14-weeks

Somehow, I managed to forget my 14-week update last week. At this point I’m definitely showing and starting to research maternity clothes. I’m thinking I’ll stick mostly with dresses since it’s going to be tough to find tall maternity pants at a reasonable price. Any suggestions?

Anyway, this will be a short post since it’s 6 days overdue. Here’s the quick size update.

Baby's now the size of a lemon!
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine, and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys, and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over her body for warmth.

13 Weeks

It’s hard to believe I’ve known that I was pregnant for two months now. I think I’m officially in my 2nd trimester now, though I don’t really feel any different. I have some low-level nausea issues but no constant problems like before. Here’s a snapshot of how big the baby is now:

Baby's now the size of a peach!
Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient.

 

I’m sorta fascinated by the idea that prior to this week the umbilical cord housed the intestines. How on earth does that work?! Anyway, sounds like the kid is looking more like a normal baby which is always good!

Body Changes…

I’m starting to show… just this bloated belly that looks like I over-ate at my last meal. I’ve felt that way for a while, but I’m finally at the point where I can’t suck my tummy back in so I guess that’s the baby peeking his way out.

My weight is still low – depending on the day I fluctuate between 4 and 6 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. I’m eating like crazy though – my favorite restaurant/meal is currently Sam & Andys. For those of you non-natives, it’s a burger place that’s been in Knoxville since 1946. They make incredible juicy, drippy, yummy burgers and to-die-for onion rings. I made Bronce take me there last night and I think that was my third visit in the last 2 weeks. Good stuff!

Ultrasound Pictures… finally!

We had a doctor’s appointment last week and got another ultrasound picture. I got my scanner working, so I’ll post the original ultrasound and the latest.

First Ultrasound: 8 weeks, 6 days

I love that the ultrasound tech labeled the baby as “BABY” – just in case we were confused. :) We refer to this as the “teddy bear” picture, because that’s what the kid looks like to us. We were able to clearly see the heartbeat which was a cool moment.

Ultrasound: 12 weeks, 2 days

This picture was much clearer on the screen than it came out. The baby was wiggling all over the place and we saw him pull his legs in to a tight fetal position and then kick them out again. We also saw the heartbeat clearly (though didn’t hear it or get the actual rate). The baby definitely looks more normal now – you can see the mouth clearly and the white just on the edge of the lips is the fingers of the left hand. She wiggled the fingers at us for a little bit and we got to see the whole hand at one point. We got another picture that showed the spine, too, and everything looks awesome and healthy!

Health Update

Things were good at my last appointment but I did get a bummer diagnosis. Doc said I have Hypothyroidism and that’s it’s crucially important to take some meds. No big deal, we’ll do more tests after I give birth to see if this was a pregnancy-induced problem or something I need to keep medicating post-baby.

Otherwise… all is good! I’m mentally working on the nursery at this point and trying to pull together some final details before I start painting and purchasing.

Week 12

It’s hard to believe I’m already 12 weeks along! Bronce and I were freaking out this weekend when we realized that gave us only six more months to plan for this little baby to enter our world. Here’s an image from thebump.com showing how big the Lima Bean is now… she’s (he’s?) getting bigger! 

Baby's now the size of a plum!
As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of her systems are fully formed.

 

 

Last week she was a lime. Truly, I think those fruits are about the same size so I guess not much of a difference.

Nieces

Well, I mentioned in my first pregnancy post that we had some shirts made for our nieces. I didn’t have photos at the time of that post, but we got to spend some time with them this weekend and snapped a few pictures. The wording is “This little monkey is going to be a big cousin!”

Jim and Jewel, my brother and his wife, had a busy summer so Mom and Dad watched Kathryn this week. Bronce and I got to spend a lot of time with her Saturday and before we got in the lake Bronce snapped this picture of us:

Kathryn is 20 months old and full of spunk. Love that kid!

And here’s a picture of us with Spencer and Melissa’s daughter, Nonavea. She is the sweetest little girl ever! She’s 4 months old and is incredibly good-natured.

 

Ideal Weight

Annoyingly (for you, maybe, not for me!), I’m at my ideal “I’m on a diet and reached my goal!” weight. In fact, since the day I found out I was pregnant… I’m currently down 6 pounds. Yep, I’ve lost 6 pounds in the last 7 weeks. Go figure. Lest you worry, rest assured this is fairly typical for the first trimester. I’m sure I’ll gain it all back (and then some… and some more…) fairly soon.

I have had two family members comment in the last four days that they can see the baby growing. This did not come as happy news. My stomach is still as flat as it has been, unless I’m forgetting to suck in. It’s not “hard” yet, like I’ve heard it could be around this point. I’ve heard that tends to change really suddenly, so it could be any time. I do find myself super bloated by the end of the day and rather uncomfortable.

Symptoms

Weird cravings… strange nausea… it’s all coming and going. The good thing about my cravings is that I’ll desire something really awful (like my recent Cup O’Noodles incident) but then I want to give that same item a 20-mile berth from that point on.

When I first got pregnant one of the strangest symptoms was a rapid heart beat and strong palpitations. I searched online, I talked to my doctor, and no one could assure me that this was normal. I wore a heart monitor for 24 hours, had an Echo done, and my primary care doc told me to start taking Tums regularly in case the palpitations and chest pain were caused by reflux. The Tums have helped… a lot… and the reflux is more pronounced in the mornings now (tho I know how to handle it), but I still have some of the strange heart symptoms. With a history of mitral valve prolapse, this isn’t a complete surprise, but it is frustrating. Finally while talking to my sister-in-law, Melissa, (who is a doctor) she mentioned having that problem during her pregnancy. She also told me it gets worse – ugh! :) At least I know it’s normal now.

Fun video

Enjoy! Makes me hope they set this up in NYC when we’re there in a few weeks! I’d probably do this about eight times. And make Bronce take pictures of it, no doubt.