Week 25

This week Baby Sonny is 9 inches from head to rump (and 13.5 inches head to toe) and weighs about 1.5 pounds. He is roughly the size of a large rutabaga.  I'm not sure how large a rutabaga actually is...  Baby Sonny is starting to turn more pink because more and more capillaries are forming under his skin. His nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, are starting to open up this week. This allows him to start taking practice breaths! Baby Sonny is also growing more hair and if we could see him now we could discern its color and texture.

Thanksgiving was a nice relaxed meal with my parents and my brother. I then went to work for the overnight shift while Jeff drove to NH for a second Thanksgiving meal. I joined him on Friday after a short nap and enjoyed the weekend with the Sonneborn clan. I got a great start on my Christmas shopping and bought a nice sweater for myself too :)

On Sunday Jeff and I engaged in a heated disagreement. I hate to admit it but he was right. The argument reinforced what I already know and love about Jeff. He has strong principals and stands by them. He puts other people in front of himself. He doesn't like to accept things from other people because he prefers to be self sufficient. And he truly is the most selfless person I know.

Right now I'm terrified of being a mom. As ridiculous as this sounds, I'm most terrified of the responsibility of being a mother, of having a little tiny person completely dependent on me. And there's no turning back, Baby Sonny will be here in 3.5 months. I am completely in love with Baby Sonny and so far my love far outweighs the terror, but I still have it like a pit in my stomach.

A small highlight this week has been using FaceTime on the iPad. I talked to Kristen this way and even gave her a quick tour of our place! And then Jeff surprised Brian with a FaceTime call and the two were laughing for the majority of the conversation.  It's really fun and possibly addicting.

Sunday brunch: I ate the baby's weight in pancakes and eggs :)

Child Care

We have our first appointment to view a child care center on Monday, yikes! Reality is setting in. It's the child care center at my hospital and one mile from Jeff's school. The biggest plus I've heard from coworkers at SFH is that mom can run over for a quick kiss on her lunch break. Might make leaving my little man a little easier. I'm already getting teary eyed thinking about leaving him with someone else :(

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for my family for their unconditional love and support.

I'm thankful for my friends near and far.

I'm thankful for a great job and supportive colleagues.

I'm thankful that so far I've had a healthy pregnancy.

Most of all I'm thankful for a smart and loving husband who is going to be a fantastic father soon.

Week 24

This week Baby Sonny is about 8.5 inches from head to rump and weighs about 1.5 pounds.  He is roughly the size of an ear of corn.  His beautiful face is already fully formed.  Around this time he can tell upside down from rightside up.  His brain is growing quickly and his taste buds are continuing to develop.  His lungs are starting to develop the branches of his respiratory tree and he continues to produce surfactant that will help him breath in the outside world.  His skin is still very thin and translucent.  Right now he is working on fattening up ;)

No real excitement this past week.  On Saturday, Jeff, Jack and I went to the West Hartford Reservoirs for a long walk.  The land preserve contains 3000 acres, 6 reservoirs, and 30 miles of paved or gravel walking trails.  Jeff and I had a nice time and the dog loved sniffing around the trails and meeting new dogs.  We look forward to more walks there, in the near future and when Baby Sonny arrives.

On Saturday night all three of us went to my parent's house for dinner.  While my mom was cooking Baby Sonny was very active, so my mom got to feel Baby Sonny kick AND she could see him move around!  It was great that Baby Sonny was so cooperative and entertaining.  On Sunday Jeff's parents stopped by on their drive from Kiawah to Rye.  We had a quick dinner together before they were on their way again.

I am also a bit jealous of Jeff (ok, super jealous).  He has the entire week off for Thanksgiving!  Lucky Duck!  He works hard studying every week and still manages to care for me by cooking dinner and cleaning, so he definitely deserves a nice break.

Mover and a shaker

Baby Sonny is certainly a mover and a shaker! He loves to move around my belly in any way possible. Jeff has been able to feel kicks for the past week or so, but now you can SEE Baby Sonny kick my belly. Actually, you can see him kick, punch, wiggle, and squirm across my belly! It's also interesting to learn that he has certain intervals during the day when he is more active than other times. He has an awake period around 8:30-9:30am, again in the early afternoon, and again at night from 9-10pm. He probably has other awake times, but those are the intervals I've come to know the best.

Sometimes I think I can tell which side of my belly he is lying on. I'm guessing that I'm feeling his back. Call me crazy but when I watch TV I rub my belly where I visualize his back being :)

Week 23

Baby Sonny is currently eight inches long from head to rump and weighs just over a pound, he is approximately the size of a papaya.  In the next 4 weeks Baby Sonny should double in weight.  His skin is reddish in color now because of developing blood vessels under the skin.  His cochlea (inner ear) is fully developed, which will help him hear when Jeff and I talk to him.  He might even hear Jack bark occasionally.

Not much new this week, but I have to mention that I have really been enjoying the attention that comes with being pregnant.  On Monday when I walked onto the general surgery floor, Darcy (a general surgery nurse) walked over to me to say hello, rub my belly, and greet Baby Sonny.  As I walked down the hall, I was stopped over and over again by the nurses on the floor to touch my belly.  I loved all of the attention!  I ate it up!!!

This weeks photo: Thanks for the new stroller Oma and Opa!

Maternity Tour

Today Jeff and I took the Maternity Tour at St. Francis. It was a neat look behind locked doors. Even though I am a hospital employee, the birth center, NICU, and postpartum units are usually off limits to me. We were met by a very friendly nurse and started our tour in the birthing center. We toured an actual birthing room and went over all of the equipment and potential staff that will be in the room during delivery. Afterwards we toured the level III NICU and then the postpartum unit. The birthing center favors rooming in, meaning that Baby Sonny will spend the entire day and night with us! If we are over tired or over worked, we can ask for Baby Boy to spend time in the nursery. The rooms are all private, thank goodness! A few have queen size beds so Dad can get a reasonable night's sleep instead of sleeping on the pull out sofa (also offered in each room). Jeff's favorite part of the tour was learning that the food service is menu based like being at a restaurant (he was kidding but it's pretty cool). I'm really happy we went and I'm already looking forward to our birthing classes in January.

Week 22: Back Home

This week Baby Sonny is now weighing over one pound! From head to rump, he is about eight inches long. Baby Sonny is developing his sense of touch, and also learning how to grip. Eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed, and more hair is sprouting on top of his head. My baby book says that hair at this stage is bright white, how strange!


Yesterday Jeff and I were finally able to return to our apartment in West Hartford. We lost power for approximately 10 days. In the meantime, we stayed with Hannah and Matt in Branford. We had a lot of fun hanging out every day, hopefully we didn't overstay our welcome :) And we spent the weekend again in New Hampshire visiting Jeff's parents and seeing his friends. My parents got the good news yesterday that their power was restored. And shortly after, we received the news that we had power as well! Woohoo! It was so exciting to sleep in our own bed again!

Today I had the day off, the last day in my 4-day weekend.  I woke up to Baby Sonny kicking.  And then for the next few minutes he had the hiccups.  I could feel his whole body shake every few seconds, and this occurred about 15-20 times.  And then as soon as the hiccups started, they subsided.  Thank goodness it didn't last longer, poor baby!

The best part of my week (second to having power and returning to the apartment), was finally deciding on bedding for Baby Sonny. I felt that a lot of baby bedding was, well, really baby-ish. This lucky duck is getting custom bedding courtesy of Etsy!  For those of you who haven't heard of Etsy, it is a website http://www.etsy.com that sells all different products that are handmade by various people and small businesses across the country.  Aunt Judy has a website for selling her jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/seajules, check it out!

22 Weeks and still smiling!

I know the bedding looks a little wild, and a little retro.  Baby Sonny is getting a quilt made of the owl pattern and other animals with green accents, a crib skirt in the owl print, and then other accessories in the owl and stripe prints.

Stroller

Our stroller arrived in the mail, thanks Oma and Opa! It arrived in two boxes, but without heat and power we are waiting to assemble it. I think Baby Boy Sonny can wait a few days.

Week 21

This week Baby Boy Sonny is about seven inches from head to rump and weighs about 11 ounces, our baby is roughly the length of a banana. Baby Sonny has started to swallow, which is helping him develop taste buds. Hopefully Baby Sonny is enjoying all of the food I've been eating this week! Baby Sonny has been moving around quite a bit lately. I've felt lots of kicks. Most nights I go to bed and lay down with a hand on my belly waiting for Baby Sonny to kick. Jeff will place a hand on my belly too, but I'm not convinced Jeff is able to feel the kicks yet.

You may have noticed that I got braces this week as well. It's uncomfortable but it will be worth it in the end.

It's been an interesting week. Thursday was Jeff's 30th Birthday! Sadly, Jeff had an exam the next morning so he spent the day and evening studying. We postponed the birthday celebration until Friday. My parents, Oma, Opa, and Hannah were able to join us. Later in the evening a few friends stopped over for drinks and cake.

On Saturday we continued the birthday celebration up in New Hampshire. Suzanne made a delicious dinner and then we had 3 different amazing cakes. You might notice my sparkling cider in the photo.

Right after dinner the power went out. We entertained ourselves playing Apples to Apples. Looks like we were having a pretty good time.

We were also able to squeeze in a pregnancy photo in the dark!

Baby Amelia was born on October 29th to proud parents Greg and Emily. She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces. On Sunday we went to visit Greg, Emily,and Baby Amelia in the hospital. Here is a photo of Jeff holding newborn Amelia. Isn't he a natural?!

We returned back to CT on Sunday, only to discover that we were without power as well. Luckily Matt and Hannah live about an hour away and they have been kind enough to let us stay over. The commute to work and school is long, but well worth it to have electricity, heat, hot showers, and hot meals.