Half Way There (20 Weeks)

I have so much to share, so let me get started...

From Babycenter.com...we are half way to meeting our little baby. This week, the baby weighs around 10 1/2 oz and is around 6 1/2 in long head to bottom and 10 in from head to toe (about the length of a banana). He's swallowing more these days which is good practice for his digestive system. He is also producing merconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and we'll see it in his first soiled diaper. This is what he looks like this week.

We went for the 20 week ultrasound this past Monday, March 8th, and what a day it was. It was a very memorable one for many reasons...one is that we found out we're having a boy!! We can hardly wait to meet HARRISON GLEN HOLMES! We got to see him moving his little arms and legs, and we got to see his spine and his heart beating (at 146 bpm), and it was so amazing. I started to cry the second I saw his little image pop up on the screen...it's just so amazing that that is my son...other mom's can totally identify with the feeling; I can't even describe it!

After the ultrasound, I'm thinking I might be a week farther along than what we've been thinking. The lady said the measurements put me at 20 weeks, 6 days (basically 21 weeks), and I was thinking I was 20 weeks, 2 days. Also, she said Harrison weighs around 12 oz., and according to several of the books that I have about growth and development, they should weigh about that at 21 weeks. So, Harrison may be here around July 15...he may even make his grand entrance on our anniversary which is July 19th.

Mama and Stephanie came into town for the special occasion. Mama arrived on Saturday afternoon (Steph got here Sunday afternoon), and she, Jeff and I went over to the baby store that night to just start looking at things. We browsed furniture and bedding and strollers and car seats and soooo much more! We spent a good amount of time in furniture and bedding sections. The funny part of the trip is that Jeff found some boy bedding that was on one of the display beds that he really liked. I wasn't 100% sold on it and just kept looking around. We agreed on bedding for a little girl (because remember, at this point we didn't know the gender). So mama and I wandered over to the section where all of the baby bedding is located, and I found this adorable boy bedding immediately...Funny thing...it was the exact same bedding Jeff had just picked out!

Jumping back to Monday after our ultrasound appointment...we were all super excited. Jeff immediately called his mom, who like the rest of us minus Jeff, thought it was going to be a girl. She was so excited. She has two grandsons now and is excited to have another one on the way! We texted and called and chatted and posted to Facebook until our fingers hurt. There were so many people to inform about the news! Mama, Stephanie, and I stopped at the baby store on the way home and bought Harrison his first two outfits...we couldn't resist!

I wish I would have had a camera to take a picture of Jeff's face the instant the sonographer said it's a boy...his face lit up like fireworks. He would not have been disappointed to have a girl, but he really wanted a boy!!! This is going to sound funny, but looking at the ultrasound picture, I think Harrison is going to look like Jeff! It already looks like he has Jeff's nose and lips! I can hardly wait to find out for sure.

Monday night after Jeff got home from work, we did go back to the baby store and get started with our registry. It's not even close to being completed because we have so much research to do on bottles, strollers, car seats, etc. We put a few basic things on there just to say we got started, but we are going to have to go back and be prepared to spend at least another 4 hours in there!!

Well, I know this post really jumps all over the place, but that just shows you how excited I am...I can't even keep my thoughts on track. This has been a tough week to work because of the excitement...I just want to think about and research baby stuff all day!!!

I'll post pictures soon!

Until next week...have a magnificent day!!!