9 Weeks

Woo-hoo! We are 9 weeks along!

That means I am beginning the third month of pregnancy and only have 6 months and three weeks to go... but who's counting?

This week while perusing the 4 magazines given to me by the doctor, I came across an interesting sentence. It appeared in the magazine "As Your Baby Grows: From Conception to Birth." The statement reads: "Despite all the advances in biology and genetics, no one can explain how every cell in the embryo knows what to do and what part of the body to become; that remains one of the many mysteries of how human life develops" ('The 2nd Month,' American Baby's As Your Baby Grows, Volume 19, Number 2, 2011, Pg. 8)

However, I personally know that God is creating my baby piece by piece and part by part. His hands are all over this miracle! In the book of Psalms, David writes:

"For You created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from You

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in Your book

before one of them came to be"

(Psalm 139: 13-16, New International Version)

Aaron and I know that we have been blessed with a miracle. We are so thrilled to be on this journey to parenthood! Thank-you for taking the time out of your day to read the blogs and pray for us!

Baby Growth:

Little Baby P. is surely growing fast. This week, Baby P. is between 3/4 inch and 1 long. That's roughly the size of an olive. 

(Photo credit: sallybernstein.com)

In case you don't have any olives around, another way to see the measurement is to look at your thumb from the top knuckle to the tip of your thumb is roughly an inch. However, this may vary depending on if your thumb is the size of Great Britain's "football" star David Beckham's thumb...

(Photo credit: sport360.com)

Or my thumb:

However big or small your thumb is, it should still give you a pretty good idea of the size of our Little Baby P.

This week:
-Little Baby P.'s heart is fully developed. 
-The Baby can hiccup. (how cute!)
-Fingers and toes are no longer webbed.
-The arms develop bones.
-The hands begin to touch the face.
-The legs start to move.
-Hair follicles and nipples form.
-Baby begins to move around (although I won't be able to feel the movements for several more weeks)
-Pancreas, gall bladder, bile ducts, and "diaper covered area" are all formed.
-Gender anatomy is forming.
-Eyelids continue to form.

Little Baby P. weighs 2 grams-- which is just slightly less than the weight of a penny.

My Cravings:
-Fruit (fresh or fruit cups)
-Arby's (I just can't get that one to go away!) :)

So far, I am very very tired, but haven't been feeling too sick, which is a total praise! 

Thanks again for keeping up with the Baby developments. We are very excited as we learn new things each week!

Love, Reba

8 Weeks

We have reached the 8-week mark!

This week, little Baby Petersen is about 1/2 inch long. 

That's roughly the size of the diamond in Nicole Richie's engagement ring.  (Don't know who Nicole Richie is? That's ok.  I'm not a fan, but here's a picture of the bling-y ring-y):

Another way to think about it is this: When looking at your thumb, the length from the top knuckle to the tip of your thumb is roughly one inch...Therefore, Little Baby P. is half the length.

Baby Milestones this Week:
-eyelids, ears, upper lip & the tip of the little button nose are forming.
-tiny webbed fingers and toes will grow this week :)
-Baby's little heart has four distinct chambers now, and is beating at roughly 150 beats per minute (which is nearly half of an average person's heartbeat while at rest).

My Cravings this Week:
-anything that has to do with oranges! (Oranges themselves, tangerines, tangelos, orange juice, etc.) It doesn't matter if I just get to smell the orange or eat one myself, I LOVE oranges this week!
-veggies with Mom's amazing veggie dip.  (I wasn't really too fond of eating fresh veggies in the past weeks, but after getting to hang out with Mom on Monday during the holiday, fresh veggies have been more appealing.  Mom made me a little care bag filled with fresh veggies that were cut-up and ready to be snacked on!)
-Lemon wedge in my water. (Other drinks, besides orange juice and milk, haven't been appealing. So to dress up my water, Mom suggested dropping a lemon wedge in it. It works! I've had the appropriate amount of water each day!)
-Aaron's homemade seafood alfredo.  (A buddy at work who is also expecting goes on 2 short walks with me during our break times at work each day.  She mentioned that she had seafood alfredo for dinner one night, and that was that! I texted Aaron that he needed to make his version ASAP! He was a wonderful husband and made it last night. I had a bowl of it and it totally hit the spot!) :)
-I still am loving Arby's. (Don't worry... I don't give into the craving too much). :)

I look forward to "Baby Blog Day" each week because I am excited to share these milestones with you.  Thank-you for reading the updates and for keeping us in your prayers!

Love, Reba

7 Weeks

This Thursday was our 7 week mark.


Yesterday we had our first Doctor appointment. It included an ultrasound, a physical exam, a flu shot, and bloodwork. (Fortunately, Aaron was there to hold my hand for the shot and the bloodwork!) :)


I was excited to have the first stop be the ultrasound! We could see Baby's tiny heart beating and then we got to hear it! It's a confident "swish/swish" sound at the moment. Baby's heart beat measures at 141-- and the Nurse says this is just fine. All of the measurements for the Baby line up with the dates we expected and confirms that we are 7 weeks along.

Take a looksie at our cute little growing Baby:

And all at once we say "Awwww" :) (Picture the Baby lying on his or her side with the head on the left and the little leg buds showing toward the right).


For some perspective on size, this week our baby is the size of a Tic-Tac.


Our due date is set for August 30th. If our Baby is one of the 5% born on the due date, he or she will have a birthday exactly one week before my mom's, which is one week before Randy's, which is one week before Aaron's. Needless to say, it would be pretty fun to have a birthday party every weekend for a month!

Milestones this week:


-This week our baby's brain is growing at 100 cells per minute! We're gonna have one smart kid!


-Little arms and legs are developing


-Baby's eyes are open (though he or she doesn't have irises just yet)


Cravings this week:


-Angel food cake topped with berries (I only have one slice a day, I promise)


-Arby's (I told Aaron that after going through all the tests and bloodwork yesterday that I deserved to go to Arby's) :)


-Orange juice (Only one cup every couple of days)

-Cran-apple juice (Also, only one cup every couple of days).

I will probably add a new post every Friday afternoon.  Thursdays will mark our week# and each week I'll try to add milestones and cravings, and a picture or reference as to the size of little Baby.

Please keep us in your prayers as we happily continue our journey to parenthood!

6 Weeks

We are currently 6 weeks along!  Our first appointment is this upcoming Thursday and we will have much more information after that.  We are very excited and will keep you up to date as much as we can.

This week our baby is the size of a sprinkle on a cupcake.

(Photo credit: The Cupcake Blog)

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we start our journey to become parents!