Alexa's baby brother is 24 weeks!

That's right, I'm a month past halfway! That is, if you consider pregnancy as being 40 weeks long. In any case, this pregnancy is flying by. But before the baby gets here, I really do need to update everyone on the growth of our little boy.

It all started toward the end of January when I started to suspect that something was up. I told Daddy of my suspicions on Tuesday, Feb. 1. He wanted to wait until the weekend, but we ended up testing on Wednesday, Feb. 2. and got two dark lines! At that point, I was 5 weeks, 5 days. (With Alexa, we found out at 5 weeks, 2 days.)

I called my doctor's office the next day and they had me come in on Friday, Feb. 4, for blood work. I took Alexa with me and she charmed all the doctors! I got a phone call on Monday, Feb. 7, and was told that the blood work confirmed I was pregnant! Our next appointment was on Wednesday, Feb. 23. That's when we got to hear his heartbeat! This is what we saw... a little marshmallow! (Alexa looked like a lima bean during her first sonogram, hence the name of this blog.)

We went back on Tuesday, March 22, for the NT Scan sonogram. Here's what I wrote about it at the time: "It was good! Heard heartbeat, saw Marshmallow jumping all over the place and playing with his/her hands in his/her mouth. Crazy. Apparently little critter is 6 cm already. No wonder my pants are tight. ... Looks different than Alexa looked at this stage. Funny how that can be, huh?" (The second sonogram picture is looking down at his face from above.)

Our last appointment was on Monday, May 16. That's when we found out that the little critter who has been kicking me nonstop and who started off looking like a marshmallow, is a .......... BOY! (Alexa at that stage.)

38 weeks down, only TWO to go!

Two more weeks... Or two more days! Who knows? We are in the home stretch and now it's just a waiting game. We continue to get more and more things done each day, so that is a blessing. I keep thinking that I need one more week... But at the same time, I am ready. It's exciting to think about when it'll happen... Every night is the night before a big race. Or the first day or school.

This morning, we had our last sonogram appointment! We now have THREE different sonogram technicians all telling us with 100% certainty that we are having a girl. So if there is a delivery room surprise, it will be quite a SURPRISE! Here is our picture from the appointment. It's her spine. Couldn't really see much because she is so crammed in there.

Baby Lima Bean is no lima bean anymore... She is measuring in the 30-35 percentile at 6 pounds and 13 ounces. My office has taken up a pool on how much she'll weigh at delivery! Guesses range from 6 pounds to 8 pounds, 3 ounces. They are also doing a pool on WHEN I'll deliver, with guesses ranging from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10.

Meanwhile, I am up 3 pounds since last week, so 33 pounds since my first appointment. Week 38 bump pic from this morning below! (Check out our new yellow flowered hanging plants!)

Blood pressure good and belly measuring in line. Dialiation is now a "fingertip" as opposed to "long and closed." So that could mean something, or it could mean nothing... My doctor said she felt the baby's head! A little weird, but also a little cool.

If we make it to our next appointment (Week 39) then we will pick three dates around my 41st Week to schedule an induction... Eeeeeeek!

34 weeks down, only 6 to go!

If Baby Lima Bean, bless her little heart, goes full term (pleeeease!) then I've got a month and a half left! But if Baby Bean decides to buck her momma's advice and come early, I might have ONLY THREE WEEKS LEFT!

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

The good news is that there is no news. We had our Week 34 sonogram and doctor's visit today and Lima Bean is measuring a full FIVE POUNDS! She is now in the 40th percentile as far as size, so that is good. My belly and weight are also perfectly on track.

Still, my baby is FIVE POUNDS?! No wonder momma has gained so much. (I'm up 30 pounds. Still under the recommended weight limit. And I started out small-ish. Remember me at our wedding? I was so skinny I could have disappeared!)

Side thought: Someday when she is older, I will remind Baby Lima Bean that she once weighed no more than my girlie 5-pound weights. And she will roll her eyes at me. And I will realize that I have become THAT mother. Kill me now.

No fruit picture this week because Baby Bean is still the size of a honeydew melon. I can't wait until she hits watermelon status in a few weeks. Now, come on, is that a necessary mental image? Really. I told Papa Bean today that the next time he tells a pregnant woman that she looks like she is going to pop any day when she is only 7 months along that I will bop him on the head.

Note to men: If a woman LOOKS pregnant, most of you know well enough NOT to open your mouth, because what if she isn't? The same goes for a women who LOOKS like she is about to pop. You do not need to tell her that she has gotten HUGE and that the baby must be due ANY DAY. Because if she still has a MONTH AND A HALF TO GO, she will kill you. Word to the wise.

And now, here are some new pictures of our darling little five pounder. The first two shots show her profile and right hand, which she kept sucking on. The last shot is looking down at her face. I sure hope she doesn't really LOOK like an alien. That would be so hard to explain to Papa Bean. Your daughter is green and glowing because.............

30 weeks down, only 10 to go!

Today was our Week 30 doctor's appointment and sonogram, and everything is looking good! To start out, here is a shot of my belly taken this morning on our way to the doctor's office. I am getting bigger and bigger! It's, um, mostly my belly.

Here are the highlights from our appointment:

-- Baby Lima Bean weighs 2 pounds and 14 ounces and is in the 31 percentile for her size, meaning that she is larger than 31% of babies at this point and smaller than 69% of babies at this point. My doctor said this is perfect!

-- Fibroids are the same, unchanged. They do not appear to be impeding the growth of the baby or affecting her in any way. Also, although it's too early to tell for sure, they are not indicating a definite c-section at this time. We'll know more at my next sonogram at 34 weeks. Good news!

-- At this particular appointment, baby was breach, meaning butt down and head up. However, she doesn't need to be in "position" with her head down until 36 weeks, so anything can happen and we'll deal with that situation when we get there, my doctor said.

-- I weighed in at +24.5 pounds since my first appointment. Eeek! My doctor says that I am right on target, but to keep an eye on things so that hopefully I will gain only another 10 pounds before delivery.

Now, what you have all been waiting for, new pictures of Baby Lima Bean! This first shot is of her foot! You can see all of her toes!

This next shot is of her face, taken from above looking down:

And this final shot is one of five similar profile shots taken today:

We have one more picture, but we have decided, for her privacy, not to post it online. The picture confirms without a shadow of a doubt that Baby Lima Bean is a GIRL! Today, we saw a different sonogram technician than we have in the past, so we now have two different people who have checked and confirmed that we have a little girl on her way! Let the pink times roll!

Finally, we have something special to share with you today... Using our camera, Papa Bean was able to video Baby Lima Bean's movements on the sonogram! This short 26-second movie starts off looking down at her face, then switches to a profile shot where you can see her put her hands in her mouth and then yawn. So cute!

Update:

You can now watch this video in a larger format on YouTube!

Lima Bean takes a close-up!

Our little Lima Bean is getting to be quite a pro at taking photos! We were in our doctor's office today four our fourth ultrasound (I know, FOUR!) and our little princess just loves to ham it up.

Here is a photo of her profile, and you can see that she still loves playing with her hands! It looks very similar to the photos she took 5 weeks ago. Except she's a little bigger now. 

This second shot is a close-up looking down at her face and belly with her hands reaching up like she wants to be held! So, as you can see, she is just as cute as can be. Well, you might have to squint a little to make out her features. We are excited to meet her in person! 

In case you are wondering, everything at the ultrasound checked out wonderfully. The technician measured her head, her leg and her belly. She also listened to her strong heartbeat and measured the amount of amniotic fluid. Everything is looking great!

The purpose of the ultrasound was to measure my fibroids. They appear to be about the same size, so my doctor is just trying to keep an eye on them. I also met with our doctor, who measured my uterus, which is now above my belly button. 

And, for the record, I am now up 16 pounds since my first appointment, a weight gain that my doctor says is "perfect."

Lima Bean is a ... GIRL!

We just had our 20-week doctor's appointment today and from the view we had... We've got a little lady in here!

Everything measured normal: her brain, her head, her spine, her heart, kidneys, she's got two arms and two legs... Strong heartbeat. Everything is looking great!

Below are some more photos of our little princess... She's in the same position as the baby girl in the image above.

Except our little darling appears to be fascinated by her hands! It was a trip watching her on the sonogram screen because it looked like instead of sucking her thumb, she was going straight for her whole hands, both of them!

Methinks this one will be way into manicures. Oh yeah...

The. Cutest. Pictures. Ever.

I have seen ultrasound photos on Web sites before, but I have to say... These photos of our kicking Lima Bean have got to be - hands down - the most adorable ultrasound photos ever! 

That bodes well for the looks of our Baby Bean, if he or she is already taking stunning ultrasound pics, don't ya think?

These shots came from our NT Scan on Feb. 17 - our one-year wedding anniversary! At this point, I was at Week 11/Day 6. 

If you look at the left part of the photos, you can see Lima Bean's legs kicking against me and up in the air. Yes, those are legs, you are not seeing proof that we have a boy... That would be a little too impressive, even for our Super Lima Bean Baby!

It was an exciting ultrasound as Lima Bean put on quite a show, kicking itself off the sides of my ute and flipping round. We think this could be the early signs of an Olympic athlete! 

Why Lima Bean?

Some of our family members latched on to the name "Lima Bean" quickly. We even had one suggest that we call it "Limey."

Even our friends took to the moniker, choosing it over the other option of "Baby H," which really is so lab-like.

Of course one of my sisters verbally guffawed at the idea that we would use "Lima Bean" as a nickname. Since her complaints came after we had already started this blog, I chuckled as I told her the name was, obviously, here to stay.

So how did we come up on the name Lima Bean?

It started at our first ultrasound, on Jan. 22, when I was at Week 8/Day 1. This was our first official prenatal appointment and an ultrasound was done to make sure there was a heartbeat.

When the picture came up in the screen, we saw a little blob that can best be described as looking like a lima bean! Our doctor told us that it was also the size of a lima bean (1/2 to 3/4 of an inch). So, of course, when we described what we saw on the screen to family members, we kept repeating the "lima bean" description.

Pretty soon, it stuck.

Beans, it turns out, are a common way to describe the early growth of a baby. According to pregnancy books and Web sites, an embryo at Week 6 is the size of a lentil bean (0.08 to 0.16 inch). By Week 7, it turns into pinto bean (0.16 to 0.2 inch) only to morph into a lima bean or kidney bean (1/2 inch) by the start of Week 8.

So, for those who don't like the name Lima Bean, just think, it could have been worse.