Week 19 - a Name, a Bachelorette Party, and our last Silent Night

your baby's the size of a mango!

At about 6.0 inches long and weighing in at about 8.5 ounces, she's getting there!

 

 

your baby at 19 weeks

• Developing a protective coating over her skin, called vernix caseosa. It's greasy and white and you may see some of it at her birth.
• Working on her five senses. Nerve cells for her sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell are developing in her brain.

 

First thing's first - Week 19 began with naming our baby girl, yay!!  After much consideration, we have finally decided that our sweet baby girl will be Blair "uh-LEESE". (Yes, that's a pronunciation, not a spelling, because we haven't quite settled on a spelling of her beautiful middle name yet.)  Her first name is her Daddy's middle name & her middle name just sounded pretty with it. We love it, and we love calling her by name!!

 

Last weekend, Blair & I went to a bachelorette party for Aunt Kaity. I can't disclose exactly what happened ;) but we did have lots of fun with all the girls. Here is our "before" at dinner Friday and our "after" that was taken after yoga on Saturday.

 

 

On Saturday night, Darrin & I met up with Abby, Bill & Emma to have dinner for Abby's birthday. Can you believe I haven't spent any significant amount of time with my best friend in over a year and a half!?!? It was wonderful seeing them and Emma gave Baby Blair sweet hugs!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!! Week 19 ended on Christmas day. We had a nice, quiet, stress-free, relaxing Christmas day this year - probably the last we'll have for 20+ years!  We didn't go anywhere, have any company, or do much of anything (besides eat!) and it was wonderful! (not that family and traveling aren't fun, but we've been going A LOT lately) We didn't even do gifts, because we didn't have much of a wish list other than things for baby girl. :)  Can I just say, I did NOT miss the mall this year?!

 

A glimpse at Barton Christmas 2013...

Our puppy friend Sami and little Sully Bear were cuddled up with us on the couch all day! The bottom is a nice shot of Sully's big booty, Daddy's feet, and a sliver of baby Blair relaxing by the tree and watching A Christmas story. I stared at this sweet view for about 2 hours.

Pregnancy-isms: Headaches, cramps, and EMOTIONS. That about sums me up at week 19!!

Baby Blair is getting bigger!!

Tomorrow we have our 20 week appointment and ultrasound. We can't wait to see your wiggly little self again!! :)

Love,
DB, Jamie & Baby Blair

Week 18 - Christmas Parties galore!

your baby's the size of a sweet potato!

She's about 5.6 inches long and about 6.7 ounces now and she keeps on growing rapidly. (That's why you're probably feeling so hungry.) Of course, I'm ALWAYS hungry.

your baby at 18 weeks

• Can you believe she's yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing? Yes, we saw her swallowing!!
• And she's twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, too -- and she's big enough that you might be able to feel her doing it! No, I haven't felt her kicking yet, but it's just a matter of time.

Here we are at 18 Weeks!

Maybe the fact that I haven't felt her yet means she's little and will not be a 10 pound baby?  Ha!  I can dream, right?  We have had a ton of Christmas parties lately and we went to our 3rd and 4th this weekend.  (One with our friends - "The Crew" - and one for Crawford...also with "The Crew".)  We love Crawford and the fact that Daddy works there with his best friends. 

The Crawford Guys - I'm a big fan of this one on the right ;)

All the sweet wives. Hannah, in purple, is expecting too and her baby will be just 6 weeks older than ours!

The only thing I really have to report is that I still have no brain and I'm now at 7.5 pounds weight gain since the beginning.  Daddy loves to laugh at me when I eat and my belly sticks out!  haha

There is one more Christmas party coming up this week and tonight is the big Christmas musical at our church!  You better be singing out with me, little girl, I know you've heard these songs a million times!! :)  Oh, and this weekend, you're going to your first Bachelorette Party.  Woo hoo!!!!

17 Weeks - My little Ruffle Princess

your baby's the size of an onion!

Baby continues to beef up. Now she's about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces.

 

your baby at 17 weeks

• Her rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone.
• And she's growing some meat on those bones -- putting on some fat.
• She's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord, too.

 

Week 17 Bad color choice on the shirt, it's kind of hard to see.

 

Sorry, but I am so late on this Week 17 post, that I don't really remember any "pregnancy-isms" other than IT'S A GIRL!!!! :) :) :) And while this actually happened on Week 18, we went to a couples shower for Aunt Kaity and Uncle Craig this past weekend and stopped at Aggieland Outfitters to get our little Princess her first girly girl outfit & hair bow from us...

 

It has ruffles on the butt!! :)

Eeek! I can't want to dress her up!! Also, I'm obsessed with ruffles right now, so I'm sure they will find their way into EVERYTHING - her curtains, bedskirt, pillows, socks, etc.  This is going to be too fun. ;)

IT'S A .....!!!!!!

Week 17 kicked off with our big gender appointment!!  I posted the day before with predictions of what little Baby Barton is and some of the Old Wives' Tales.  Between Darrin, our family and friends, and Facebook predictions, the votes were overwhelmingly for our Little Love being a little boy.  I still had no feelings one way or the other.

At Thanksgiving, we gave our families this homemade scratch off card...

Everyone was told that they would know the gender as soon as they started scratching off, but after they scratched the box completely, they would also know our little baby's NAME! :) Everyone said "Wow! I can't believe y'all have already agreed on names!"

The morning of our big appointment! Can this count as my Week 16 pic? It was only 2 days into Week 17. :)

The ultrasound was pretty quick, but it was awesome to see our little one wiggling around and so much more developed than before (last u/s was at 9 weeks and wasn't nearly as clear).  The spine was very defined and we could see the little feet and TOES!  We could even see that the little one had its hands tucked back behind its head.  The tech pointed out that she could see the little baby's mouth opening to swallow fluid and we could watch it go down the throat and swirl around in the stomach.  It was amazing!  After a few mins she said "Ok, are you ready to know what it is!?" and then she said... "It's a little GIRL!!"  Whoa!!!!  Honestly, we were shocked.  About a million things ran through my mind, but I couldn't even tell you what they were, it was kind of a blur.  How amazing! :)

The ultrasound tech was so nice and took these pictures for us.

Darrin is already wrapped around her little finger!! :) I can just see him with painted fingernails having a tea party at a table the height of his shins.  haha!!  I hope I can be even half the mother and friend that my amazing Mom is to me, and I know she will be the ultimate Daddy's girl ...much like her mommy.  :)  We are so blessed with amazing parents and can't wait to be the same kind of parents to our little girl!!!

 

So, for the big question - what is her name?!  Well, take a closer look at our scratch off card...

 

"No girl name needed...we're sure this baby is a boy."

Truth be told, we were having trouble committing to a girl name and we were so certain that it was a boy that we figured this box would never get scratched.  You'll just have to wait a little longer to find out what she will be called! :)

Thanks for loving our baby GIRL!!

16 Weeks - A Special Boy vs Girl Edition!

My 16 week post is a smidge late. What isn't late, when it comes to me!? Due to Thanksgiving travel and Darrin being gone for 4 days on a hunting trip there is no weekly picture this week. I just absolutely do not do selfies, sorry! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and happiness and kicking off the Christmas season. We saw all of our immediate families, traveled to Austin to see most of my Dad's extended family on Thanksgiving day and got to have some fun with our totally awesome little nieces (they really are the best!) Our hearts are truly overflowing this year with thankfulness! The icing on the cake? This year Thanksgiving fell on our 4th anniversary. I can't think of a more appropriate day to celebrate our marriage. Every single day is better than the day before, and this is the greatest life we could've ever imagined!! So, in the true spirit of how my heart feels right now, THIS is my 16 week picture:

Thank you Blessed By Grace Photography for this beautiful picture that I treasure. And everyone act surprised if it shows up on our Christmas cards! :)

Week 16 - your baby's the size of an avocado!

Now, she's about 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces, and she's big enough that your doctor may be able to hear her heartbeat. (I find this statement odd because we've been able to HEAR the heartbeat since week 9.)

your baby at 16 weeks

• She's listening to your voice, thanks to tiny bones forming in her ears.
• She's growing hair, lashes and eyebrows.
• And she's forming taste buds.

Tomorrow is the big gender appointment!! Here are some of the common Old Wives Tales and where we fall. Only a few more hours until we know for sure and I CANNOT wait!!

Morning Sickness? None!! (Boy)

Cravings - sweet vs. salty? Mostly sweet, although I do always want cheese! (Girl, or boy?)

Carrying low vs. high? Low....I think?? (Boy)

Pregnancy "glow" and skin condition? Although my sweet husband claims I've got the glow, I've got some pretty terrible skin going on right now. (Girl)

Side sleeping - left vs. right? Left, always. (Boy)

My feet, colder or warmer? Warmer (Girl)

Clumsy or graceful? SUPER clumsy! (Boy)

Chinese calendar? Which is supposedly 90% accurate (Girl)

Headaches? Yup :( (Boy)

Daddy's prediction? 100% from day 1 it's a BOY!

Mommy's prediction? I don't have a clue, I just hope it's only 1 baby!!

Tune into Facebook Friday evening to find out for sure! :)

Love, the Barton three

15 weeks - Happy Thanksgiving!

 

your baby's the size of a navel orange!

The average fetus at 15 weeks weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 4 inches -- and his proportions are becoming even more normal, since his legs now outmeasure his arms. 

 

your baby at 15 weeks

• You probably can't feel it yet, but she's squirming a ton!
• She might even be hiccuping in there.
• She's making lots of progress: her joints and limbs can all move now.

 

  

We're 15 weeks now and it feels like time is starting to move faster! We've been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and all of the family we will get to see. (Ahem, I've been busy on little "projects" that just have to be completed before I see anyone again.) We have a fun little gender reveal surprise we made that we are going to hand out at Thanksgiving - can you believe we are only 9 days away from finding out the gender!? We've also been soaking up, literally SOAKING, this awesome winter weather. Hey, Jack! You take what you can get in this part of the world! Darrin has built us THREE fires just this week!!! :) They're beautiful!

 

*LOVE*

As for pregnancy updates:

We're now up a good 4.5 lbs and that doesn't seem to be going back down any! :) 

My headaches are back and have brought with them some stuffiness and a heavy head. It may just be the weather, though. It is quite the challenge finding medicine I'm allowed to take right now!

My energy level is up some which is great, because I've got lots on my to-do list. 

 

Here we are:

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Love,

The Bartons

 

Week 14 - 2nd Trimester, Crazy Dreams, & Ill-Fitting Clothing

We're 14 weeks and officially out of the first trimester by anyone's standards. Some say after 12 weeks and some say after 13. 13 makes most sense to me, so I'll go with that. We are nearing the big gender appointment and I'm getting so anxious. I am starting to have crazy/silly dreams about what you are, but they keep going back and forth from girl to boy though so I don't think it means anything. I just can't wait to refer to you as something that isn't "it"! Daddy is certain that you're a boy and I think you may be too. My coworkers say I look like I'm carrying as if you're a boy (whatever that means!) and I am wearing a blue shirt this week. Who knows!? In other news, I've outgrown most regular clothes now and haven't quite grown into maternity clothes fitting correctly. I wish I could wear yoga pants everyday!!! Well, that's no different than normal. I'm sending a little different development update this time, because I like this one from Everyday Family a little better. Enjoy!

By week 14, your baby is around the size of a lemon, measuring about three and a half inches and weighing one and a half ounces. Her body also starts to even out this week, as her arms and head are finally proportionate to the rest of her body. Her hands and feet now measure about a half-inch long, and are actively punching and kicking inside you. Don't be alarmed if you can't feel this movement, it's too small for you to feel.

Your baby is also busy making facial expressions by week 14. He can squint his eyes, and his lips can turn into a frown. His neck has grown longer, and his chin has started to take shape. You baby’s kidneys can produce urine, and his liver has begun to produce bile. 

Weekly Picture - Week 14

Mommy & Daddy being silly at Gavin's Ring Dunk Friday night. They say it's "sympathy weight" but I think he looks great! (I promise I don't intentionally arch my back this bad all the time, I guess it's just habit!)

Bridesmaids at Aunt Kaity's bridal shower on Saturday. She's such a pretty little bride and we're so excited for her big day!

Week 13

 

your baby's the size of a peach!

She's about 2.9 inches long and weighs about .81 ounces, and -- proportion-wise -- her head's now about 1/3 the size of her body (remember? It used to be bigger!).

 

your baby at 13 weeks

- Can you believe she's forming vocal cords and teeth?!

- And even though she's still teeny, she already has fingerprints.

- Her intestines are moving from the umbilical cord to their more permanent place, in her tummy

 

 

 

We have reached week 13 and should be basically in the clear on further complications from the hematoma - yay!! We went back for our 12 week appointment last Tuesday and the little heartbeat was good so we didn't have to do any further ultrasounds or tests. I even got released to work out again and run participate in the 5k I had signed up for on Sunday!

 

Pre-Race photo of Team Hullabaloo Crew at the Walk by Faith 5k this Sunday. Little Love's first race!!

Week 13 Facts

Weight Gain: 3 pounds

Most exciting moment: Hearing our sweet baby's heartbeat

Most anticipated activity: got to return to my Body Flow class yesterday, ah!! And running the 5k with family, and our big 4th Anniversary date tonight (which really has nothing to do with pregnancy but I love my hubby and we love Josh Groban).

Energy: Increased, but only slightly. Like maybe up to a 2 from about a 1/2 :)

Other symptoms: I have started feeling full off of less food than before, finally! Also, I've started getting daily headaches, ugh {TGF Extra Strength Tylenol}

 

13 Weeks - we're all fancy for our big date with BabyDaddy tonight :)

Love,

The Barton Three

Halloween & Week 12

 

your baby's the size of a plum!

The average fetus at 12 weeks is about 2.1 inches long and .49 ounces. Now that she's got pretty much all her parts, her main job is to keep on growing.

your baby at 12 weeks

• Most of her critical systems are fully formed!
• She's about to enter the growth and maturation stage, in which her organs and tissues will grow and develop rapidly.
• She's now developing her reflexes -- if you poke her body, she'll likely move.
• She's opening and closing her fingers and curling her toes, too.
• Her brain is developing fast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's pretty amazing to think that our Little Love has almost finished forming and starting to just grow, grow, grow! (Or if you're like Mom, you may just grow a little.) Some days it seems like we're flying through and other days, it feels like it just isn't happening fast enough.  I wonder what you'll be (boy or girl!?), what you'll look like, whose personality you'll have, what your interests will be, will we really convince you that Texas A&M is the only college worth attending? :)  Ok, maybe the last one is a little much - just go to college, please! I get so excited to think about the future with our Little Love! :) Your Daddy is really excited too - he's probably more anxious than even I am to meet you! (But that's just because I haven't finished started your room yet.) 

 

Week 12 technically started on Halloween day.  This year I dressed up for the first time in more years than I can remember. Originally, this was going to be how I announced to my coworkers that I was expecting, but I am too impatient to keep that secret so they already knew. :)

 

Made with Love - I'm sure it's just the first of many homemade costumes!

 

Belly view - pregnant skeleton

Family Halloween picture - Sully was an alligator and Darrin was a non-participant! haha Sully's costume was so stinkin' cute, but it's nearly impossible to get him to sit still for a picture.

I've experienced some of the typical pregnancy "symptoms" for this stage, (like fatigue & acne - ugh!) but still no nausea or weird cravings (& that's ok!). My weight gain hasn't spiraled out of control yet - I am sitting around 0-3 extra pounds depending on when I weigh myself. Feeling great and looking forward to a follow up doctor visit tomorrow. I can't wait to hear your strong heartbeat again and put our minds at ease about the situation with the hematoma. We love you and we are praying for you!!!

 

12 Week picture - sorry for the sleepy looking smile!

Love,

The Bartons

Week 11 - late, of course!

We're halfway through week 12 already! In the chaos of making a Halloween costume and cupcakes, dip, etc. last week I never got around to posting a week 11 picture or info.  Here's what we did last week:

 

your baby's the size of a lime!

Your fetus is about 1.6 inches long, and she's got about a 1:1 head to body ratio. She now weighs in at about .25 ounces.

your baby at 11 weeks

• You can't see it, but she's moving fluidly and gracefully in there.
• Her skin is see-through, but she's on her way to looking more like a baby.
• Her fingers and toes aren't webbed anymore.
• Tooth buds, hair follicles and nail beds are forming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for our week 11 picture:

 

 

Love, The Barton Trio

 

 Week 12 to follow....today! :)

Week 10: Bulging Buttons!

Baby's now the size of a prune!

With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will start working too.)

 

Now, she's about 1.2 inches long and weighs about .14 ounces. Her body length will almost double in the next three weeks.

 

• Baby has working arm joints, and her cartilage and bones are forming.
• Her vital organs are fully developed and they're starting to function.
• Her fingernails and hair are starting to appear, too.
• Plus, she's swallowing and kicking in there. (Can you believe it?!)

 

 

Holy bulging buttons!!! This week I felt bigger! My pants that I used to safety pin on now sit just fine without pins. And I think you can say it shows..

 

 

See how the buttons are pulling apart!? I promise it looked worse in person. :)

 

I don't really have any other updates, I still feel fine, have no strange cravings and could easily fall asleep standing up. And somehow, the weight gain is still at 1 pound. I think this whole not working out thing (because of the hematoma) is making the little bit of muscle I had before turn to fat. :-P

 

Thanks for your love & prayers!

 

-The Bartons

A Dramatic 9th Week

Week 9 is technically over now and that is just fine with us, it was quite the dramatic and scary week!  Without going into too much detail, I started to experience dangerous symptoms during the A&M vs. Ole Miss - in Mississippi - and was rushed away to a Mississippi hospital, via ambulance.  Talk about a traumatic experience!  I was sent almost immediately to ultrasound where they took about a million pictures and then turned the sound on for us to hear the heart beating!!  I bawled like a baby - we were so relieved!!!  The outcome of all of this is that I have a larger than normal subchorionic hematoma (a type of hemorrhage) between the placenta and the wall of the uterus.  Basically, this has been known to cause miscarriage, but more often they resolve themselves (the body absorbs them or they bleed out).  A follow up with my doctor on Tuesday put our minds much more at ease as she seemed far more optimistic of a healthy pregnancy moving forward and we got to hear the little heartbeat again through the fetal heart monitor (I think that's what it's called?)  I am still limited on exercise, lifting, and more strenuous physical activity, but was released to go back to work and live a relatively normal life for the time being.  Please pray with us that we get through the next 2-3 weeks without further concern.  My doctor said after you get through week 12, there is less than a 1% chance of complications.

So, here is my slightly delayed growth post for week 9:



your baby's the size of a green olive!

She's gaining steam! At 9 weeks, your fetus measures around .9 inches and weighs about .07 ounces.

 

 your baby at 9 weeks

• This is a milestone. She's no longer an embryo -- now she's a fetus!
• She's developing more distinct facial features.
• And she might now have a strong enough heartbeat to be picked up by a fetal doppler. (We know this is true - got to hear it TWICE!!! :))

Me & Little Love at week 9...ish. :)

 

Thank you for your prayers!!

Love,

Darrin, Jamie & Baby Barton