16 Weeks

We're up to 4.5inches and 3.5ounces! In the next few weeks, our baby is going to double his/her weight and add inches to it's length; combined with the hardening of the bones, I should be able to feel him/her moving very soon! The head is now sitting more erect on the neck, the eyes have moved closer together on the face, and the ears are almost to their final position as well. Our little boy/girl is practicing making some cute faces (lots of squinting, yawning, frowning, smiling, thumb-sucking, etc) for all of those pictures that are going to be taken in a few months ;) The toenails and fingernails are also starting to grow at the ends of the fingers and toes! The skin is still thin, transparent and pretty wrinkly - but those wrinkles will slowly start to smooth out in the coming weeks as fat begins to develop under the skin. The heart is developed and pumping - about 25 quarts of blood each day! (in addition to the blood it's getting from me, our baby's little growing body should be well-perfused!) If our little one is a girl, apparently her uterus is fully developed (obviously still will grow with the rest of her) and she has all of her primitive little eggs already...woah!

Changes are (noticeably) happening for me also - my bump is growing! This is because my uterus is moving upwards, now halfway between my pubic bone (way at the bottom of  my pelvis) and my belly button. As mentioned in the previous post, my ligaments continue to loosen and stretch out in preparation for an expanding pelvis, oh joy :) Haven't really noticed a whole lot of changes (other than my ever-expanding body) and the complete disappearance of nausea (yippee!!). Still have heartburn after about every meal, but Tums has become one of my new best friends :)

We have our 16week appointment on Thursday afternoon - hoping to hear that developed and pumping heart beating away! Also have our Quad Screen (a simple blood draw from my arm) that will help the doctors to see any markers for neurological abnormalities (a big help at birth in case anything is out of the norm) - please be praying that everything is normal!

Also would appreciate your prayers as we head back home this week (SO EXCITED!!). We're making the long drive home (splitting it up on the way back to Indiana) starting Thursday night and we'll be back in the Hoosier state until Wednesday morning when we start our drive back to Virginia. So excited to see family and friends - it's been way too long!

Thanks, again, for all of your love, support, and prayers - only 5 months to go until we meet little Baby Sanders!