Week 14 development

Wow - it's been a few weeks since my last post. I am currently 14 weeks and 2 days pregnant, which means I'm FINALLY in my 2nd trimester - yeah!! I'm doing well - still a LITTLE bit of nausea, but not much at all so I'm very thankful for that. My stomach's gotten bigger; however, it just looks like I've had a big lunch instead of there being a baby bump. To tell you the truth, I'm not really liking this stage - haha! Drew took a "belly" picture of me at the end of my 1st trimester (end of my 12th week).

Again, I just look like I've eaten 2 Big Macs and a Super Size frie at McDonalds. I'm definitely looking forward to when it actually looks like I'm pregnant and not just fat. :)

Anway, here's what took place this last week (Week 14) with the baby's development:

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.

Here's about how big baby Borton is now.

We have our 3rd doctor's appointment this Thursday. It's basically just a check-up, so nothing terribly exciting, however....we'll be scheduling our August appointment, which is when we'll find out the sex of the baby!!! So I'm really excited about our appointment this Thursday just so I will now know when we'll find out whether we're having a BOY or GIRL. :)

The pregnancy has definitely felt like it's been going extra slow, but, at the same time, I don't want to rush it. I know that January (or December) will be here before I know it and I'll have a little baby in my arms. So until then, I just need to enjoy the pregnancy and continue to pray for my little one.

In other news, Drew and I just got back from a wonderful trip to CA to visit with his family. I'm planning on posting CA pictures possibly tomorrow. So I'll fill you in on more details of the trip then.

I thought I'd leave you with some pictures of my "other" baby. :) This was taken about a month ago. Drew was outside shucking corn and Bailey decided to help.

Also, here's a video of Bailey playing with a tape measure. We had it out to measure something and soon discovered his fascination (and curiousity) of it.

12 week development

This past week's development:

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 two inches long and weighs half an ounce.

They say the baby's about the size of a lime right now, so here's a visual of about how big that is...

I'm in the last week of my first trimester since I'm now beginning my 13th week and I'll officially be 13 weeks on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the change of now being in the 2nd trimester.

Second ultrasound

We had our ultrasound Wed. at 12:30 and everything went well. The baby is doing fine. It's heart rate is at 164 beats per minute, which is where it should be at this point, so that's great news! We were also able to get some more pictures of our baby, which was very exciting since our baby actually looks like a baby now.

Above: Our baby is a little over an inch long. You can see the line across it's back - that's it's spinal cord forming.

Above is a picture of our baby's arms - see the little fingers!

We were also able to see our baby in 3-D AND she printed off some pictures for us. These are amazing!

2nd Dr.'s appointment

Yesterday we had our 2nd doctors appointment. The appointment was just to pretty much take blood and do other tests. I mentioned how with our first appointment they did an ultrasound and told us that the baby's heart rate was lower than they like to see it at that point - it was 94 beats/min. and they like it be at at least 100. I had been reading in one of my pregnancy books that sometimes they're able to use a Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat at this point in the pregnancy, so I asked if that was a possibility. The lady said that really it's a little too early to find the heartbeat using Doppler, but she tried anyway. Unfortunately she couldn't find it, so they've scheduled us to have another ultrasound today at 12:30 just to make sure the heart rate is where it should be at this point. I'll keep you updated on what we find out.

Baby's Development at Week 10

I am now 10 weeks along, which means I just completed my 10th week (and will begin my 11th week tomorrow). Here is the description of how the baby developed this past week.

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.

Drew and I have our next doctor's appointment this coming Tuesday. We think they'll listen for the heartbeat using a Doppler device, so we're looking forward to that. Praise the Lord I've been feeling well throughout this whole pregnancy with only very minor morning sickness. I'm hoping I can make it the rest of the pregnancy (especially what's left of the first trimester) without any.

In other news, SCHOOLS OUT!!! Friday was our last day of school, and although it was sad to say goodbye to my students, I am excited about the break. This summer I am planning on working around the house, scrapbooking, and spending time with Drew, especially since his schedule's a little lighter right now too. We have 2 trips planned - 1 to CA to visit with Drew's family and 1 to Yellowstone National Park with just Drew and me. We're looking forward to both trips, although I'm especially hoping morning sickness doesn't hit me during those long flights. :)

I made a VERY long slideshow for my students that just shows pictures from throughout the year. It's about 23 minutes long. Also, Drew and I had trouble saving the slideshow as a movie (I used Windows Movie Maker) so he had to downsize the quality of the pictures so they're a little fuzzy. I'm going to try to upload it so you can view it if you'd like. Enjoy!

Baby's Development over the past week (Week 8)

Here's how much our baby developed this week (according to the book we're reading)...

"Your baby is growing up a storm, this week measuring about half an inch in length, or about the size of a large raspberry. And that sweet little raspberry of yours is looking less reptilian and more human, as his or her lips, nose, eyelids, legs, and back continue to take shape. And though it's still too early to hear from the outside, your baby's heart is beating at the incredible rate of 150 times per minute (that's twice as fast as your heart beats). Something else new this week: Your baby is making spontaneous movements (twitches of the trunk and limb buds too tiny for you to feel)."

Babycenter.com also says the following took place in regards to our baby's development this past week:

"New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways." This site suggests that the baby is about the size of a kidney bean. So here's a visual of about how big our baby is.

New Rocker and Pickles

Drew had a GREAT find at a recent garage sale. One of the items on our list to get before our baby arrives is a glider rocker. Well, he found one while garage saling during our neighborhood garage sales last week. It's in great condition, a nice neutral color, and was only $40 for the chair and ottoman. I decided to test it out with Bailey as my "baby".

I must have done a good job rocking him because Bailey fell asleep within minutes (although that's not unusual for him to do). :)

After trying out the rocker, Drew and I decided to play some games. While playing games, I thought pickles sounded like a good snack. I've always liked pickles so it's not a surprise that I wanted some, but I guess I ended up eating just about the entire jar - there were only 3 spears left from what was a brand new jar. Drew gets a kick out of it saying that it's my "first craving".

I'm nearing the end of my 8th week (Sunday), so I'll post an update of how the baby developed this week. :) So far I've been VERY blessed with (very) minimal morning sickness. Usually I just feel slightly nauseous in the mornings when I first wake up. I have a sleeve of saltine crackers on my bedside table so I just eat 1-2 and feel fine. Then sometimes I'll have another slight nauseous moment mid-morning, but once I eat a few saltines I'm fine. I pray it continues like this!