Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails...

That's what lil boys are made of! We found out yesterday what I've been suspecting all along...Derek and I will be welcoming home a little boy around September 30th!! Baby Parker was very anxious to show off his stuff when we went in for the 21 week ultra sound....there was absolutely NO second guessing it (as you'll see in the video I made). We are both very excited, and it has all of a sudden become a reality for both Derek and myself. I know I posted last week that we would keep the name a secret, but it seems so much better to give the little fellow a head start on his identity...we can't wait for everyone to meet Jude Sevelle.

I have put together two videos to share with you guys...and because I am the child of a former hippie...I added some songs i grew up hearing. LOVE IT! We hope you enjoy!!

Week 21: Jude is 10.5 inches, weighing about 12.7 oz. (our ultra sound says he is 14 oz.). This is about the size of a banana. As your baby's digestive system develops, he will begin to swallow amniotic fluid and absorb small amounts of sugar. However, most of your baby's nutrients are still delivered from the placenta. Inside your uterus, while there's still room, your baby is actively moving around, kicking and flipping positions. You may be able to track patterns in his movement.

Please meet our little man...

Cantaloupe

We've made it halfway! What an accomplishment..everyday I thank God for blessing me with a great pregnancy and healthy baby! I'm pretty sure I deserve a present or night out on the town with the hubby, or some serious pampering, don't you think?? A week from today we will find out boy or girl! This means my week will probably go by very slowly due to the excitement of this appointment...and just a fair warning, Thursday will be a busy day, so I hope to blog on Friday to inform you what it will be :) however I probably wont be able to contain myself and you will find out Thursday night after we surprise the family :) :)

I think we have finally settled on a Boy's name (without killing each other) and we have both always been in love with the Girl name we chose a few years ago....This will be the one surprise revealed on Baby Parker's birthday...until then he/she will be referred to as Baby Parker. (as for the VERY few people who for sure know what names we picked out...NO TELLING!!!!!)The past few nights I have been sleeping like a rock, hallelujah, heartburn has not been unbearable, so as soon as I fall asleep I'm out til one of my potty breaks. They seem to be getting more and more frequent. Pretty much every time I get up from a sitting position I make a stop to the potty. Simple as that :) Walking downtown was very interesting...we learned that in order to use any ones restrooms, you have to buy something. $5 bottle of water= a $5 potty break...well worth it in my opinion.

My first Mother's Day. 19weeks 4 days.

Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day. I am so thankful for my Mommy...she was and still is the best mommy in the world....now it's my turn to try to be the best mommy in the world, then she'll be bumped up to Gommy :) **Side Note: I wanna change my dad's name from PawPaw to Popsi...my husband seems to think this wouldn't be right since he's been a PawPaw, but PawPaw just seems sooo old...and he's not old (never will be), besides I call my dad Popsicle so it just works. Gommy and Popsi Opinions??**

Week 20: Baby is 6.5 inches and weighs 10.6 oz, about the size of a cantaloupe. This week your baby's skin will become covered with a

waxy- like substance called verniz which will protect its skin from becoming scratched or chapped. Your baby is also starting to produce meconium, the result of digestion, which accumulate in its bowels and evntually pass during delivery or in its first diaper. Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrtion and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid.

Mango Mania

Week 19: Baby is 6.0 inches, about the size of a mango weighing 8.5 oz. Many of your baby's senses are developing as specialized areas in the brain that are designated for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch. Millions of motor neurons are continuing to develop in your baby's brain allowing more controlled and conscious movement.

Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of languno, oil, and dead skin cells now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.)

Baby's arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the body now. Its kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on its scalp is sprouting!

Last night was one of the worst nights of my pregnancy so far. I have never experienced heartburn before...well last night I had an awful introduction to this very common pregnancy symptom. I was up for several hours wishing my stomach would empty and that I could be fed through an IV for the next 20 weeks...I'm not excited about this probably continuing for the remainder of my pregnancy. That being said, there is an old wives tail that states "if you suffer with pregnancy heartburn, your baby will be born with a full head of hair."

Funny, because I have recently been hoping for this baby to have a head full of hair! We have a 50/50 chance...I was born with a head full of black hair and Derek was born bald as a cute old man...whats it going to be? Well I did a little research on this so called "wives tale". Johns Hopkins University actually did a study on women who had heartburn during pregnancy, and the outcome of their baby's hairy or non hairy scalp :) Here is the study...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have released a study in the journal Birth showing that a correlation between heartburn and the hairiness of a newborn actually exists. The research was conducted by Kathleen Costigan, a registered nurse in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at John Hopkins, and colleagues. The study followed 64 women throughout pregnancy. These women were asked to rank the severity of their heartburn symptoms. When their babies were born, two independent observers rated the thickness of the newborn hair using photographs taken after birth. Seventy-eight percent of the pregnant women reported some level of heartburn, and were able to participate in the study. Of the 28 womenwhoreported moderate to severe heartburn during pregnancy, 82% gave birth to babies with above average hair thickness. Of the 12 women who reported no heartburn symptoms at all, 83% gave birth to babies with very little or no hair.

Enjoy these pics of my hubby and I as babies...maybe I'll be able to handle this heartburn thing if it means Baby Parker has a beautiful head of hair :)