Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Belly Line

Well, I woke up this morning and after my usual morning belly examination in the mirror, I saw that my belly line is forming. It's faint, but it's there! It's called a linea negra.

Hormones, which are also responsible for an impressive variety of other skin anomalies, are behind this weird little stripe. It fades a few months after the babies are born. An old wives tale used to state that it meant you were having a boy, but that has been proven wrong over the years.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Almost halfway there!

16 weeks - 4 months
This is an example of what our lil' ones might look like right now :)


The kiddos are now about 4.5 inches long (about the size of an avocado). In the next few weeks their weight will double and they will add inches to their length. Their fingernails and toenails are now fully formed and internally their urinary tract and bladder are functioning, emptying about once every hour. The legs are more developed, the head is more erect and the eyes are now closer to the front of the head. The ears are now in their final position. Even the patterning of the scalp has begun. The hearts are now pumping 25 qts. of blood each day.

Tiny bones are in place in their ears this week, making it likely that they can hear our voices. It is said that if we sing a song to them now and often, they will recognize that song after birth. Their daddy talks to them every morning and night and we have both been reading to them.

This is when I may start notice more "quickening", which is the earliest movements that feel like flutters or even popcorn popping. I *think* I felt these again on my way to work today! In the next few weeks they'll grow stronger and more frequent.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Shower Invitations!

It may seem early, but I wanted to get them done. My shower will be August 3. That will be week 25 for me. We wanted to get it done early so I am still feeling mobile enough to finish the nursery once we have all our shower goodies!

Here's the final product. We decided to go with stars and bears. Stars are something special to Christian and I and the bears... well, they're just too cute not to use. The top says: twice the blessing, twice the fun... two little miracles instead of just one!


I think my mom will be sending these out in the next 2 weeks. We figure summer is a busy time for families, so they can at least save the date :)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Started our Registries

Boy, that was a lot harder than we both thought it would be. Some of it was fun, being able to pick out all the adorable things for them, but there were so many decisions to make and soooo much stuff to look at. We registered at Babies R Us and I just started our Target registry online. The great thing is our friends and family can either buy in-store or online. We found a stroller and car seats we love, but will not be registering for them because they are only available at Sears.

We're still having trouble finding a crib. There is one we like at Babies R Us, but it's $400. If we only had to get one, that would be fine, but we need two! Our nursery furniture will most likely cost more than we spend on our own bedroom furniture. Crazy!

Next step: get the carpet priced and ordered, and get the room painted before the carpet is installed. We wanted to at least get the carpet in for our house guests that will be here the last week in July.