20 Weeks: Going B-A-N-A-N-A-S

20 weeks! We are half way there, thank you Jesus! Everything is going great! Addison is very active and I am feeling wonderful!

We picked out a paint color for the nursery, it is a VERY light pink called Barely Pink. Once the room is painted we will order the furniture.

From the Baby Center:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.) She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Movement in my belly

This week so far has been Addison's big show in my belly. On Sunday, Brian felt her kick, then last night I was sitting on a chair and felt her kicking near my belly button. I looked down and saw my shirt moving, so I lifted my shirt and saw her kicking in my belly. Feeling her kick is one thing, but seeing her kick was a totally different experience. She is mostly a side kicker, so I am thinking I saw her kick near my belly button because there is less "cushion" there. Anyways, it was cool. Last night she woke me up at 2:30am kicking up a storm and it went on for a good hour. I am sure I will eventually get used to it, but I am just enjoying feeling this little blessing in my belly. It is truly a moment that I have been waiting for and am soaking it up!

Brian Felt Addison Kick!

Yesterday morning when we were barely waking up, Addison was VERY active. I asked Brian if he wanted to try and feel her kick... he was a little apprehensive because we have had several failed attempts, but agreed to try again. He put his hand on my belly and about a minute later she kicked his hand! It was a sweet moment that put tears in my eyes because I have been wanting him to feel her for a couple of weeks and I know he has been sad that he has not been able to do so. I know he will be able to feel her more often as she gets bigger, it was just a sweet baby moment that I had to share.

Already so blessed...

Last night when I got home from work, I checked the front porch and there was a box. I thought it may be some stuff I ordered from Old Navy or Amazon, but instead it was a sweet heartfelt gift from Addison's Great Grandparents Peggy and Jim who live in Albuquerque. In the box was the softest white blanket, cute onesie and a pair of purple Robeez shoes with a pink heart on the top. Everything is so precious and adorable! Thank you so much Peggy and Jim!

Addison has been blessed in so many other ways. Last week when I came back from the sonogram, my friend Jenelle gave the baby a cute pink and white onesie with Lambs on it. On the back, there are the cutest pink ruffles what will cover her behind. Thank you Jenelle for the very thoughtful gift, Addison will look so precious in the onesie.

During Christmas Addison, formerly known as BB received gifts from all her grandparents. Grandpa and GiGi Beeson gave her a soft blanket, photo album, cup & plate, picture frame, baby care necessities and a growth chart. Vicki also ordered the lamp and crib mobile that will go with the nursery bedding.

Grandma and Grandpa Betzen gave her two gowns, pants and a blanket. They also gave me a lot of maternity clothes that I have "grown" to love!

Addison got her Daddy and outfit (for her of course) that say's Daddy's Girl, a bib that say's Daddys Little Princess and the book "Guess How Much I Love You"for Valentine's Day. Tania also gave us the cutest pacifier holder for the diaper bag. All the love and support truely humbles Brian and I. We are so blessed and thank God for our wonderful families and friends. We could not even imagine going though this journey without you guys!

Baby Betzen: 19 Weeks

Almost halfway there! Some days it seems like time is flying by and others it is going so slow! Right now we are just planning the nursery. We have the furniture finalized and the bedding ordered. We still need to find a rocker / glider for the nursery and need to paint. Tomorrow we are going over to Tania & Kimballs and I will go over paint colors with her to see what she thinks. Tania is my fashionista best friend! She is up to date on all the latest trends for clothing and decorating! She is going to be a HUGE help in planning the nursery.

I am still feeling great! I work out between 4-5 hours a week doing mostly cardio. I have had issues with my sciatic nerve, so I ordered a pregnancy yoga dvd that will apparently help ease the pain. Overall, no major complaints... Addison is such a blessing and feel like I can tolerate any symptom for the next 4+ months. I am feeling her move more frequently, which is pretty awesome. I just wish Brian could feel it!

From the Baby Center:

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Our Babymoon is BOOKED!

As you all know, Brian and I LOVE vacationing in tropical places and decided to go to get away one last time for our "babymoon". After a lot of research, we decided on the Wyndham Cozumel Resort and will be there from April 18-25th. I got clearance from my doctor and just need to pack my prenatal records just in case.

We will also be taking a mini-babymoon March 27-29th to visit Brian's Grandparents in Albuquerque. We are so excited!

Babymoon: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A babymoon is a period of time that parents spend bonding with a recently-born baby. More recently the term has come to be used to describe a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby. Babymoons usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage. The term babymoon comes from the more traditional term honeymoon, which is a vacation taken by a newlywed couple after their wedding ceremony.

Baby Bedding

Since we found out our precious baby is a girl, I have been on the hunt for the perfect pink & brown crib bedding that would not cost a small fortune. I think I found it! Brian approved and I ordered it this morning.

I always envisioned pink toile in a baby girl's room. I also love the polka dots and bows! We will be painting the nursery a very light pink. Can we say GIRLY!

The set includes:

Crib Comforter Crib Bumper Fitted Sheet Crib Skirt Diaper Stacker Toy Bag Decorative Pillow 2 Window Valances

The furniture we are ordering will have a cherry or espresso finish, so it will look similar to the room in the picture. Except I am not ordering the additional matching accessories (wall hangings, hamper, changing pad cover, etc.) because I feel that is a bit much! We will just get plain pink or brown stuff to finish off the room so it does not look like a pink toile / polka dot explosion. haha

I also just realized that the bedding coordinates perfectly with the the blog template.

Baby Betzen: 18 Weeks

Well I am sure you have read all the other posts, so I will just add my comments to what Baby Center had to say about our 18 week baby! My comments are in pink.

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) (she measured right on target for this) and she weighs almost 7 ounces (ours is closer to 10). She is busy flexing his arms and legs (ummm not this morning, but I have felt her a lot this afternoon) — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. Her blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place (yeah baby).

It's A Girl!

It's A Girl! Our appointment this morning was a total blessing, I am still in tears and in total amazement of everything we witnessed today. It was incredible seeing our little girl's organs and finding out she is "perfect". I was told by many people to drink caffeine and orange juice to get the baby going so she will cooperate with the scan. I did all these things and our baby just chilled, hardly moved at all! The tech had a hard time getting her to move so we could see the right chambers of the heart and so we can get a profile picture. Finally, after showing us her girl parts, she shifted so we could finish viewing everything. Whew... I guessed she was a girl before we found out for sure since she was being a little difficult!

Her name as of now is Addison Rose Betzen. Addison is a name that we just like for a girl and Rose is my mom's middle name.

Brian is excited to have a little girl! We are both just tickled pink that the baby is healthy because that really is all that matters.

So now we get to paint the nursery pink and start decorating! Let the FUN begin!

We have decided to not publish the photo that shows her girl parts... but trust us she is 100% girl. Instead I will post the picture of her cute little foot!

Tomorrow is the big day!

I woke up this morning at 4:00am thinking about tomorrow’s sonogram. It is very exciting and also a bit nerve wracking! I tend to worry a lot, in fact Brian said he is not worried because I am worrying enough for both of us. I guess I spend too much time on my July 2009 Birth Club message board. At tomorrow’s appointment, they will check for the following things:

• Look for and identify congenital malformations
• Structural abnormalities
• Verify dates and growth
• Identify hydramnios or oligohydramnios – excessive or reduced levels of amniotic fluid
• Evaluation of fetal well-being
• Determine sex of the baby

With BB’s cooperation we will be announcing the sex and name of our child. While BB is a name that will stick with us forever, we are excited to give this new life a real name! If BB does not cooperate, I am not sure what we will do. It may be God’s way of telling us that we need to wait until birth. That is a decision that Brian and I will make tomorrow if necessary.

As for now, I will be meditating on these scriptures throughout the day. Please join me in praying for the health of BB.

Romans 8:28 (Thank you Jeni for this scripture) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

I can feel the baby!

I am almost positive that I am now feeling the baby move... it happens when I am laying down and feels pretty bizarre. Sometimes it feels like flutters, other times it is a more "popping" feeling. Whatever the feeling is, it definitely makes things feel more real! I cannot wait for Brian to feel it. Only 49 hours until our BIG sonogram! Please pray for a healthy baby... while this is an exciting appointment because we will (hopefully) find out the sex, but we will also look at the major organs to make sure they are developing correctly. This past weekend we went to Baby Earth to look at cribs, fun fun. I will be ordering the crib and dresser sometime this week. After that, we will still need to get a bookshelf and glider.

17 Weeks: Our Turnip

17 Week... YIPPEE! All is well at the Betzen house. We are ordering our stroller today because they actually discontinued the color we want, so we want to get it before everyone runs out of stock. We will also be looking at furniture this weekend as well, very exciting!

From the baby center:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Little Baby Bump & Stretchy Pants

This past weekend I looked down and there it was... my baby bump! Yes, I know it is little and it will be a baby mountain by the time it is all said and done, but I was excited to enter this phase. My tummy has be poochy for a couple of weeks, but this is the first it looked more babyish. I apologize for the horrible picture, my camera was stolen from work so I took it with my cell phone.

Also featured in this picture are my new black stretchy pants... I probably could wear my normal pants w/ the bella band for a couple of more weeks.... BUT I made the mistake of trying on maternity jeans and instantly felt more comfortable. The bella band is wonderful, but you have to adjust it throughout the day. So yesterday I bought these pants and they feel delightful! I also ordered 3 pairs of jeans from Old Navy... hopefully one of them will work because I have no clue what size I really am at this point.

Also, one week from today we will finally name our baby! Boy or Girl... I have no idea. I am thinking pink right now just because I have been planning a girl nursery.

Our trip to see Leanne

This past weekend Brian and I went to Denton to see Leanne, Heath, Skylar & Baby Carter. Normally when I go see Leanne I just hang out and help her with the kids. This time, I watched her every move! I do not have a lot of experience with infants, in fact, their bobble heads scare me. This past weekend I got to help Leanne a lot with Carter, I burped him, rocked him, comforted him, changed a poopy diaper, etc. I also learned a lot about schedules, feeding, managing an infant and toddler, etc. Needless to say it was the best hands on training I could have hoped for.

Carter is a precious sweet baby. Leanne seems to have him on a great schedule and he barely fussed at all. He literally just hangs out with the family and grunts every once in awhile to make his presence know. I also love Carters crazy hair!

Skylar... oh Skylar... she is such a cutie. Skylar really enjoyed playing with Brian, they were quite the team. She talks and talks and is a goofball. She is also one of the smartest 2 year olds I have ever met. Leanne has worked hard on educating her at such a young age and it has really paid off. Leanne looks great! I consider her to be super woman... She is a wonderful wife and mother, keeps her house clean at all times and runs the real estate business. Skylar took this lovely picture of us.

It was such a wonderful trip, I miss Leanne so much already. She is the most incredible friend and I just feel so blessed to have her in my life.

16 Week Appointment

We had our 16 week appointment on Friday. BB is doing great! I measured right at 16 weeks and his heartbeat was 150. The cool thing about the appointment was that I could hear BB kicking on the doppler. We would hear the heartbeat and the THUD...hehehe... still strange I cannot feel it, but it will happen soon. I think I may have felt BB this morning while I was laying on my back, but who knows...