25 weeks

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

8 Things to be Thankful for During Pregnancy l Thanksgiving l BabyZone

While it may be hard to be thankful for things like constipation, morning sickness, and the inability to see one's own feet, there are plenty of things about pregnancy to be thankful for. Here are 8!

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Daddy's Poem

Her hair was up in a pony tail,
her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,
and she couldn't wait to go.

But her mommy tried to tell her,
that she probably should stay home;
why the kids might not understand,
is she went to school alone.

But she was not afraid;
she knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
of why he wasn't there today.

But still her mother worried,
for her to face this day alone.
And that is why, once again,
she tried to keep her daughter home.

But the little girl went to school,
eager to tell them all.
About a dad she never sees,
a dad who never calls.

There were daddies along the wall in back,
for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
anxious in their seat.

One by one the teacher called
on a student from the class.
To introduce their daddy,
as seconds slowly passed.

At last the teacher called her name,
every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,
a man who wasn't there.

"Where's her daddy at?"
she heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"
another student dared to shout.

And from somewhere near the back,
she heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,
too busy to waste his day."

The words did not offend her,
as she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
who told her to go on...

And with hands behind her back,
slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
came words incredibly unique.

"My Daddy couldn't be here,
because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,
since this is such a special day.

And though you cannot meet him,
I wanted you to know
all about my daddy,
and how much he loves me so.

He loved to tell me stories,
he taught me to ride my bike;
he surprised me with pink roses,
and taught me to fly a kite.

We used to share fudge sundaes,
and ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him,
I'm not standing here alone.

'Cause my daddy's always with me,
even though we are apart;
I know because he told me,
he'll forever be in my heart"

With that, he little hand reached up,
and lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,
beneath her favorite dress.

And from somewhere there in the crowd of dads,
her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,
who was wise beyond her years.

For she stood up for the love
of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
doing what was right.

And when she dropped her hand back down,
staring straight into the crowd,
she finished with a voice so soft,
but its message clear and loud.

"I love my daddy very much,
he's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,
but heaven's just too far.

You see he is an American Soldier
and he died just this past year...
when a roadside bomb hit his convoy
and taught Americans to fear.

But sometimes when I close my eyes,
it's like he never went away."
And then she closed her eyes,
and saw him there that day.

And to her mother's amazement,
she witnessed with surprise,
a room full of daddies and children,
all starting to close their eyes.

Who know what they saw before them;
who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
they saw him at her side.

"I know you're with me Daddy,"
to the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
of those once filled with doubt.

Not one in that room could explain in,
for each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,
by the love of her shining star.
And given the gift of believing,
that heaven is never too far.

24 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Don't you wish you thought of it!

23 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Happy Veterans Day

Riley's Registry!

Before I get to the headline I just wanted to share that I was fortunate enough this week to earn 2 gift cards to Target!

I got one because I qualified for a study at Yale that has to do with Pregnancy. DUH.

The other one we got for starting our registry with Target. SCORE!

Ok...So Baby Riley has a registry now. Finally!

http://www.target.com/RegistryGiftGiverCmd?isPreview=false&status=completePageLink&listId=vC-BP7YFYm_AUAd-nbj-7A&registryType=BB&isAjax=false

My 2 most favorite items are below:

We are so very EXCITED!

Another Big Disney Desposit!!!!

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October Recap

If I don't recap I'll never remember what I did.

Mike and I went to a hockey game with people from work. It was at Harbor Yard, Bruins vs. Islanders. Unfortunately the Bruins won, and Mike kept everyone entertained by constantly starting a "Let's go Whalers" chant. We also went to.the Hamden Elks Club to see a comedy show thanks to Captain O.

I tried to get my license changed so I could finally be Mrs. Cook officially. It's already taken me 2 months so what's the rush, right? Well we planned to go to AAA on a Saturday. We get there, pay, wait in line. Only to find out that since the new "secure license" started, they have to validate your license and Social Security isn't open on Saturday. So I waited for nothing and had to remind them to give me my money back. After that fiasco we figured we would just run to the DMV and see what's what. Well, as luck would have it, the Waterbury DMV is under renovation. So that day was a bust. Luckily there is a AAA in Hamden near work. So I left a little early and wham bam, an hour later I finally had my new name! Of course it wasn't without incident, but whatever.

I swam a few times this month. I'm just too tired after work to change, swim and change again. But I'm trying. Kim had a Dove Chocolate Party. We went to that. We tried lots of yummy stuff. Mike had me buy him mix to make chocolate peanut butter cup smoothies. I also went to my bookkeepers forum. Exciting!

We spent the day together at Grams for her birthday. It was the first time we've had a family gathering since we got married. And how can we forget the freak, record breaking snow storm that had us with out power and postponed Halloween.

Cardinals beat Texas for the World Series! Football is in full swing.

But perhaps most importantly we had baby appointments. And we had the big anatomy scan. Everything was looking good and measuring on time. And that we are having a girl.

It's been another busy month. Let's see what November holds!

22 Weeks & Baby U/S from today!

Baby Riley!

How your baby's growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Finally

On Tuesday, November 1st, I felt the baby move for the first time. And yes, that's the day we didn't have power and I was home from work in bed with a migraine. I only felt her move a few times. And it feels so weird. The only way I can describe it is like someone is moving things around in there. I felt her move a little more on Wednesday and Thursday. But Friday and today, she's a moving machine. I can't wait until I can feel her move on the outside so Mike can feel it. But I'll be honest, I'm enjoying the fact.that I'm the only one can feel her right now.

Halloween was postponed this year

On Saturday October 29th we experienced a freak snow storm. It started around 12:30. And it was wet, heavy, large flake snow. Some parts of the state got up to 16 inches! In October!!! In the afternoon people were already losing power. Luckily we just had the power flick on and off a few times. Not so luckily however, all the one and off of said power fried the DVR box in my bedroom. Needless to say, that night I wrote a post just about that. So I settled for watching DVDs and shows that I could get on the converter box. Unfortunately that did not include the ID channel. A whole day without shows about murderers, bite your tongue!

We were all up early on Sunday :( and it was about 10:00 am when I was going to start my Pirates of the Carribean marathon. As my luck would have it, before I even got the DVD into the DVD player, we lost power FOR GOOD! And as Mike's luck would have it, he just had started laundry! Within 5 minutes I was already losing my mind. We were lucky enough to lose power during Hurricane Irene, but not so much this time. The boys didn't notice, they just kept on playing. Mike went down to start ringing out the laundry since the washer stopped full of water. We called Macgray to see if we could get out money back somehow. They said they don't usually refund but would send us a check. Which we got yesterday for $5.00. See it pays to call because you never know!

So we all loaded into the car sans shower :( which if you know me, you know that was not kosher for me, OCD and all. We brought Boomer to my parents even though they didn't have power either and  we brought the boys home so they could have power, the apartment was getting cold. After that we filled up the gas which was an excellent idea because starting the next day the lines were ridiculous if you found a gas station open. We headed back to Waterbury and went to eat at Frankies. They were one of the few places with power so everyone was there. We didn't mind waiting though and I kept a sharp eye on the people eating and was stealth and able to get a table.

Mike called his Mom and they luckily had power. They lost it for a week during Hurricane Irene. So we stopped back home and saved the milk, cheese, chicken nuggets we just bought on sale and of course the ice cream. They let us store in at there house and we were able to do.our laundry there.

They had power but no cable. And almost no one had cell signal because tons of cell towers were damaged. So we all sat around the table and talked. Mike, Bill and Joey played Stratego. We tried to start calling around for a hotel. But we had a hard time getting signal. We loaded up the truck and headed home.

Unfortunately Mike hit the sunroof button when he wanted to turn on the light. Well the sunroof is broken. So there was no getting it closed and it was getting cold fast. He was able to get enough signal to make a few calls. We found a hotel in New Haven, but then we asked to make sure they had power. Not so much, then they found a room for us in West Haven that had power. And we reserved it. We decided to only take one car because Mike's job was cancelled for Monday, no power, and we took the van because the sunroof was stuck open. And with my truck it will charge your phone even without it running. So we left it so my parents wouldn't be without their phone.

We headed up the 2 flights of stairs to the apartment carefully. Once we got in we found the kids Halloweem lanterns, jackpot! We grabbed what we needed and headed to my parents. Told them our plan and off we went. It was about 8:30 pm when we stopped in Derby to get gas. When Mike was coming out from paying a mouse ran across his foot!

When we got to the Econolodge we were greatful that we called ahead and made the reservation. There was a line in front of us and the only rooms left we jacuzzi rooms and were going to cost more than twice what we were paying. People were there that drove from Danbury still looking for rooms. It was 10:00 pm when we got to our room. First thing I did, SHOWER! Watched some tv and then fell asleep. I was up and down all night! It totally sucked. We decided the next morning that we would go home that night and just deal.

Mike brought me to work at 9:30 am. It was the first time he had ever been there and I gave him the grand tour. He went home, brought all our crap in the apartment, got my parents hot food and then hung out at his parents. He was even able to get the sunroof closed! And found out both his jobs for Tuesday were on because they were running on generator.

He picked me up from work and we went back to his parents. We had goulash for supper and played board games until I was so tired I wanted to go home. The apartment was FREEZING! We put on a second blanket. I was just right but he was very cold. I had a candle going in the bathroom all night since I spend so much time in there.

And yes, this was Halloween. Since 80% of the town still didn't have power, trick or treating was postponed until today, Saturday. It was cold and deafening quiet all night. Neither of us slept well at all.

Tuesday Mike got up and went to work. During the night I got a headache which turned into a migraine by morning. I couldn't barely move. So I was not going to work and the apartment was in perfect condition for when you have a migraine, cold, dark and quiet! Around 11:00 am Mike called. I was hungry. He planned to stop at McDonald's, pick me up and go to his Moms. The line at McDonald's was nuts but he's a trooper.

We went to his parents and ate and warmed up. Then they got cable back so we started watching tv :) Mike had to get his keys from Hal so he ran home. And guess what? We had power and cable!!!! He came back and brought me home. He had to go to work so I caught up on tv :) When he got home he had BOOMER! He was finally home again. And all was right with the world.

And that's my boring story. And Mike took Victoria trick or treating tonight. Unfortunately I have an effin migraine again so I've been in bed. But Mike's the bomb.

Gender Pool Results

9/13/11 ~ Dad ~ Boy ~ I'm just guessing...not rooting one way or the other :)
9/13/11 ~ Mom ~ Girl ~ Cause she is already giving you a run for your money...but either way, HEALTHY!
9/13/11 ~ Paul P ~ Boy ~ What is the over/under on the weight and height?
9/13/11 ~ The Daddy ~ Girl ~
9/14/11 ~ Gretchen J ~ Boy ~ You need a pro baseball or hockey player! Best of luck either way!
9/14/11 ~ Captain Obvious ~ Boy ~ You need a Son first so he can look after his little sisters. But, If you have a Girl, That's OK. That was my second guess.
9/14/11 ~ Stephanie S ~ Girl ~ So you can feel my pain.
9/14/11 ~ Jan T ~ Boy ~
9/14/11 ~ Michele M ~ Girl ~ I think it's a girl - make you feel the sickest (like morning sickness) when you are pregnant.
9/14/11 ~ Melanie ~ Girl ~
9/14/11 ~ Christy B ~ Girl ~
9/14/11 ~ Tracy G ~ Boy ~ Johnathon needs another boy to play with lol. They are also easier to raise then girls.
9/14/11 ~ Papa Hal ~ Girl ~ wishful thinking...then you can look forward to all that Victoria has left you experience so far...but from a different perspective.
9/14/11 ~ Aunt Mary ~ Boy ~
9/15/11 ~ Brother Boomer ~ Girl ~ IT'S GONNA BE A GIRLY GIRL! WHOOOHOOO!!!!
9/16/11 ~ Amber N ~ Boy ~ just a gut...lol
9/16/11 ~ Uncle Wally ~ Boy ~ Need another gear head :)
9/18/11 ~ Bill H ~ Girl ~ Your disposition has been so mellow, generally relaxed and on the sweet side for awhile now. I don't know if that's just a general change since you've fallen in love, got married and have a muffin in the oven; having nothing to do with gender, or if it really is related to feminine characteristics. I think my first impression was a girl.
9/19/11 ~ Aunt Toria ~ Girl ~ I want a NIECE! but I have a feeling it's going to be a boy.
9/21/11 ~ Uncle Sam ~ Boy ~ Well in the end Victoria will be baby sitting anyway.
10/7/11 ~ Anna G ~ Girl ~ Just a guess, hoping it's healthy either way :)

Final Tally ~ 10 Boys/11 Girls

And we all know, GIRL WON!

Best Surprise Eva!

My bestest friend, Bill, gave me these lovely nuggets of happiness! He said it was because he guessed we were having a GIRL and he was right. So I get M&Ms! How is that not awesome!!!!

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