14 Weeks

Not much to report this week. Everything is still going well. Kyle and I are counting down the days until we go on our cruise in celebration of our 2 year anniversary and what we deem as "the last hurrah". 20 more days! And only 35 more until we find out what it is. Make sure you vote. I'm finding it quite humorous and strange that everyone thinks its a girl (except for my in-laws that just don't think a girl in the family is ever going to happen). We'll see...

Here is what baby is up to this week.

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

A Peek at the Nursery

Since I was lucky enough to have all the furniture already courtesy of my sister, it was just too hard to resist setting everything up. Here are a few pics of Kyle putting the crib together and of the nursery so far. I am looking forward to Nov. 2nd so we can order the bedding!

Notice Little Man was supervising.

The chair in the left corner was my highchair when I was little. How special that everything was either my adorable nephews or mine!

Stella Luna... hmmm...

Seeing as how Kyle and I are currently trying to decide on names, I had to laugh when I just saw that Ellen Pompeo named her daughter Stella Luna. Wonder if she knows there is a childrens book about a bat named that?

13 Weeks

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Not much new this week - I did talk Kyle into putting the crib together this past weekend. Still feeling good all things considered. I've been lucky. I'm starting to feel some energy come back. Last week's big accomplishment was not gaining any weight!

11 & 12 Weeks

Lots to update! Last Tuesday I had another dr. appt. The dr. was unable to get a heartbeat with the doppler so they did another ultrasound. Apparently the reason they weren't able to get a heartbeat was because baby was moving too much! I didn't get any new pictures or really get to see much because they were just checking the heartbeat but it was reassuring nonetheless. Heartbeat was 177 bpm. November 2nd is the big day - boy or girl? Make sure you vote before then.

Nursery prep has begun. I have cleaned out what is to be the nursery in preparation for setting up the crib. Hopefully we will have everything set up and ready to order the bedding when we find out what we are having.

11 Weeks

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

12 Weeks

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long and weighs half an ounce.

10 Weeks

Not much to report this week. In fact the 1st trimester is rather boring but I am thankful for it since it means no sickness. I'm looking forward to cleaning out and start getting the nursery ready in a few weeks. 8 more weeks and we will know how to decorate!

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

9 Weeks

I finally feel like I'm progressing (after originally thinking I was 8 weeks and finding out I was only 5). I'm still feeling pretty good for the most part other then having no energy - but thankful that seems to be the worst of it.

Here is what baby is up to this week - Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape (or olive) — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

9 more weeks until we find out if its a boy or a girl!