BELLY BRIEFS IN REVIEW

If you're looking for a way to spend an hour or so, man did you stop by the right blog! Before I created this blog to share pregnancy / life updates, I sent weekly emails to family and friends to give them "Belly Briefs" on how the pregnancy was going. Well, I thought now would be a great time to share some of those emails. So, the following (epic length) post is from the emails that were sent between week 8 and 19 of the pregnancy. I'll still have a few more "old" weeks to post but this should more than quench your appetite! Enjoy!

19 WEEKS
Hi!

Well, we’ve arrived at week 19 of the pregnancy! Itty Bitty is still very active and I L-O-V-E feeling the baby move (it’s fun having my little pal with me, giving me something a little more fun to focus on during meetings that are brimming with fascinating metrics like sales, turn, gross profit…)

The baby is doing great! I had a little scare this morning so I went to the doctor just to be sure and she confirmed that everything is exactly as it should be and the baby looks wonderful. She even did a quick sonogram so that the baby could show off his/her strong heart beat and wave to Mama. We are now one week away from (hopefully) finding out for sure whether we’re having a boy or a girl – super exciting!!! I’m looking forward to getting another DVD of the baby next week and sharing that special experience with Jim (I’m also more than happy to force you to watch the DVD the next time we’re together…. but only if you’re interested…). I’ll be in touch next week to share the news! I don’t think we’ll have a name picked out by then so that fun news will have to wait until another time.

Over the weekend, Jim made a good dent in renovating the baby’s closet but we’re not quite finished yet. As soon as we are, I’ll send pictures!!!

Well, I think that’s about it! I hope all is well and that everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving week!

Much love,
Erin


18 WEEKS
Hi!

So some fun “facts” about this week in my pregnancy… The baby’s head to rump measures about the size of a bell pepper and my uterus (which houses “the pregnancy” so baby, fluid, placenta, etc.) is the size of a cantaloupe (yikes!). Another thing that I like to call out as fact is that I am pretty sure this baby is destined to be a “mover and a shaker” in this world. I say this after several days of feeling the baby flip and turn (this kind of feels like when a truck passes your house and you feel the rumble in your feet, only that rumble / vibration is in my abdomen – and it’s NOT hunger growls). Not only that, but Itty Bitty’s kicks are being much more pronounced and more frequent so that is tres cool! Jim’s felt the baby kick twice so that’s been pretty neat for all three of us!

We also started our first big getting ready for baby project (or rather Jim did). We are redesigning the closet in the baby’s room to give us more usable space as well as more storage. My extent of helping was:
1. Drawing up the layout for the closet.
2. Sheepishly trying to justify what possible use I could have for the 20+ shopping bags I’d been saving in the closet. I kind of feel like I just found out that I am an old lady with a hording problem bc I really don’t have a good reason for keeping what amounts to trash…..

We’ll send pictures once the closet project is done so that you can marvel at Jim’s handiwork and my design prowess!

I think that’s all I’ve got on my end. I hope you are all doing well and know that you’re in my thoughts often. Itty Bitty is so lucky to have such great people in his/her life!

Much love!
Erin


17 WEEKS
Hello and welcome the 17th week of my pregnancy!

The big news this week is that Itty Bitty’s kicks feel like real kicks! The movements I felt before were much more like flutterings. The kick-kicks started Sunday (with a tap, tap, tap-like spurt) and have been a neat way to be reminded of the precious life that’s growing inside of me (actually, the baby is kicking right now so take that as the baby’s way of saying “how ya’ doing”). Jim and I are hoping that the kicks become more consistent / predictable so that he’ll be able to feel them if he has his hand on my now more protruding belly!

I had my monthly appointment today and everything went well! My doctor did a quick sonogram to check stuff because I’d had a little bit of cramping (nothing to worry about, I was just convinced the kid had a penchant for standing on my left ovary) and she said everything looked great. The baby looks big (kind of a scary word to have thrown out when you know you have to eventually delivery the child), healthy, and strong. I know this is kind of a “duh” statement, but the baby is so much bigger than he/she was 5 weeks ago – the head and body (the baby has a round belly) were much more distinct and the baby was waving his/her right arm – my doctor told me the baby was waving at me and I am such a dork that I took her words to heart and kind of believe the baby was waving just for me!

Well, that’s all for now. I hope you’re having a great week and that you’re enjoying the beautiful weather!

Much love,
Erin


16 WEEKS
Good morning!

We’re in week 16 of the pregnancy and all is well. The baby is the size of an avocado. This week's email mentioned something about “quickening” which one way of describing early baby movement. I think I am starting to feel some of that – no definite kicks or anything but I have the occassional fluttering in my lower abdomen that I can’t write off as anything else that I’ve experienced before – so that’s pretty neat!

For those of you wondering about the dental appointment I mentioned last week, I’ll give you an update – the most exciting thing that happened was I got clocked speeding literally ONE residential street before I turned into my dentist’s office (and I had JUST noticed that I was driving a wee bit faster than anyone else and knew I’d be slowing down when I made my turn so wasn’t really bothered by my speed – the policeman said I was going 13 mph over but I think he needed his radar recalibrated bc I think I was only 10 over) and well…. I got a ticket. L I felt better leaving the dentist because there was someone in my dentist’s parking lot who had also just been pulled over by the same cop – isn’t that entrapment?

On a different note, Jim and I have started thinking about names – I am copying him on this email: 1. Because he’s the “baby daddy” and 2. So you can all lobby for my FAVORITE boy name which is “Crispin” but I’d like to spell it “Krispyn” – I mean, how can you NOT have a dapper child with an ol’ English name like that (I am kidding, I just like to give Jim fits by suggesting that name over and over again – I know, I am such a charmer!) Hope all is well!

Much love,
Erin


15 WEEKS
Hello and Happy Wednesday!

I hope this finds you doing well and celebrating the fact that your week is more than half over – woo hoo!!!!

This week the “apple of my eye” is now the apple (or large naval orange) of my belly – and is starting to show more and more! Assuming I feel brave enough to bare my bulge, I’ll snap a tummy picture and send it you all soon! This week’s update says a few interesting things, one – the baby senses light and it makes a comment about shinning a flashlight on my stomach to make that baby move away from it – I think that’s a bit unnecessary and could border on fetus abuse so I won’t be trying that one. The second thing it says is that some women may start to feel the baby move in week 16 (which is next week for me) – I haven’t felt the baby yet, but I’ve definitely had pains in places that I haven’t before and I’m thinking Itty Bitty’s presence has something to do with it so I chalk that one up as pretty cool!!!

This past weekend the in-laws were kind enough to join Jim and me on a trip to Babies R Us to give us the run down on what to look for in baby gear – thank goodness they did, the choices are seemingly never ending and every choice feels like it’s monumental. So I was super grateful for their sage wisdom (and the unintentional comedic relief Lauren and Joseph offered throughout, love them!)

Well, I guess that’s about it – no baby related appointments this week – but next week I do go to the dentist so if you’re really lucky I’ll let you know if I have any cavities (J/K)!

Much love to all!
Erin


14 WEEKS - UPDATE MIA


13 WEEKS - UPDATE MIA


12 WEEKS
Good morning!

Well, we’ve launched into the 12 th week of pregnancy and have a baby that is the size of a large plum or a lime! It’s crazy to realize that just 3 weeks ago Itty Bitty was the size of a grape!

Yesterday’s appointment at the perinatologist went very well. First we spoke with a genetic counselor, who explained what the doctor would be looking for, then we were taken to a room where a nurse did the first round of sonogram pictures (and made a DVD of it for us), then the doctor came in and confirmed the measurements, and I had my blood test.

On the sonogram they were looking for the width of the area on the back of the neck, you want that to be 3 or less, ours was 1.2 and the doctor described it as “text book” for normality. They also looked for the presence of a nasal bone – since babies with Down’s have flatter profile, absence of bone at this point would point to a higher chance of Down’s. Our baby had a nasal bone and they said our baby was beautiful and looked great – and had a very strong heartbeat (which we heard for the first time – wicked cool!)!

The doctor also offered to check the sex – you normally find this out at 20 weeks since the “junk” isn’t fully developed yet…. Well, I’ve had a feeling the baby was a boy the whole time and one of the pictures the nurse printed looked like there was something in between the legs. The doctor said “don’t buy anything non-returnable” but that he was making an “educated guess” that we’re having a boy. We are excited!!! It will be cool for all involved but I think it will be a pretty neat bond for Poppa Mo , Jim, and Itty Bitty (Your boy’s having a boy!) – but it will also be way cool if Itty Bitty turns out to be baby girl – we just want healthy and happy!

One more point to help wrap up this mini-novel… I have popped just a tiny bit! That’s pretty cool – all my clothes still fit but they fit way differently. Since my buyer thought I was showing at 8 weeks, I made a team announcement that I wanted to acknowledge that I was beginning to show but I wanted to clarify that phrases like “gianormous, huge, wow you’ve gotten big, are you sure there’s only one baby in there, elephant like” should NOT be used to describe me. (Sorry, they need all the help they can get!) Hope all is well and we love you all oodles!!!

Love,
EM


11 WEEKS
Hi! Well, we’ve kicked off the 11 th week of pregnancy and Itty Bitty is now the size of a fig! Apparently, the baby can do summersaults but I won’t feel them for another month or so. No big news to report this week.

The biggest development is that I’ve had my first crazy pregnancy dream…. I dreamed I gave birth to Hershey but was still pregnant with Itty Bitty – strange, strange, strange!!! I did a google search and found that dreaming that you gave birth to a cat or dog is totally normal (I’m just glad I didn’t have the same dream as a few other people where they dreamed they gave birth to a rat or a pig!!!)

Next Tuesday, I go to the Perinatal Specialist for a high-tech sonogram (they’ll do in-depth measurements and look for abnormalities); I’m sure all will be fine.

I hope you’re having a great week and we’ll talk soon!

Much love,
Erin


10 WEEKS
Good morning! Big news this week…. We’re a quarter of the way there!!! Woo hoo!!! I am 10 weeks pregnant and Itty Bitty is now the size of a kumquat (see picture below). The morning sickness has stuck around this week but hopefully the end is nearing! (Jim’s still being a total champ as he’s shouldering the load of grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning up from dinner – he’s really the absolute best!!!) I’ve had a couple of strange moments this week…. First, I’m really only comfy in loose fitting dresses or workout clothes. Second, I’ve caught a glimpse or two of myself in the mirror and see to be widening a bit – I have to catch myself when I think, gosh, I really need to work on my tummy – I have to remind myself that my body is supposed to “stretch” – weird!!! I hope you’re having a great week!

Much love,
Erin


9 WEEKS
Good morning! Jim, Itty Bitty, and I had a big doctor’s appointment yesterday – everything went well and we once again got to see our sweet baby (who, by the way, is no longer an “embryo” but is officially a “fetus”)! Two weeks ago we saw the heart beat and it was very strong and very clear. Well, we saw the heart beat again yesterday and the doctor commented again very strong and clear. Jim and I agreed it was almost harder to see the heart beat this time because the “flickering” is so much faster at this point – very cool!!! Well, we have another picture of the baby that we’ll share with you all very soon – the baby has little arm and leg buds now (so sweet)!

For those of you wondering, the morning sickness hasn’t gotten any better (it’s now lasting all day and is NOT my idea of a good time) but there is tons of good news. Morning sickness is a sign of a healthy pregnancy (woo hoo) and my doctor gave me a prescription to help with the sickness. Jim’s picking up the prescription for me later today so I’ll be excited to see what kind of relief it offers. Hope all is well and that you enjoy this week’s pregnancy update (the baby is the size of a grape now!!!)

Much love,
Erin


8 WEEKS
Hola Familia!

I signed up to get weekly updates on Itty Bitty’s development and thought it’d be fun to share with you! This week’s email says the baby is the size of a kidney bean but another thing I read called it a raspberry so, this week, I’m thinking about the raspberry I’m carrying around (much cuter than a kidney bean)! Morning sickness is still rearing its ugly head but Jim’s been a total prince in taking care of me and the raspberry – friends and family have been awesome too! We go back to the doctor next week for what they call “The Interrogation” – they’ll ask tons of questions, run tests, and woo hoo – another sonogram!!! Hope all is well – we are so thrilled to be able to share this with you all!

Much Love,
Erin