Gender Reveal.... Little Man or Little Miss?

Hello World.........

I'm a Girl!!!!!

It's official!  Baby Stielow is a GIRL :-).  Jake has officially broken the "Stielow Streak"... his Grandmother had all sons, they had all sons, and all the grandchildren are boys (except one single girl).  

It took our ultrasound tech a few tries.  She told us pretty early that she was at least 90% sure it was a baby girl, but baby was tucked in a ball with her legs together so she kept trying to get her to move to make sure nothing was hiding :-)

It was amazing to see her in there.  She was pretty active and kicking.  She was tucked up in a ball with her feet by her head.  We both laughed because our little Yorkie, Bucky, likes to snuggle in the exact same position :-)

We had my family all open an article of clothing and put the outfit together to figure out if it was a boy or girl.  Here's a picture of my mom holding the two main pieces.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14

Oh Boy... or Girl?

We are 20 weeks pregnant and Monday is the BIG Day!  Well... not "the" big day but close.  We get to find out if we are having a little miss or a little man :-)

Old Wives Tales Gender Predictions

History of Parents - Girl

Moodiness - Girl
Wedding Ring - Girl

Mayan Calendar - Boy

Chinese Calendar - Girl

Daddy's Weight - Boy

Morning Sickness - Girl

Baby's Heartbeat - Girl

Skin - Boy

Cravings -Girl

So far our mother's are guessing it might be a girl.  I have two younger brothers... Alex is certain it is a boy and he will teach him how to play soccer before he is able to walk.  He says that our little boy will be the next Lionel Messi :-).  David, however, is certain we are having a little girl.

What is YOUR prediction?  Don't forget to cast your vote!  

(Our survey is on the top right hand of the blog... but it is only visible when viewing our blog on an actual computer).

How far along? 20 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: Around 9lbs.  I keep thinking wow... that is too much isn't it?  Nope, when I do the math or look at the weight gain by week calculators I'm right on target.  Phew

Maternity clothes? Of course!  Although some of my yoga pants are getting uncomfortable because the waist band is getting too snug :-(

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Still sleeping great - minus the frequent trips to the bathroom and the bizarre dreams

Best moment this week:  Same as last week.. I feel our baby move a lot more now than I did a few weeks ago :-)  I love feeling little nudges throughout the day.

Miss Anything? Not really, I was at a training for work and they had a large salad bar for lunch... the meat was all deli meat.  I miss not being able to eat some things safety when thats all I have as options.

Movement: Yes :-) Usually morning and evening I feel nudges and what I can only assume are flips and sometimes in the afternoon I will feel a few here or there if I am sitting down.

Food cravings: I am just coming off of my lemonade kick (still sounds pretty tasty) so I am sure within a few days I will have something new I want to eat every day.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: I can't eat ice cream :-(  I know, right?  It just gives me awful nausea/indigestion so I have just given up on it.  I have an unopened pint of Ben and Jerry's "Everything But The..." that Jake bought me a few weeks ago but haven't been able to eat it. 

Have you started to show yet: Most definitely   I think finally this week I look like I have a belly in a normal T-shirt instead of just looking chubby although it may still is a toss up.  I had my first person acknowledge my pregnancy that didn't know me at Costco this week :-)  

Gender: We will find out tomorrow :-)  I plan to have a snack shortly before and bring a bottle of ice water just incase our little miss or mister needs some encouraging to move around.

Size of baby: Banana or Mango (Around 6.5 inches from head to bottom... they start measuring head to feet after 20 weeks)

Weight of baby: About 10 ounces 

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!... and Hungry?  This week it seems like I am always hungry.  I am trying to eat healthy and have lots of fruits, nuts, cheese for my many snacks.   My mom and I ate lunch at Pancheros on Friday before our Costco trip, and she thought it was hilarious that before she had even half of her burrito finished my plate was clean.  She told everyone "it was the first time I'd ever seen that child finish a plate of food in her life."  What can I say... baby's hungry!

Looking forward to: Our Ultrasound tomorrow!  I can't wait to get to see our little one, our first ultrasound at Mid-Iowa fertility was at 4 and 6 weeks to make sure we had a viable pregnancy and baby was no bigger than a little blob on the screen with a barely able to see flicker of a heart beat.... oh yeah and finding out if it is a boy or a girl ;-)

18 Weeks

Sorry... no chalkboard this time...we normally take pictures on Sunday since it the official day we go up in weeks, but were too busy celebrating our third wedding anniversary and swimming in my parents pool this weekend to bother.  ;-)

Happy Labor Day!  Does anyone even know what Labor Day is or why it is celebrated?  Me neither.... and neither does anyone else I have asked.  Our family spent the holiday at the Omaha Zoo.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I have been to a zoo and conveniently did not remember how much walking was involved during the four hours it takes you to make the trek around the zoo.... I used to be in shape.. I just blame it on the mysterious 6 pounds I have gained in my belly.

So for all of you long distance family members (this means you Aunt Marie ;-))... I included some pics of everyone, then on to the fun questions :-)

I think the poor cats were as hot as we were .... they were all hiding in the shade.

 I have a feeling this one was tired of people congregating around him and decided to become rather vocal about his annoyance :-)

My handsome husband and two brothers....you can never get all three of them make a good face at once.... this was as good as it got.

Jellyfish

Monkeys

These animals must be more like pets because I was inches from this bird and he didn't care.

There was a giant butterfly garden... so pretty

Watching the seals ... takes lots of concentration...

Happy three years to my handsome hubby :-)

How far along? 18 Weeks, 2 days today... the picture we took was done yesterday so subtract a day.

Total weight gain/loss: just under 7lbs... eek! I keep doing the math and I am actually right on target, but it is still a surprise to step on the scale every week and see it steadily creeping upward :-)

Maternity clothes? Of course!  Don't ever let people tell you that you have to wait, especially since most jeans and other pants these days hit around your lower abdomen and are snug fitting... they are so uncomfortable once you have any type of belly.

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Still sleeping great - minus the frequent trips to the bathroom and the bizarre dreams

Best moment this week: Feeling baby kick!  Although at first it felt like a snake wiggling in water kind've feeling... now it feels more like popping bubbles.  It is always about an inch under my belly button and feels like it is right under the surface.

Miss Anything? Not really, although on cool fall nights I am going to miss drinking my hot tea every evening.

Movement: Yes :-) Usually when I am sitting or lying down and still otherwise I don't notice it too much.

Food cravings: It is new every week... first it was everything salad, then Culvers chicken strips, next was fried eggs and toast... this week.. LEMONADE!  I must say, Cheesecake Factory makes the BEST lemonade... holy cow!  Good thing the closest one is about 45 minutes away :-)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only if I eat sweets as a snack instead of something with protein... it is more just horrendous  heartburn/indigestion but I don't think that part is every going to go away.  It has just become more manageable the further along I get.

Have you started to show yet: Yes!  I think I am still in the middle stage where someone might assume I am pregnant but I'm not big enough yet to ask with confidence :-)

Gender: We don't know yet and it is killing me :-)  We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow but he said he's going to make us wait until 20 weeks for the official ultrasound... bah! :-)

Size of baby: About the size of a sweet potato or a bell pepper... about 5 1/2 inches

Weight of baby: About 7 ounces 

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!... and Hungry?

Looking forward to: My 20 week ultrasound! :)... 1 1/2-2 weeks away!

Is baby Stielow a boy or a girl?...Don't forget to take our poll on the top right hand side of our blog! :-)