18 Weeks... Spent in New Jersey!

Joe and I have been on the road driving up to New Jersey so I am just now getting to write this week’s update. We did manage to have a picture taken. For once the picture has both of us in it; thanks to my mom for being our photographer!

I have spent the week preparing for out trips. Joe and I (as I mentioned before) are in New Jersey until Tuesday. They we head back to Beaufort for 1 night. Then its off to Miami for Thanksgiving. It will be quite the next 2 weeks!

I am looking forward to Black Friday! I know some of you think I am crazy but I gotta tell you it is like nothing you have ever seen! I go out not only for some shopping but to watch all the crazies fight over toys and electronics… what’s sad is in a few years the crazies are going to be Joe and I shopping for our kids! I can’t wait to plan my day… I look forward to it every year! Poor Joe always gets dragged along but I think he secretly enjoys it hehe! (Joe saying over my shoulder is saying “It’s not true, I do it cause I love you”)

My Normal Black Friday is Spent:

Kohl’s (usually around 4 am)

Stand in line at Target to get in (and get coffee at Starbucks for the caffeine so we shall see if that happens)

Best Buy (once it dies down hehe)

Babies R Us (a new one for us!!!)

Quick Breakfast… like a smoothie or what not

Other big chain stores depending on deals (BB&B, Barnes & Nobles, Michaels, Old Time Pottery, World Market, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, etc…)

Then comes the Mall… hehe best part!

Shop around and take in all the Holiday decorations

Have crappy mall food and then usually go home sometime that afternoon.

Of course this may not be the exact schedule… it all depends on what the stores have going on! It’s a busy day no doubt but I look forward to it!

Ok now onto the baby…

This week the head to rump measurement is about 5 1/2 inches long about the size of a Sweet Potato, and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He can stretch out his legs now and the measurement from head to toe is 10 in! He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that I'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his 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 his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If I’m having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If we're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from us during an ultrasound.

Joe and I have our ultrasound scheduled for Dec 7^th to learn the baby’s sex. However… don’t get your hopes us about learning what it is just yet. We plan to have the Technician place the photo and the results in a sealed envelope to reveal at a later date…. I know its killing us too! Right now the plan is to reveal the baby’s sex on Dec 18^th or 19 ^th in Raleigh. I plan to give Sonja (the woman who made our wedding cake) the envelope and she will make us a cake. Neutral icing but the cake will be dyed either blue or pink to reveal the gender with the first cut. We thought it would be a fun way to have as many people involved as possible since we live so far away from family and friends. So stay tuned!!

We had a Doctors Appt on Monday… Everything was very good and healthy.  The baby's heartbeat was in and around 130. Assuming everything stays healthy and normal this may be our last Doctors appt in Beaufort as Joe and I have decided to take a different route with our baby and pregnancy. We are transferring our care to the Savannah Birth Center. After long discussion and careful consideration we feel this is the best route for us and our baby. We are very excited about it and are looking forward to our first visit with the Midwife next Wednesday. I plan to go into more detail in another blog post but at this moment I am short on time as we are about to walk out the door for a little walking exercise at the mall!