Friday, May 29, 2009

I love our insurance!!!

Completely pointless post, but I just had to say it: "I love our insurance and the coverage we have on all of our plans!"

The BSA provides us with medical, dental and vision insurance. We have to pay small premiums for the dental and vision plans each pay period. Well worth the expense!

I scheduled all of us dental appointments this past Tuesday and then vision ones for me and Steven. Well we came out of the vision place with both of us getting new glasses and having seen the doctor and we paid $200.00. Our plan covered frames up to $130 and we paid the part over that amount, and then the transition lenses were also covered at no additional expense. I feel like we came out of there making a killing. I have never paid so little for glasses in my life!

Then Steven has to have a series of dental procedures that are quite expensive, but our out of pocket is going to be right around $200. Normally the procedure costs closer to $900.

So yeah, I'm quite happy with our benefits from the BSA.

Week 16 of Pregnancy

What changes are occurring with your body?
Your uterus is continuing to grow and weighs approximately 8 ½ ounces. Your placenta is also growing, and your body is producing an increased amount of amniotic fluid that helps protect your baby during your pregnancy. Right now your body has about 7 ½ ounces of amniotic fluid surrounding your baby.
When you are pregnant, your body produces 50% more blood, resulting in more blood circulation through your body. This increase in blood circulation causes your face to be brighter. Your body is also producing hormones that cause your oil glands to work in over-drive, leaving your face shiny. Both of these things can result in a "pregnancy glow". What can you do about it? If your skin becomes too oily, you can use an oil free cleanser to clean your face. Other than that, do nothing but smile!*

How big is your baby?
By the end of week 16, your baby is approximately 5.31 inches (CRL) and weighs 2 ½ ounces.*

What is happening with your baby?
Your baby is preparing himself/herself for a growth spurt over the next several weeks. Your baby’s head is more erect now than it has been in the previous weeks of pregnancy. His/her ears and eyes are situated in their final positions. These three things are giving your baby a more “normal” appearance than he/she has had up to this point.
Several of the more complicated body systems are also beginning to function including your child’s urinary and circulatory system. Your baby’s heart pumps around 25 quarts of blood per day. However, by week 40 this amount will increase to 1,900 quarts per day!*

Okay so I'm a huge dork and I got out a ruler this morning and measured how big 5 1/2 inches is. Then I held it up against my belly and it stretches across the main part of my belly. Now I am definitely sure I have been feeling the baby moving! I didn't realize how long the baby was so I didn't think there was any way what I was feeling was our little nudger. I'm so excited!! I can't wait for Steven and Alexis to be able to feel the baby too.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Week 15 of Pregnancy

How big is your baby?
By the end of this week, your baby will be 4 ¾ inches long and weigh a whole 2 ounces.*

What is happening with your baby?
Your baby’s skin is very thin, and his/her blood vessels can actually be seen through the skin. Your baby’s ears are continuing to develop externally and continue to look more like normal ears. Your baby’s eyes are continuing to move towards the nose from the sides of his/her head. The baby’s bones are beginning to ossify, which means that if an x-ray was taken the skeleton would be visible. Babies at this age have also been caught sucking their thumbs on ultrasound pictures.*

I'm expecting any day to be able to feel the baby moving! I think I'll be floored when I realize it's the baby and nothing else. I can't wait! I really can't wait for everyone else to be able to feel the baby moving too.

Monday, May 11, 2009

What changes are occurring with your body?
Maternity clothes may be a necessity for some people, while others have been able to postpone the inevitable by either borrowing their partner’s clothes or using rubber bands and safety pins to enlarge the waistbands.
The way that your body responds to this pregnancy depends on if you have been pregnant before and how your body changed during previous pregnancies. A rule of thumb is that in subsequent pregnancies your body tends to accommodate your growing baby and uterus faster, causing you to show earlier.*
View Pregnancy Health Videos

How big is your baby?
Your baby is now over 4 inches long and weighs just a little less than 2 ounces.*

What is happening with your baby?
Your baby is continuing to grow and mature at this point. Your baby’s arms are going to begin to lengthen and be more proportioned to the rest of the body. The liver is beginning to produce bile, while the spleen is beginning to produce red blood cells.
The development of your baby’s brain enables him/her to use his/her facial muscles to grimace, frown, and squint. He/she may even be sucking his/her thumb. Because you have begun the second trimester and most of the critical development has been completed, the chance of miscarriage decreases.*


I'm one of the mommies that needs the maternity clothes already. Thank goodness Steph has loaned me some maternity clothes.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Week 13 of Pregnancy

What is happening with your baby?
Up until this point, your baby’s head has been the largest part of his/her body, but that is beginning to change. Your baby’s head is now only about 1/3 of his/her total body. Unique fingerprints are now located on the tips of your baby’s fingers. The kidney and urinary tract are completely functional which allows the amniotic fluid he/she has been swallowing to be excreted. Covering your baby’s skin is a fine, soft hair called lanugo.

How big is your baby?
By your thirteenth week of pregnancy, your baby is almost 3¾ inches long and weighs 1¼ ounces.*

Monday, May 4, 2009

Energy!!!

So yeah I have had crazy amounts of energy the last week. I had another crazy busy weekend that did not involve any morning sickness.

Friday I took Steven and Alexis out for dinner at Olive Garden, which is one of our favorite places to go. We had pretty decent meal, and good time just being a family. After dinner we ran up to Walmart to pick up a few things. One thing in particular was an electric massager for my neck to loosen up the muscles in it. I don't know if I'm seriously stressing out or what, but my neck and head muscles are so tight and tense that I've had an on again and off again headache for two weeks. The doctor said to try Tylenol, heat, and massages to help, but none are working. I may go to a professional massage therapist if the pain persists much longer. When we got home we caught the end of Flashpoint, and then Numbers. I think I may now have two days a week that I have to watch TV programs.

Okay, so who knew the nerdy guy from "10 Things I hate about You" was going to turn out to be cute and have an awesome TV show? He's number guy in Numbers, in case you didn't know.

Saturday started off great! I got up and took Alexis and Steven to church at 9:00. I then had the whole morning to myself. I went crazy and went to several stores pricing stuff for Becky's wedding. I started with Hobby Lobby. I literally walked in their door at 8 past 9:00 and didn't leave until 10:00. I walked through the store at least twice, but at least I made a killing while I was there. I bought a $60.00 beverage dispenser for $30.00 and some material to make a baby blanket. Then I drove across the highway over to Office Depot to look for invitations and I found some I like, but they were a little pricey. While I was there Becky called and we talked for probably 45 minutes total. Put it this way when we finally hung up and had already left Office Depot, and had gone to Garden Ridge and had been walking through there for at least 20-30 minutes. Which at Garden Ridge I found three or four more styles of beverage dispensers that I really liked, but I had already bought one so I had to say "no".

After Garden Ridge I ran over to Target and Party City and priced the supplies for the shower and then more invitations. I didn't really find any invitations at Target that I liked and they were also too pricey, but there were some at Party City that might just work.

By this point it was nearly 12:00 and me and the baby were starving after having walked for 3 hours straight. We stopped at Long Silver's and ate real quick before driving across another highway and going to Macy's. I have a gift card for Macy's and I thought I might b able to find a beverage dispenser there that I could use it on. However after wandering around for 20 minutes the only one that I could find was made of acrylic, and looked very plasticky and was priced at $100. Sorry it wasn't worth $100 in my book, let alone to use my gift card on and then have to pay more, so I left it right where I found it.

Well my time was running out because I had to pick Alexis and Steve up at 1:00, so I only got to make one more stop and it was at Costco. I got to price some cakes, and flowers, and couple of other things while I was there. OMG!!! Costco on a Saturday is crazy! I can't believe I managed to ever get a parking spot and actually make it inside to look around. Once I did though I had to power walk through the entire place because my time was slipping away quickly.

I managed to leave Costco and get back to the church by 12:53. Of course once I got there I ended up waiting another 20-30 minutes because Steven wasn't done helping the stage crew yet. Once we got in the car I began talking about my morning in super fast girl talk. Steven said "You must have had a enjoyed yourself because you haven't talked this much in I don't know how." He's not as impressed with my beverage dispenser, but he's a guy.....it's to be expected.

All in all I had an excellent Saturday morning.