Our Two Babies Together

Eric snapped this great photo last weekend at the wedding of some friends of ours. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day and the wedding took place right next to this beautiful pond. Molly had a great time walking all over the place and she probably would've jumped right into the water if we let her. It's hard to believe that just 18 months ago, Molly was just a bump on my belly just about the size of the one I'm carrying right now. Since I haven't been very good about taking any official "belly shots" (chasing around a 1-year-old tends to keep me busy), I guess I'll snatch up this rare belly photo as an opportunity to update you on our little "newbie" (which I haven't done a whole lot of either).

At 22 weeks, our baby is about 11 inches long and almost 1 whole pound! His/her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and he/she is beginning to develop tiny tooth buds inside the gums. I've been feeling lots of movement for the last few weeks. At first, he/she was very gentle, gracing my belly with a few nice flutters and strokes, but now that the baby is getting more active, I'm feeling more pokes, jabs and somersaults, especially in the late evening. I've also been feeling LOTS of Braxton-Hicks contractions, which the midwife said is totally normal, especially for a second pregnancy. It's just the uterus practicing it's stuff for the big show it will put on in another 4 months or so. I had an appointment at the birth center this week and everything is looking perfect. I'm measuring at exactly 22 weeks and the baby has a strong heartbeat of 160 beats per minute. Since it's still above 150, lots of people have speculated that we're in for another girl. However, I've also heard that the heartrate's connection to the baby's gender is a myth. Honestly, I haven't been getting a feeling either way. I really do want to be truly surprised when he/she is born so I'm not trying to guess one way or the other. I'm so excited to be surprised this time around! In other news, we've narrowed our name choices down to 4 boy names and 2 girl names. We can't seem to make any further decisions, but we're both ok with going into the birth center with six names and getting to know our new little one for a while before settling on a name.

Only 4 more months until the Frueh's become a foursome!