set out to find a daycare nearby.  We have toured 3, and I think I found one that meets all of our needs (added bonus is it is only 5 minutes from our house).  I just got a great vibe from the facility and think it will be a good fit for our growing family.  Now we just need to work out details with the daycare and make some decisions about when we want to make the transition.  Bran has so many big changes coming, so it makes Mommy a little nervous.  But I am sure he will love it when the time comes.

Bran upgraded to the big table with a real cup at Jennifer's house.

Photo Ops

Izzy makes a great chair. 

Obsessed with "the bucket" after Halloween.

The Indorfs came for a visit.  Bran and Cohen had so much fun.

Bran has the wrong idea about his potty.

Playing with his picture from Frankie.

Ride!

Bath time hair fun.

"Brush, Comb!"

His hands used to be so tiny compared to mine.

Buddy thinks Bran makes a great seat, he deserves it! haha