Pregnancy week 16

I am close to my four month mark and have felt the baby move once. I believe movement will increase rapidly over the next few weeks, which will be an exciting time for all of us. I cannot wait for Jasmine to feel the baby move.

Friday I took a maternal blood screening test, also known as a "triple marker" test or "triple screen". The test measures the levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a protein produced by the fetus, and the pregnancy hormones hCG and estriol in my blood. The results of the triple marker test will tell us if our baby is at risk for (not whether she/he has) neural tube defects such as spina bifida or chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

That is all the baby news we have this week. As for Jasmine, she is starting to act out a little. She is fighting nap time, which I suppose is normal for children, but she (the girl who wouldn't even get out of her bed unless you we called to her) is getting out of bed for any reason she can think of. Yesterday it was because the cat was on the table in the kitchen. Of course, how would she know that unless she snuck out of her room already. Last night when it was time for bed, she kept peaking through her door and at one point tried to climb into bed with us. Does anyone have a trick to curb this behavior? She has only been doing this for about three or four days, but it is so out of character for her, we are lost on how to handle it.

Moving on, this weekend is Easter weekend, and a big travel weekend for us. We are leaving Thursday night for New Jersey. We shouldn't hit much traffic but are guessing it will still take close to 7 hours to get to Ken's mom's house. I just hope my bladder can handle it. I have already pre-warned Ken there might be a need to multiple stops, but to be honest, there are not many areas I would feel comfortable stopping.

We are excited about the trip, but it is going to be a short one. We have several things to accomplish while we are there, to include meeting with our tax lady. I am hoping Jasmine gets a chance to meet the Easter bunny. She loves Santa, so why not a huge bunny? As for Jas, she is hoping to paint Easter eggs and is looking forward to an Easter egg hunt. Last year she did a solo hunt, so we are guessing this year will be loads more fun, as she will get to hunt around with Ken's younger sisters. We will also have Easter dinner at Uncle Lenny's house which means Jasmine will get to play with Alyssa. I think she is old enough now that they can play together for hours and Alyssa loves Jasmine so much. They are really cute together.

While we won't be able to do much driving around due to our schedule, I am hoping one or two of you will stop by Ken's mom's house to hang out for a little, we would love to see you all!

I have my Ultrasound on the 25th. We are finding out the sex of the baby this time around, which means, as soon as I can get my hands on a computer I will share the news. I am still torn on whether to take Jasmine with me. While I believe it would be beneficial for her, it is a bit out of the way, and I have to head into the office afterwards. I am still leaning on taking her though as I am hoping it will help Jasmine better understand that there is a baby growing inside me. She sees that my belly is getting larger and she tells everyone there is a baby in my belly, but I doubt she really grasps what is going on.

...poor me, my belly is getting bigger and bigger. I really do look like I am at least six months pregnant. Oh, brother!

Will post again next week.