Chalk this one up to my inability to cure my procrastination...

Friday we had another appointment with Dr. Chesney and we actually got to hear the baby's heart beat!!! The rate was 150 beats/minute (which now makes me second guess my thought that this baby is a girl). At any rate, Dr. Chesney says that everything still looks great! WE go back in 2 weeks (July 11th) to find out what Baby G really is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <----- I'm excited (can you tell?)

At any rate, we have chosen the following names for our child-
Boy: Caileb "dog/brave" <--- my husband can break the entire story down as to how the meaning of this name went from "dog" to "brave"
Girl: Ma Kiyah "who is like Yahweh (God)"

Unfortunately at this time we are at a stand still with middle names, so I come to you (my readers- friends and family) to give us your suggestions. Please leave your suggestion(s) in a comment and hopefully we will come up with something!!!

New this week: Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'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 you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

17 weeks

Only 2 more days and we go to our next appointment (followed by the big ultrasound in 2 weeks)! I'm hoping that we will get to hear our baby's heart beat on Friday, if not I'll settle for getting to see him or her once again. Still no signs of morning sickness (knock on wood) and I'm in great health and feeling great! I pray that the next 5 1/2 months continue to go just as well.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

I think it's a girl!

A few days ago I was online looking at babyzone.com and they had this Chinese calendar that predicts your baby's gender- I put in the info and the result "you could be having a girl." Yesterday I met some friends and their children at a small water park in Smryna and my friend Kristi did the "ring test" on me. (For those of you who don't know- the ring test is when you put a ring on a strand of hair and hold it over you stomach the gender of the baby is determined by the motion of the swing... back-and-forth A BOY; in a circle A GIRL). On me the ring went in a very defined circle- so once again the predictions are for a girl. Many people I work with think it's a boy because I haven't had any sickness, but then there are the few that have said that they were sicker than a dog and had a boy (or had no sickness and had a girl). So to add to the predictions, I have this feeling (call it motherly if you will) that I am carrying a girl. At the end of the day does it matter what we have? Of course not! I just want a healthy baby that is happy and blessed!

4 months and counting

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

We're back from KY and it was exciting getting to see all of our friends and family for the first time since we told th em that we were expecting! They all think I'm getting bigger and of course everyone is excited about December.

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.