14 Weeks

Well, in keeping with tradition, here is the size of our baby now...a lemon (no, that doesn't mean he/she is a sucker)! It seems to me that the shrimp was kind of a strange comparison between the lime and the lemon, but that's neither here nor there. The exciting news is that our baby is 8.36cm, or 3.29inches, and weighs about 2 ounces....still pretty little, but growing every day! Lots of developments coming this week...let's start with the head and work our way down. Our baby's brain is sending impulses to his/her face, causing different expressions (squint, grimace, frown, smile, suck his/her thumb) to form! The neck is stronger and more formed, which is supporting that large head that he/she is now growing into. The arms will be proportionately developed with the body after this week and the hands and feet are each about 1/2 inch long now, which will allow him/her to continue the wild and crazy punches, jabs and flips. Fingertips are developed too! Cool side note - we form our own fingertips when we're in the womb! The movements of the hands and fingers through the amniotic fluid, ridges and folds were formed which created our fingertips! Ultra-fine hair (called lanugo) is starting to appear all over the body, which acts as a protective, downy covering. The liver and spleen are also starting to function - producing bile and starting to produce red blood cells (respectively); the kidneys continue to excrete urine into the amniotic fluid and continue to mature with each week.

Last week, I included a cartoon image of what our baby looks like, so I'll include that this week too, but will also throw in a super fun, more accurate picture this week!

Here's our little boy/girl!

So exciting to see a real picture of him/her! The ultrasound was awesome - a surprise, but everything turned out OK. I had some cramping/bleeding on Friday morning and went in for a doctor's appointment at 2pm that day - we had an ultrasound and spoke with the midwife. Everything was normal, and our baby appears to be developing as scheduled! He/she was ALL.OVER.THE.PLACE!!! So much so that the technician asked if I had had any caffeine that day - we have quite the little acrobat inside! Seeing such an active baby and no signs of bleeding or abnormalities anywhere put our minds at ease :)

Today officially marks the first day of my second trimester! This means less nausea (hopefully none soon!), more energy, and more growth (or popping out of the belly) for me! The heartburn tends to persist, especially after fried foods, soda, and chips/salsa (which I unfortunately crave like it's nobody's business!). Things are going very well for us - we're still getting settled in to our new place. We're going on a camping trip this weekend with some friends, so that should be a fun little adventure for us!

Please continue to pray for the growth and development of our little one :) Although the second trimester signals a time with markedly less miscarriages, anything is still possible and we'd really like to see this baby come into the world (but not too early, dear little child!). Also continue to pray that the Quad Screen in 2 weeks will be normal and that our baby's nervous system will continue to develop appropriately. Lastly, please continue to pray for Tyler and I, as well as our families, as this baby continues to get bigger and time continues to pass, bringing us closer and closer to the reality that there will soon be THREE of us!!

Thanks for all of your love, support, and excitement for us! More info and pictures to come next week :)