Good Afternoon!

Week 15 update on Taddy:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam.

It is now physically possible to tell the gender of the baby, although it’s going to be another three weeks for us!  The newsletter from baby center says there is a higher chance the baby is a boy than a girl. On average in the United States, 1,048 boys are born for every 1,000 girls. I hope we beat the odds, but if not that’s ok, too. 

This past week has been one of new feelings, drama, and injury! The new feelings come from me. I have felt the beginnings of my stomach stretching. Let me just say it’s not a pleasant feeling. It has subsided, but I’m sure it’s not the last I’ve felt of it. Crazy or not, I could swear that I felt the first kick last week. Over the past four months I’ve grown to identify what is normal, and whatever I felt was unlike anything I’ve felt before. It only happened once, and it was really deliberate. I can’t remember what I was doing at the time, because I was shocked when it happened. Our little Taddy is growing! I’m anxious to see Dr. Kinder on Thursday. That means we get to hear Taddy’s heartbeat again!

The drama kicks in with our special needs puppy. Duke has been acting out quite a bit lately. I know he senses things are about to drastically change, and he’s always been my baby. I need to try to spend more quality time with him. He ran off yesterday, like he has a couple of times last week. He wound up sleeping outside ALL night one night because he never would come home. The next morning he was half wet from the Dew outside, but happy to see me. Well, yesterday he ran off. I waited and waited for him to return. We heard a knock at the door, and David opened it. One of the neighbor boys asked, “Are ya’ll missin’ a dog?” David laughed and said, “Yes we are.” The little boy directed David to where Duke was, as soon as David started in his direction Duke shot off like a little furry bullet. He headed STRAIGHT for a sewage pond. GRRREEEAAAAT! David came back inside to announce my cute little puppy had jumped into the pond. I slipped on my shoes, and went outside looking for the now soaked, quite smelly puppy. He was no where to be found. About 10 minutes later we spotted him harassing some dogs down the street. I managed to get him hooked to his leash without touching anything but his collar. We escorted him home to enjoy a nice spray bath outside. Duke did not like this at all. He wiggled out of his collar, and off he ran again. This time David kicked off his sandals, and ran to head Duke off. At this point I didn’t know what to do, go after the wet dog, or go after my injured husband who is now RUNNING! Holy moley. David managed to head Duke off, and I got Duke in his cage. He air dried on the porch all night long.

I mentioned that David was injured. The week before last he injured his back. I’m still not sure how he did it, but he’s been pretty much like Frankenstein since then. Depending on how he feels he is able to walk a little, but even trying to sit up to do homework is a chore. Dad took him back to the doctor yesterday. He got more shots. David is not a fan of needles, so I can imagine how that went. Bless his heart. I hope he didn’t make it worse by running after Duke yesterday! I’m hoping that David gains a sense of relief soon, but so far it doesn’t look promising. We took a trip into Many on Saturday to visit with Matt for his birthday, and just that short ride was no good for David. He was in pain most of the time, so unfortunately we did not get to travel to A-town to spend time with Mere, Jonathan, Adrian, and Emma for Emma’s birthday party.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. As the weeks progress, there seems to be more and more thrown in the pot. I will meet the challenges and overcome, eventually.

And next week, I will officially be 4 months pregnant! I have started to show a bit. I’m still not able to fit into some of my maternity clothes, but I’m in no hurry. I’m still debating on when to start my maternity leave. The baby can come anywhere from the week of Thanksgiving to the week after December 7th. We will know more the closer we get.

For now, I have been immerged in the planning of the party for the big reveal. I got the specifics of the cupcakes down, and now I’m working on decorations. On Thursday I plan to gather most of the supplies I’ll need for the decorations to get started on putting it together. I think the big reveal may make me cry, but it’s alright. It’s the little things in life…

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. S.