Monday, November 23, 2009

Week 14



It's so hard to suck it in anymore!! But, that's a good sign and I'm still pretty good at hiding it with loose clothing. Don't want to show it off too much yet, 'cause with clothing on I still look just fat. ;-) But, at the rate our little bean is growing, I'm sure it won't be long before I just can't hide it anymore!

* 3rd OB appointment ~ Thursday, December 10th at 9:10am!
(I'm pretty sure there won't be an ultrasound at this one, but we should definitely be hearing it's little heartbeat from the baby doppler this time.)

How our baby's growing:

This week's big developments: Our baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck its thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, facial muscles are getting a workout as its tiny features form one expression after another. Kidneys are producing urine, which release into the amniotic fluid around the baby — a process that will keep up until birth. It can grasp, too, and if we were to have an ultrasound now, we may even catch the little person sucking its thumb.

In other news: Our baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. Its body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of the body. (Its legs still have some lengthening to do.) It's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over its body. Our baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though I can't feel the tiny punches and kicks yet, Its little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Ultrasound #2 & Week 13

Results from our second OB appointment that was on Friday, Nov 13th:
We originally were not supposed to get an ultrasound, but after about 5 minutes of using the little fetal doppler to try to hear the heartbeat and getting nothing, I demanded an ultrasound before leaving the office! There was no way I was leaving there not knowing if our baby had a heart beat or not (especially considering earlier that week I had a small amount of blood spotting). Turns out the fetal doppler was not able to pick up the tiny heartbeat because the little bean was tucked to far behind my pelvic bone. The ultrasound picked it up immediately and we got to hear the little one's heart beat racing at 148 beats per minute, just as it should!

The pictures are not very clear because we ended up waiting 50 minutes in the room before the doc came in (he forgot about us!), and by that time my bladder had filled up again, making for a not so clear ultrasound. But, nonetheless we found out the baby is growing healthy and was just snuggled up laying on it's side havin' sweet dreams! So, all is well and we're heading into week #13!!

How our baby's growing for week 13:
Fingerprints have formed on our baby's tiny fingertips, veins and organs are clearly visible through the still-thin skin, and the body is starting to catch up with the head — which makes up just a third of the body size now. Our baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

(source: babycenter.com)


Sleep tight little bean, Momma loves you!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

12 week baby bump

Okay it's official... I just can't hide or "suck in" the baby bump any longer! It's little, but it's there so I decided I should finally share with everyone, 'cause I know you're all waiting to see it! It's still kind of easy to hide with loose clothing, but the plumping up in the mid-section is definitely happening...and not to mention the "girls upstairs", as you can well see! I suppose the bump will start growing even faster before our eyes now that we're onto the 12th week and everything on the baby is in it's place ready to just grow and develop!


Also, Next OB appointment (#2) is on Friday the 13th at 11:10am. Pretty excited to see what the doc has to say this time! Hopefully I'll have more ultrasound pics!

Hugs to all!! Kort

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Week 12

So, I know I didn't have anything posted for week 11!! I was stuck in Washington DC all week trying to learn, ha! So, I had very limited access to a computer. That's alright though...on to week 12!!



How our baby's growing:The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Our baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if I prod my abdomen, the baby will squirm in response, although I won't be able to feel it. The intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into the abdominal cavity about now, and kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in our baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. The face looks unquestionably human: Eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, our baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.