Tuesday, August 25, 2009

24 weeks = as long as an ear of corn!

*belly photos now added - check the end of the post!

So I think Gummy Bear has a name ---> Gabrielle Louise Anderson!!

I have done a lot of searching and have learned that the origin of the name is either French or Hebrew and it means God Gives Strength, Woman of God, God is My Strength. The origin and meaning vary depending on what website you look at but man, what a great meaning for a name. I do hope that she is a Woman of God, she has definitely helped me to become a stronger Woman of God, so I feel it's very fitting. My hubby thought of the name.. he originally really liked the name Brielle, then one day said, what about Gabrielle. (this was long before we were even pregnant with Gummy Bear) I of course liked it but wasn't 100% sold on it. I've really been liking the name Kelsey lately, it's just such a cute and spunky name, but there really aren't many fun nicknames that accompany it, and while I do love the meaning (Brave) I just can't quite let go of Gabrielle. While at Knoe.bels the other weekend my niece Shayna says to me, "isn't Kelsey a blond girls name?" Too funny!! I guess the only Kelsey I knew was a blond! It will be fun to have two "G" name kids and she can have many nicknames from Gabrielle - Gabby, Brie, Elle, Brielle, Gummy Bear =) So, yes, my husband wins!! =)

Yep, I am definitely feeling pregnant these days. My belly is growing and getting "heavier" by the minute. I have become much more "uncomfortable" but I know I have a long way to go!! I do just feel so incredibly blessed to be pregnant and to have a healthy little lady in my tummy so I really do not want to complain. I will survive and the "prize" at the end will be 100% worth all the discomfort in the world!

Steven and I registered at Babies.R.Us on Sunday. We had fun and it really didn't take too long. I was a little surprised by the amount of stuff we needed/want. We need everything for the nursery since we aren't using the ugly stuff I had in Gav's nursery (sorry buddy!). A new crib mattress is a must along with new linens. We also need/want girlie towels, wash cloths, bibs, socks, clothes, hangers, toys and some other random girlie items. I hate to "ask" for things since this is our 2nd baby and I don't know how people feel about buying items for baby #2.. it sort of puts us in an awkward position.. and I don't want people to feel obligated to buy something.. but I figure if people want to get us/Gummy Bear something at least now they know what we need. I also registered at Tar.get. I heard that they give you a $20 gift card to shutterfly.com along with several coupons and free samples so I took full advantage of that! I don't have much on that registry, only about 7 items, but I did notice that a lot of what we registered for a Babies.R.Us is available at Tar.get and is sometimes a little cheaper. If our bedding/nursery stuff was available at Tar.get I probably would have just registered there for everything.. but oh well! I hope people don't think I'm being greedy by having 2 registries for Gummy Bear, now that I think about it it may be a little overboard, but I really wanted the free stuff!! Oh well, I guess people will think what they want and I can't help that. You can view our registries by going to the Babies.R.Us website and the Tar.get website and searching my name. I still haven't registered for any feeding supplies. I am really thinking about trying to breastfeed again.. I did for about 3 days with Gavin and hated every second of it. Really long story that I won't get into now, but I do think I want to give it another shot! I will most likely be taking a "learning to breastfeed" class in October, which I do think will help. (I was not at all prepared with Gavin and this was a big part of the problem.) I am hoping for success this time but that means that I have no idea what to register for. Do I ask for a pump and all the milk storage supplies, do I just assume it won't work and just register for the same bottles we used with Gavin (play.tex drop.ins - which I really loved!) or do I wait it out and see what happens in the hospital. I guess the later would be the smartest, huh?! (wow, this ended up being a much longer paragraph then originally planned!)
On a completely random note, I am trying to figure out how to print my blog.. I'd like to print each entry so I can keep them in a binder for Gummy Bear.. but I can't figure out how to do it. Each time I go to print it only prints the first page of the entry and chops all the photos up. If anyone has any suggestions about this feel free to help!

24 week pregnancy quiz - I have made some changes to the quiz so it's not so redundant each week!
How far along: 24 weeks 1 day
Any new maternity clothes: nope, nothing new.
Any new baby clothes/items: yes, we bought some clothes for Gummy Bear at the Carter's outlet, my mom bought her some clothes, an adorable elephant security blanket, and a light switch plate and a window valance for the nursery (thank you Grammie!!) and my mother-in-law bought a couple of cute outfits for her! (thank you MeeMaw!!)
Weight gain: well I am up about 15 pounds or so at this point - and I can definitely tell.
Sleep: I've had a lot of trouble falling asleep lately - and I had a creepy dream the other night that Gummy Bear was trying to crawl out of my tummy.. yikes!
Best moment of the week: watching Steven look at little baby girl clothes; doing our registry; finally starting to go through and organize items so we can start getting the nursery together
Movement: yes, this lady is moving a lot - sometimes you can see my belly move!
Food cravings: nothing specific, I'm just hungry all the time (I guess this is where the weight gain comes in..)
Gender: Girl - and she has a name now!!
Labor signs: nope - but I do know that braxton hicks contractions can start any time now..
Belly button in or out: still in, still a funny shape - when I sit down it's almost an outtie!
What I miss: running - I really miss getting completely sweaty and yucky on the treadmill listening to my iPod and feeling like I am going to die..
What I'm looking forward to: our doctor appointment this afternoon; continuing to work on the nursery/house to prepare for Gummy Bear; the Barnstormers game this weekend!!
Weekly wisdom: Money doesn't grow on trees so be wise...
Milestones: This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

*24 weeks also is the first marks of viability - that means that if Gummy Bear were to be born this week or beyond she would actually have a "good" chance at survival - but obviously we want her to hold out for at least another 13 weeks or so until we are full term =) (holy cow, only 13 weeks until we're full term, how did that happen?!)


5 weeks

24 weeks

2 comments:

jil said...

hey Kiley!

I would think the best way for you to "print" your blog would be to take screen shots. I'm not 100% sure how you do this on a PC, but on a Mac it's apple/shift/4. it will result in png files which can easily be "pieced together" in a photo editing program like photoshop. it will be a little time intensive, but is probably you're best bet if there isn't a print blog option on your admin page.

glad everything is going so well!

Lindsay said...

Hi! You may have already done this but I thought I would mention it just in case - visit the Social Security Administration's most popular baby names. I did it with all of my kids just to see how popular the names were that we liked.