Soccer Mom

24 weeks (6 months)

I've been getting weekly emails from BabyCenter.com about my pregnancy. You know, the ones that tell you what fruit or veggie your baby resembles at that period of gestation. This week we have an ear of corn (she's a foot long a little more than a pound) but the most surprising bit of the email was the fact that my uterus is apparently the size of a soccer ball. Seriously?? Even though I'm definitely growing (I'll post new belly pics when Troy uploads them), I didn't think I could be big enough to fit a soccer ball in my abdominal cavity. Guess I was wrong!

Coincidentally, I will be going to a soccer game tonight. Troy has joined CASL, Raleigh's co-ed adult soccer league. I'm glad he's found a fun new activity and that he's getting to play soccer again. It's quite a workout and I'm a little jealous that he gets to run around and play while I just sit on the sidelines. I guess now I'll just be hoping they don't think I'm smuggling the balls out under my sweatshirt.

It looks like we're having a baby

As in, our house now looks like it is ready to take on a little bundle. :) Here is what the nursery looked like before:



And that was after we got the guest room furniture out of there! The gate that you see is something we purchased and put up to keep the cats out of the room. So far, so good (knock on wood).

Here's the room totally cleared out:



And here I am at 22 weeks:




Then Troy did the painting. FYI...he picked out the colors and the pink was totally his idea. He is "embracing girl stuff." I think he did a great job! We also finally got nursery furniture after deliberating on the topic for a couple of months and countless trips to Buy Buy Baby (my favorite baby store).







You can see our new ceiling fan in that last one. I read an article about how ceiling fans are the new weapon against SIDS so I had to have one in there. We also ordered the bedding set. We love it! I wish you could feel how soft it is through these pics. We will be ordering more from the set but this is a good start.





So all in all...I'm pleased! Troy has taken to calling this room "the happiest place on earth" (or HPOE for short). All that's left are the glider and about 10 tons of plastic stuff. Oh yeah, and the baby. Seventeen weeks to go!

So...much...stuff...

I was just wondering if anyone out there has any wisdom (or opinion) on baby bottles? There seem to be so many choices out there and about all I know is that they're all BPA free (or by now should be). Feel free to expound the virtues of any other tried-and-true baby products while you're at it (swings, bouncers, diapers, pumps, etc)!

Thank you in advance for the comments! :)

Baby Face

This is a picture of Baby Girl Benton's face. Troy calls them her "teddy bear" shots but I think she looks more like Skeletor...sorry baby! When the tech was pointing out her features in this one, Troy solemnly stated that she "Looks like she has a nice-shaped head." Umm...okay. I thought it was a funny first reaction to seeing your daughter!



These are kind of small but the top picture is my favorite. It's of her cute little foot! You can't see it but the technician wrote "Tarheel baby" on the picture. ;) The bottom two images are of her body (her head is the left and she's looking down and then you can see her spine and chest).

Chalk it up to the hormones...

So Troy mentioned the other day that he had read my blog and he goes, "Wow, you were really kind of rude about the name thing." Was I?? I'm sorry readers. I intended to come off funny but perhaps it was lost in the blogosphere. Please don't feel you have to walk on eggshells with me about the baby name issue. We honestly don't know what we want to name Baby Girl so when people ask if we've picked out names, I've just been saying no. I was just trying to make the point that sometimes people can be a bit too forthcoming with their opinions on names.

I like our neighbors' approach. They are having a little boy and are in our same boat about the name (they have some in mind but don't really want to share) so they made up a fake name to tell people when asked. Their fake name is "Dijon" (or "D'John"...that spelling was my idea. I think an apostrophe really makes it, you know?). [Apologies to anyone out there named Dijon or D'John...it's a great name, really.] But it is always amusing when people excitedly ask them if they've picked out names and they deadpan that they are really leaning towards Dijon. It takes people a second but then they catch on and change the subject. I think Troy and I like Ma~ (you know, pronounced "Matilda"). ;)

Halfway Mark

We're halfway there! I'm in my 20th week...I can't believe it! The time really has gone by very quickly. I'm sure the second half of my pregnancy will as well (which is a little scary because then we'll be taking care of a baby!). I still am not really feeling any fetal movement but am hopeful that that will begin soon. Troy says I'll probably be complaining about her kicking me all the time in a month but right now I'm pretty anxious to start feeling her moving around. I go back for a follow-up ultrasound in 3 weeks so they can check on the placenta previa. Hopefully it will look good and I won't need to plan on a C-section.

Next up...clearing out the nursery!