15 Weeks

I have been sooooooo excited for Chip lately!! Being pregnant for 9 months is too long. It's a big tease. You get to see pictures of the baby and eventually feel the baby kicking inside (I read that's around 25 weeks- so mid March for me) and the baby is like a huge present that you've been praying for all year and get excited for and think about all the time, but know you can't open for a long time! Since I have 25 weeks left (maybe 24 if I'm extra lucky), I made these little countdown sheets to rip off as each 3 or 4 days pass. Doing it by days would be too many and that number is too high and kind of makes me sad. 25 weeks doesn't sound as far away as 173 (?) days. I was surprised to learn that the baby doesn't even weigh one pound until 22 weeks. Seems like since 20 weeks is the halfway mark, that's when the baby should weigh at least three pounds, or half of what they will weigh when they're born. Also it's hard to judge how many months pregnant I am (Michael hates when I just say it in weeks.. you know, 'cause math..) but dividing the number by four doesn't always seem to match up. Like next week I would be 4 months, but if I still have almost 6 months to go, that equals 10, which isn't right. I told him I'll try to switch to saying how old Chip is only in months after the birth because then I'll go off of the 2nd of each month (or whichever numbered day Chip is born).

  I really like having things to look forward to, hence my countdowns, which is why I often try to make plans to do fun things. The next big thing is on Saturday when we go see WICKED!!!! Michael says he is looking forward to it since he saw Phantom of the Opera on stage when he was younger and really liked it. And then hopefully we're going to Animal Kingdom on Sunday. No big plans after that though, until my birthday in June, but I have no idea what I'd like to do for that. And it will be the big 3-0!! So we should plan 30 fun "things to do before you have a baby". I'll be 37 weeks on my birthday. =)  I would really like to visit Mia and Jay in Denver around March (if it's not still "too cold" for me then), but Michael doesn't get any time off between this class graduating and the next class that starts February 27th at VAMP.

  I have begun looking further into day cares around our area since we'll have to put him or her in one when I go back to work after maternity leave in October. Michael says thinking about touring places and meeting the teachers already stresses him out and says it's "too soon" to worry about that. Lindsey said a lot of babies get put on a waiting list since a lot of moms have to work, so day cares are in high demand for young babies and getting on the list early is a smart idea! 

  I just called and confirmed with the receptionist at our doctor's office that the next appointment on the 19th is to find out Chip's gender. I'll be 16 weeks and 3 days then. Lindsey was able to find out early today (she's about 5 days ahead of me, I think) so she may be 16 weeks tomorrow. But she told me her results after she told her family... it's a boy!! I have already been thinking about how I want to do the reveal on Instagram and Facebook using pictures, after we tell our families on the phone. I like the idea of having a box of colorful balloons and we open the box the a video. Then do it again using the Canon to take still frames that I would post on here. I was looking on Pinterest and saw a Harry Potter one where the parents were dressed up in a woodsy area, making a potion, and their potion was blue, meaning they were having a boy. That's a fun reveal! The anatomy scan will be when I'm 19 weeks, so I'll have to hold off on buying specifically boy or girl clothes until they double check all of the parts. On my 15 week app, it says now is when the outer sex organs begin to develop. I'd feel bad if they say Chip is a girl and then later find out he was being shy about it and have to exchange all the flowery tops for fire engines. I'll just keep the receipts. ;)