Week 23

We are getting really big now! there is nothing at all i can posssibly wear now that hides the fact that this little boy is coming in a few months.lol.
My belly button has officially vanished, i had a serious innie which is now, becomming an outie, it completely flush with my skin and is starting to raise depending on the time of the day and if i have eaten.
Everyday i battle with itchy stretching skin on my stomach which can be really annoying if it doesnt stop. I am trying everything i can to make it stop though! I think i will inevitably end up with stretch marks, my mum got them, and i just feel like my skin is not going to handle it at all. I have never been any kind of "weighty" and even putting on a few kgs when we moved to Golburn i got tiny faint lines on my hips...my stomach now is taking a beating i'm sure and it will be obvious soon enough. ugh :(
Aaron is always talking to Carter (well mumbling something at least) haha. I'm sure they know whats going on even though i dont half the time. Daddy secrets!
Carter is kicking up a storm now days! It seems like he never stops to sleep sometimes.I still love it though, its so comforting every time he makes a movement because it reminds me he is there, alive and doing at least something.lol.The kicks are very strong now and can be felt by anyone whenever he starts up.
He has clearly moved up inside too because my poor ribs and lungs have had so much pressure on them all the time and its getting very hard to wear a bra, or even sit on the couch without reclining at least a little.
I am up to 60kgs, so i have put on in total maybe 6kgs so far. This is quite good and doesn't worry me in the least since its so far along into the pregnancy.
Things are getting organised for my baby shower as we speak.Everything got 'effed up with the first plans due to a certain person and her drama, but its coming together again now and should be worked out soon!
Family still arent being talked to, or heard from which is quite upsetting for us both. I guess alot of the time we just wonder how there are going to be decent role models in Carters life when people are too stubborn, or peeved off about anything and everything to reflect on him well and teach him how things are and how they work and how people should be towards one another.
In so many ways, a few of the people in our lives are making things so hard and making us both so miserable, and not to mention confused by their actions.
Hopefully things will settle and go back to normal and we can really enjoy this time with EVERYONE, not just the ones who are involving themselves directly (which BTW thank you, for those who are, it means alot!).
I keep getting told this is meant to be the happiest time of our lives...whoever first said that...i really think they may have been on crack.heh.

Week 23
Proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since he hasn't begun to form body fat.
Bones located in the middle ear harden.
Your baby is able to hear. (Dads, did you know: low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice?)
The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
If born now, your baby has a 15% chance of survival, his odds going up with each passing day.
The average baby at this stage weighs 1.1 pound (501gm) and is 11.38 inches (28.9cm) long.

22 weeks.

We moved house this week. We are still living with mum and Iain but we moved into a nice house with more space etc.
Carter now has his own little room, which hopefully we can set up in the next month or so to see what we still need to buy.
We no longer have our massive TV in our bedroom either which is fantastic.
I am happy and pleased to have a wonderful kitchen to cook in since i prefer doing that to just knocking stuff up or going out to eat.
We should have some good times here.
But of course, its still only temporary for us, in our minds at least. Once Carter is here and i am doing better after the c-section and we know what its like to have a newborn etc, the search will be on for our own place and a decision on where we want to move our little family to.
But for now, we are here and making things work :)

Aside from that, there has been nothing but drama with my Dad and his GF this week! Plans got fucked around because "she" isnt happy with a few situations (that in everyone who knows abouts, opinion, she shouldnt even have an opinion as yet).
I mean its been bad enough that Aaron has had a hard time with a few things on his side that he is still very very upset and angry about, but now mine had to start too?? It seems like it never ends, and it seems like people will never change.
It seems like really, that's life, like it or not.
Anyways, we have our baby on the way, and all we really care about is his health and the health of both of us. I think so much of either of us thought we would need more help than we have gotten, not financially, but emotionally through this as we haven't stepped foot in these new waters before ever.
But it turns out, the more and more that Aaron and i talk, that we realise we can do this alot more on our own. I think we are going to be great parents, i really do, we are forever discussing how we would like things to be, what sort of an upbringing we are going to try and give him, and certain goals we would like to achieve that we consider to make good parents.
I'm very excited to be doing this with him, and he is getting more and more excited as the days go by which is even more exciting for me again! lol.
I think our little boy is going to go ok, i think he is going to get all the knowledge he needs for life from both of our experiences. we have both had very different upbringings, and very different childhoods and teen years, different friends and interests. He is going to get alot from both of us and i hope he loves us for it all.
Some cute cothes we have ought for him, he will look like such a little man.

Week 22
Your baby weighs close to a pound at this point!
Your baby can now hear your conversations more clearly than before!. When you talk, read, or sing, expect her to hear you. Studies have found that newborns will suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero.
Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
Be prepared for all those "Why" questions coming! Your baby's brain has entered a stage of rapid growth, especially in what's called the germinal matrix. This structure deep in the middle of the brain serves as a kind of factory for brain cells and disappears shortly before birth. But the brain's amazing expansion program continues until around the five birthday.
With some help from mom, baby's liver is starting to break down bilirubin, a substance produced by red blood cells.
If your baby is male his testes begin their descent to the scrotum.
Primitive sperm have formed and he is producing testosterone.
Length is 10.94 inches (27.8cm); weight is nearly 1 pound (430gm).

21 weeks.

It was a busy week for us this week.We had two appointments, first was with the GC hospital, to register in and to discuss a few options and my medical history from the operations etc.
WHAT A WASTE OF THE ENTIRE MORNING FOR US!!
I officially cannot stand the GC hospital, and really wish i had another choice of where to go to have this little boy.After sitting for about 2 hours, having some god awful jealous stares from other pregnant woman without partners there because we are quite close and have fun and smile and are genuinely excited, we were finally seen by a midwife (who had a medical student with her)...she got me on a table and tried to find Carter's heartbeat by the Doppler...she obviously had no idea for a while what was going on as there was nothing but gushing waters sounds...in my head i was laughing, because i could feel him kicking around and knew he was OK.She decided the machine was crap, and as soon as she did this there was the sound i had not heard yet...his little heart beating away.It was in a healthy range of the 150's and sounded so amazing.I had been waiting to hear it as none of my Dr's visits had my Dr used a Doppler at all as they are always u/s.
The med student then tried to get my fundal length and apparently it was spot on...again, not too sure he knew what he was doing let alone if it was right or not.
A long story short, she scheduled me in for 36 weeks to arrange the c-section and delivery...yes, nothing in between?? Apparently i just need to see my Dr as he is taking most of the care of me...We wont even go into just how pissed off both Aaron and i were about the whole situation and the way they were approaching it. I mean there are so many risks associated with this pregnancy, and they are dealing with it in a way of basically waiting until i am going into labour to decide what to do.No prep or reassurance for us beforehand, no, just hey, IF you make it to 36 weeks, we will see you then, if not, here is the emergency door, make your way there and we will deal with it then! ha!
Then we went up stair and had a little tour around, the lady that did this with us was so full of everything bean like it wasn't even funny, so.much.energy!
She then sat us down and discussed a little about what my history was, what i thought my options were....blah blah blah, then proceeded to tell me, or suggest to me that i try to have a normal vaginal birth????!!!
yes, yes....that's going to be wise now isn't it.
She asked me if that's what i would want, (which of course, yes, if i HAD A CHOICE that's what i would do, no correction IF I HAD A CHOICE i would have my baby at home without the hospital, without drugs and without a complication in the world), but no, i said, for 12 years i have been told, by 4 separate Dr's that i WILL NOT be having, nor should try to have, a vaginal birth as it is impossible.
She then proceeded to ask Aaron what his opinion was on the subject and of course, knowing my history also, he had the same things to say as i did.
She would not let up on this at all and even until we left was still in suggestion mode for it...clearly not understanding the situation, nor bothering to check my history to see that the option is not even there.UGH! M.O.R.O.N.S!
Anyway, we left the hospital completely dissatisfied, but at least have an idea of the way things may go down, that being of course, that we will probably not have the greatest time with these people when this baby boy is ready to come into the world.
The next day i had my regular appointment with my Dr, my cervix looked good, baby was doing his thing, and Dr Dunn was not at all surprised by the way we were treated at the hospital.
I now see him on the 20th, and then every 2 weeks after that until i hit 32 or so weeks, then weekly (unless something goes wrong beforehand), he will relay as much information as he can tot he morons at the hospital, and we will just keep our fingers crossed that Carter stays in there until he is Due so we don't have to deal with them in between.

Week 21
White blood cells are under production. Leukocytes (or white blood cells) form our body's defense system. They help fight infections and diseases. Your little one's skin has changed from translucent to become more opaque. Your infant's tongue is fully formed. If you were able to peek you might catch your son or daughter practicing giving you a raspberry! If your baby is a girl, her womb and vagina are formed. Unlike males, females have a limited supply of eggs in their lifetime. At this point your daughter will have 6 million eggs. This amount decreases to approximately one million by birth. Baby swallows more this week. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. This is good practice for his digestive system! Wake and sleep periods become more consistent. Some research suggests that baby sets her internal clock to match the outside world's even before birth! Your eating and sleeping habits as well levels of light and noise serve as her signals. Length is now measured crown to heel. Baby measures about 10.51 inches (26.7cm) and weighs nearly 12.7 ounces (360g).

20 weeks.

Week 20

Your halfway there!

The rapid growth stage is about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival.
The baby's heart grows stronger. Find a quiet place, lay flat on your back. Locate your own heartbeat by finding your pulse. Next lay your hand on your belly. You may be able to distinguish the two heartbeats!
His legs are reaching their relative size. With the increase muscle develop occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon!
Immunities are being transferred from you to your baby now. These immune cells will protect her from viruses you've already had for up to six months after birth!
The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections.
Your baby may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, she can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds that baby becomes accustomed to during her development stages often are calming after birth.
If your baby is a girl, her uterus is starting to develop. She has approximately six million eggs in her ovaries. About one million will remain at birth.
Baby is about 6.46 inches (16.4cm) and weighs around 10.58 ounces (300g).

ITS A BOY!!

and...is name will be... 'Carter James Thomas' :)

I know i'm the mummy and i'm meant to think no matter what that my baby is the most beautiful thing on earth, but it really wouldn't matter if i was or not, this little guy has the cutest profile i have ever seen! lol. look at that little button nose and those little lips?? I just know i'm going to have to turns girls away from the house when he is older :P
Anyways...it turns out everyone around us apart from 2 people were all wrong. We are having a little boy! Everyone had been convinced it was a girl, Aaron was still convinced he was having a son, and i was still going backwards and forwards not knowing, just hoping.We wanted a boy, from the word go, we wanted a little man.And we got him! :) We could not be more happy about it.We had our anatomy scan this week and everything looked perfect, he seems right on track, and healthy and just really doing great in there on his own.We confirmed it was a boy, (after me seeing ti the other day at my Dr's office) and it hasn't changed.it was fantastic, apart from the fact that Aaron and i HATED the tech nothing could be faulted.He was moving around so much.The tech had a bit of trouble trying to get all the detail she needed for the heart etc.He has decided he likes to lay exactly like mummy does...he was head behind my belly button, legs going down near my bladder, and feet crossed, arms up near his ears. it was so cute!I had to empty my bladder and then twist to get him to move.he was comfy!lol.we saw him breath in fluid a few times which was great to see too.Aaron, mum and Iain were all there for this and were very pleased to see him healthy and doing his thing.We got some good pictures from it.In other news, i got myself a nasty Kidney infection this week and had been in a good fair amount of pain with it for 2 nights in a row before i couldn't take it any longer(the pain can be really unbearable!!) and took myself to the Dr and he gave me some antibiotics for it.Hopefully it gets better because it is really horrible.We did some more shopping this week also and bought alot more stuff for little Carter, we saved a bit of money although we spent alot too.We really wont buy too much more stuff now until after the baby shower (which is pending, waiting on me to get the all clear to travel down to my home town in a month or so first).I am definitely feeling him move now!! i was sitting on the lounge and felt something then lifted my shirt and could actually see the kicks move my belly.This has been constant now since that day and its very reassuring, even if its hours between the movement, it tells me he is there and doing stuff at least.The reason i may not have been feeling him by now is because we determined ta the u/s the other day that i have an anterior placenta, which means that the placenta is in the front not the back so basically he has more to kick through, so i wont feel as much.Outside of all the baby stuff, Aaron managed to finally get himself a job which could not have come at a better time, we were running out of savings, and everything is getting more and more expensive now. Things are turning around again and its great!

Week 19
Your baby has the same awake and sleep patterns of a newborn. He has a favorite position for sleep and recognizable active and rest periods. Throughout baby's body, nerves are being coated with a fatty substance called myelin, which insulates the nerves so that impulses can flow smoothly. Scalp hair becomes apparent this week. It has sprouted and continues to grow. The milk teeth buds have already developed and over the next few days the buds for the permanent teeth will begin to form behind the milk teeth. If baby is female the uterus starts to develop. If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place. If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable. Your baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and his or her kidneys are making urine. Your little one's size is around 6.02 inches (15.3cm) and 8.47 ounces (240gm).