18 weeks

I honestly don't think I've stopped smiling since Tuesday. Looking back I guess I was pretty nervous about our ultrasound and the baby's growth. I've only put on a pound and just don't feel like I'm as big as I was with Brody even though all I've heard about is how fast you grow with the second child. I don't know if maybe I just seem small because I remember how big you get towards the end or what. I'm definitely not complaining about the little weight gain it just made me nervous about Jaxson's growth.

He's definitely the mover and shaker just like his brother and this week he has let me know! I love that feeling.

I'm quite in love with his name as well even though I keep going back and forth about the spelling. I've always loved the name Jackson and Brandon offered this alternative spelling and it just seems to fit him and we can call him Jax for short which goes well with Brody.

We've been extremely busy and haven't been home one night since last Monday. This will be the first and I hope to get many things accomplished including scanning u/s pictures and posting a "Brody" post. But seems that Dada is working late again tonight that might not happen but I will definitely try!

Here's Jaxson's development this week:
Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a sweet potato) 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. There is still space available in your uterus and your baby will be active for periods at a time. Your baby may sit cross legged or turn somersaults. Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that your baby can hear now. Your baby will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if he hears a loud sound

IT'S A.....

BOY

We went to the high risk doc yesterday and we are having another boy. We are beyond thrilled even though everyone we know wanted us to have a girl. I really think Brody will enjoy a brother!




This is an IPhone picture of the us so it isn't the greatest but I will try and scan some good ones tonight. We are going to name him

JAXON LEE OR JAXSON LEE (still debating on spelling)

He is measuring right on schedule and everything looked good with us. I will update later for his 18 week update.
Love,
LeAnn

Lil Mac: 17 weeks

It hardly seems possible that I'm 17 weeks. Where has the time gone? We are so busy wrapping up the school year that the times flying by. Everyone is doing great this week. Had to get Brody new shoes because he's growing so quickly. He was wearing size 4 shoes and we learned when we went to get new ones that he's now in a size 5!! And I swear it happened overnight!

Momma goes to the doctor tomorrow to see the nurse practioner so I'm sure it won't be anything exciting, just the usually checking of blood pressure, weight and growth. I'll update if anything too exciting happens.

Lil Mac's 17 week development: seems like this is a busy week!
Your baby's weight has doubled in two weeks and now weighs about 3.5 ounces! The crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 4.4 to 4.8 inches. If you spread your hand out opened wide, you can see about how big your baby is.
Huge changes continue to take place within your developing baby. This week fat begins to form and will continue to do so until he is born. Fat is important to the body's heat production and metabolism. Right now, at 17 weeks, water makes up about 3ounces and fat 0.018 ounces of your baby's body. In a baby at term, fat makes up about 5.25 pounds of the total average weight of 7.7 pounds. The placenta is continuing to grow at an amazing rate. The placenta will continue to develop in tandem with the fetus and it will weigh more than a pound at birth! By this week, the placenta is large and well established with a network of blood vessels that exchange nutrients and waste.
The eyes are facing more forward. The ears are now close to their final position.
Your baby is more flexible with ability to move head, mouth, lips, arms, wrists, hands, legs, feet, and toes. Fingerprints are forming now.

Love,
LeAnn

Lil Mac: 16 weeks

Well we finally got over our illnesses from last week! Brody is feeling SO much better and the bronchitis has seem to calm down, thank goodness! It was a rough week for sure.

Momma is doing well and getting anxious to find out the sex of this baby. Brandon and I know when we go to the doctor to find out but we aren't telling anyone so that we can surprise our family with the news. We are sneaky like that :O) Brandon said he's really anxious to find out the gender of this one because he already knew what Brody was but isn't sure with this one. I keep going back and forth on a girl and boy. I honestly thing it's such a random draw and I've felt so different from Brody's pregnancy. I don't know if that's because this is my second time around so my body knows what to do and expects this or if it's because it's a girl. From our timing I believe our chances are higher for a girl! We will see shortly.

Lil Mac's 16 week development: 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.

I've defintiely grown this past week so if the baby is about to go through a growth spurt I should definitely look pregnanct in the next week or two rather than my current state of just feeling/looking chunky. I'm so ready for that big round belly :)

I've been feeling random movements for quite some time now but they have been picking up in strength the past week. Mostly at night when I'm getting ready to fall asleep. I wonder if this baby will be the kicker that his/her brother was?

Lil Mac: 15 Weeks ~ What a week

Another week down and it's been a crazy one! Saturday Brody started running fever out of the blue and had a running nose, hoarse voice and bad cough. After running 102-103 fever we headed to the doc on Sunday morning where he was diagnosed with Bronchitis and a virus. We were sent home with an antibotic and steroids. Two days with Grammy we thought we were all better until he started running 102 fever in the middle of Tuesday night. So we went back to the doc where we were told he still has bronchitis and a virus and has "junk" in his right lung. So now we were sent home with breathing treatments every 3 hours to try and get that stuff out. He seems better today and his cough has improved a little so I'm hoping he is on his way to recovery.

On top of that our AC went out last night! Poppy found a way to get it running again and we had it serviced and fixed today, good thing I was off with Brody!

I also got a new car this weekend! I love it, it's a 2010 Mazda CX-9 and I'm so happy with our purchase. We were just going to test drive them because I was interested in them for a few months now but never drove one. Well the dealership gave us more than we were expecting on my car and we qualified for 0% interest so we went ahead and got the car! It's so much easier loading groceries, strollers and a kiddo in a SUV vs. a car!



So it's been a very busy, hectic week. I keep saying to myself that soon there will be a 4th member of the family. I cannot imagine how hectic our life will be then!

Here is Lil Mac's development at 15 weeks:

Your baby is growing rapidly as you continue your pregnancy week by. If you were to peek inside your uterus during pregnancy week 15 you would still be able to see your baby's blood vessels through his paper-thin skin. In fact, the blood vessels forming in your baby's body make him look rather like a map! This week, your baby will start producing lanugo, which is fine hair that will cover your baby's body up until a few weeks before birth. Lanugo covers every part of your baby in utero, except for the palms, soles of the feet, lips, penis, nails, and inner fingers and toes. Typically babies will shed this hair by the 8th month of pregnancy, but it can persist in some newborns for a short period of time. Pre-term babies are more likely to be born with lanugo than full term babies. Your baby might start sucking his thumb this week.

The bones in your baby's body are also starting to get harder during pregnancy at 15 weeks and will continue to do so throughout your pregnancy. Your baby is spending most of his time practicing breathing, by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid. Believe it or not, the very act of doing so will help your baby's air sacs develop during pregnancy. Your baby continues to form taste buds at this point in time.
15 week belly with Lil Mac:

15 week belly with Brody(for comparison):