15 Weeks

 Our little baby has reached the size of a large apple or orange this week (and this Mama feels like it's really the size of a watermelon...oh boy, I still have a LLLOOONNNGGG way to go!) Definitely starting to look more like I'm pregnant rather than just getting fat...exciting!

Baby Sanders is growing at break-neck speeds, and will continue to do so (especially through this trimester) - we've reached 4inches long (about the length of 1 Kit Kat stick) and weigh about 2.5 ounces. Starting at the top and working down, we'll start with the head - we have hair growing!! Not much just yet, but it's starting! Eyebrows and eyelashes are forming along the eyelids - they're still fused, but our baby can now sense bright lights and move away from them! We'd really like to test this theory by shining a flashlight at my belly but there are 2 problems with this: 1) we may be torturing our child and 2) we, unfortunately, can't feel it move away so we'd have no idea if this is really true our not...maybe we'll just have to wait a few more weeks :-D. Moving down on the face, the taste buds are forming on the tongue (even though he/she still has awhile before they'll be tasting anything). Our baby is also starting to strengthen it's little lungs by moving amniotic fluid (eww) through it's nose and mouth into the upper respiratory tract to help those alveoli (little sacs in the lungs that allow for gas exchange from the lungs into the blood stream) develop. Because he/she is sucking in some amniotic fluid (again, yummy!), they may actually give themselves hiccups already - of course, he/she is still way too small for me to feel those just yet. The head is now fully resting on a well-developed neck, making him/her look much more human :) Also, our baby has been moving for a few weeks now, but as it gets bigger, I may be able to feel little "flutters" (which probably is now being blamed on gas bubbles...sorry baby!) and will soon be able to feel little movements in a few weeks! So many new developments every week, such an exciting time for us!

What a 15week fetus supposedly looks like - in a slightly more animated, cartoon version

As for me, well, let's just say there's a pronounced "bump" now that most people who know me are noticing. I definitely noticed a difference in the mirror the other day, as did Tyler who so lovingly looked at his wife's quickly protruding abdomen and said "We're sure there aren't two in there, right?!" Thanks, dear :) Haha! But, as "huge" as I feel now, I know there's so much farther to grow and it's exciting to know that I'm growing because our baby is growing and developing as he/she should.  The estimate is that I should have gained about 5lbs by now...I'd say that's pretty accurate! As far as pregnancy symptoms, things are definitely on the upswing! Still have the heartburn and more frequent gas pains/cramps, but the nausea has pretty much completely subsided (thank you, Lord!). Also don't have to go to the bathroom quite as much (which was very helpful on our camping/hiking trip last weekend)...yay! Starting to feel my energy return (even though I did sleep a lot last night AND take a 1hr nap by 10am...oops! I blame that on work, not the baby ;) ) and I'm finding that I really like sleeping on my left side, which coincidentally is how I'll need to be sleeping in a few more months. Definitely liking this second trimester thing - much better than the last!

I mentioned a camping trip (side story time)...we went camping near Roanoke, VA with our friends Jon and Rachel last weekend. You all should be very impressed...we hiked about 17miles in 2 days (yes, even with my ever loosening ligaments which really doesn't help the already clumsy :/) and stayed at a campground with no electricity or running water. We had a blast! Hiked three awesome hikes in two days and took lots of awesome pictures - unfortunately they are all on our friends' cameras so we'll share them once we get them :) For now, some are on Facebook and we're "tagged" in them - check them out! The weather was perfect, the views were breathtaking, and the mosquitoes were few and far between! Perfect weekend trip - although we were very thankful to come home to our soft bed, warm shower, and cool air-conditioned condo :) Here are some preview pics from our friend, Rachel:

Hiking up to Dragon Tooth (action shot!) - lots of rocks to climb! Needless to say, not a super easy hike :)

View from top of Dragon Tooth - well worth the hike!

Next day - we hiked to McAfee's Knob - most photographed area on the Appalachian Trail (yes, we hiked part of the Appalachian trail both days!) - you can see why :) Absolutely beautiful!

Our group - Jon Wiegand, Rachel Bek, myself, and Tyler at the top of McAfee's knob. The trail head was already 2000ft above sea level, but we did hike about 1200ft up!

This next week holds a lot for us - lots of working on both our ends as we get ready to come home 1 week from tomorrow!! Also we have our next doctor's appointment next Thursday and we're having the Quad Screen done (the lab test I've been talking about for a few weeks now) - lots of stress and nerves to come our way these next few days. We'd welcome and appreciate prayers for peace during our busy work times, good test results, and good weather/safe travel as we head back to Indiana next week.

Hope all is going well for all of you, love and miss all of our friends and family back home so much! Thanks for all of your love and support through this exciting but life-changing time! More changes and developments to come next week!