The Growing Caldwell Family

Okay, so there are a slew of other mostly old wives' tale type things to predict the gender. Two of the ones that I have not done yet are to dangle a needle or ring over your belly and watch to see if it swings in a circle (a girl) or back and forth (a boy), or you can mix some of your own pee with Drano and check to see if the color darkens (a boy) or stays the same (a girl). Now you see why I haven't jumped on the chance to try that one out :) I did go online and do some Chinese age predictor test that determines the gender based on the mother's age and the month of conception. I know, some of you are thinking that I didn't even know when I got pregnant, so how could I possibly pick the right month. I think it was in April, so we went with that. According to this fabulously scientific test, we should expect a boy. I also completed a gender predictor quiz online and responded to such questions as, Are you craving sweet or sour foods? and is the hair on your legs g...

So today we went for a check-up. When the midwife came in she quickly started asking me if I had been feeling baby move, which I said no. Then, she asked if I had ever felt baby move and Aaron and I start exchanging glances and I say no. I am about to mention that all the books say it will probably be several weeks before I can feel movement when she realizes that the wrong chart is open and she is looking at the chart for someone 30 weeks along! My heart had almost stopped until she admitted her mistake and began apologizing profusely for scaring us like that! She also checked for baby's heartbeat. This was another heart stopping moment for us because at first she couldn't pick it up. It turns out our little acrobat was hiding behind some of my organs. Our hearts melted when she picked up the sound and we heard that rapid thudding coming through! Some still believe that baby's heart rate is a way to tell the gender. Well, today sweet pea's heart rate was 145, which the...

So we've reached the point where people have started mentioning that I am showing. It depends on what I am wearing, but you can see a bump now in most things. Here is what is happening for baby: Curious why your body is finally looking like it's pregnant? That's because your baby is growing bigger each week — he or she is as long as four and a half inches right now. Need a better visual? Hold a large navel orange in your hand — that's how big your little darlin' is at 15 weeks pregnant . So what keeps your baby busy all day? Mostly, your fetus is in rehearsals — practice, practice, practicing, and getting ready for that big debut. Babies practice breathing, sucking, and swallowing so that when they leave your comfy womb and move into your comfy house, they'll have the skills necessary to survive. Fetal body movements continue to get practice this week, too. But because your baby weighs so little (a bit over two ounces), you won't feel the calisthenics g...

My good friend and sorority sister, Emily, sent us a fabulous gift. This book reviews baby products and offers you ratings and advice on which products are useful for baby. They are focused on helping you pick products that will be a good buy, so they review features as well as provide general information to help you decide what you need. This book came at the perfect time because we were starting to feel overwhelmed with all the options and the price ranges of products. Now I can't wait to go look at some of these things!

We had a great weekend in Savannah. The weather was warm, but not too humid. We had a really relaxing time just walking around and enjoying some good food. We had Aaron's birthday dinner at the Lady & Sons, which is Paula Deen's restaurant. The buffet had all your country cookin ' favorites. My favorite was the mac'n cheese and I think Aaron really enjoyed the black eyed peas. We had a great time walking around the historic area and looking at the houses and churches on the beautiful squares. The trees reminded us of LSU . Aaron found a place with dueling pianos and we had a fun time there Saturday night. Two of the players were very talented and did some cool stuff like Dave Mathews and Guns'n Roses. We also did a carriage tour and learned some interesting facts. We would like to go back and maybe tour some of the homes next time. There are also more restaurants that we would like to try. It was just a relaxing place to be. We went to Mom and Dad's and...

Today is Aaron's birthday and we are celebrating by taking a long weekend in Savannah. I have never been there and am really looking forward to it. Mostly, I am just looking forward to time to relax. We have been so busy lately that we haven't had time just to hang out. I am also looking forward to all the yummy restaurants . I also hear there are some tasty candy shops. Hopefully we will have some pictures to post when we come back!

My belly has definitely started to pop out. Aaron and I have both noticed it in the past week. It's starting to look more like a baby growing in there and less like I've been hitting the baked goods too hard.