Life in the Abinante Home

    Matthew is now in his second year in medical school, which is said to be the hardest. Matthew will have his first set of Board Exams in June, has now been called as Elders Quorum President at church and on top of it all we have a baby due March 21st, a couple weeks before Matthew's finals! This year will test us tremendously but we will survive . . . somehow. 
   This week will prove to be full of excitement as we have an appointment this Friday at 5:00 to have a 3D/ 4D ultrasound with the whole family to see if the baby is a boy or a girl! I felt like it would take forever to get to this point but here we are already! Amazing! I guess time will continue to fly, despite the ongoing feeling that March is so incredibly far away.
   This week I have had many body aches and felt tremendous growth. I feel as though there is no more room for any more growth and yet I still have 21 weeks left! I feel so tight already and my stomach itches all the time, this really is an out of body experience. The highlight of the past two weeks is feeling the baby move . . . it is tough because I will have moments of doubt and think the movement I feel is just gas or stomach growls but then I realize that my intestines are not that low and in front of my belly anymore so really the only explanation is the baby! It feels like a few little bubbles rising. It is so fun to feel! Poor Matthew wants to feel the baby move so badly but the kicks are not hard enough to feel with your hand. The baby seems to love apple juice and loves it when I am about to fall asleep. I go to sleep feeling the baby and I wake up feeling the baby and then throughout the day it is just random movements; however, I have noticed the baby always seems to move around 5:00 p.m., which is perfect since our 4D ultrasound will be at 5:00 p.m. and we should be able to get a good dance from him/her.
So here is a visual of my growth pattern (We forgot to take a picture at 15 Weeks):

                                                                        9 Weeks

                                                                    10 Weeks

                                                                          11 Weeks

                                                                             12 Weeks

                                                                          13 Weeks

                                                                          14 Weeks

                                                                              16 Weeks

                                                                          17 Weeks

      
                                                                         18 Weeks