get in my belly!

my belly is finally starting to show early signs of a bump! we are going to start tracking each week's growth through pictures. here's our first one at 17 weeks. not much to show for it just yet, but we know it's only going to get bigger!

Onions!

We are 17 weeks today, which makes it "Onion Week" ... probably my least favorite food, but I'll take it!

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints. Baby now weighs 5 ounces (about as much as a turnip), and he's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. He/she can move their joints, and sweat glands are starting to develop.

My Mom is a Fox!

so i have been doing really good at not buying any baby related stuff yet ... i'm trying to hold off until we find out the gender, but my mom and i couldn't resist on this one! while at kohl's looking for some baby gifts for two of our neighbors, we stumbled upon this little outfit - with FOXXIE on it! it's not every day your dog's name and picture is embroidered onto a baby onesie so we had to get it! foxxie is already using it as a baby blanket - i think she is excited to get a brother/sister!

Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh!

had my 15 week appointment with baby today and all is well! dr. shah is very impressed that my blood pressure has been low and she doesn't want to see me for a whole month now! i've come a long way from my weekly visits! our next appointment will be the BIG ONE - the boy or girl appointment, so hopefully this little one cooperates on october 18th because mommy & daddy are dying to know! got to see him/her on ultrasound again today - very wiggly and really starting to look like a baby! heartbeat was 141 which the tech said leans more towards a boy than a girl. i asked her if we could peek today, but we couldn't see or find anything... what's waiting just 1 month month! i also heard the heartbeat for the first time today and it was awesome! i'll never forget the "whoosh whoosh whoosh!" here is our latest ultrasound picture ... nick is worried that he/she has a big nose! haha! guess we'll wait and see! happy friday to all of you!

I'm a lemon!

This week's big developments: 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.

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.

Pink or Blue?

We are still over a month away from finding out if our little one is a boy or girl, but being the planner that I am, I decided to check out all of the old wives tales and see what my symptoms are predicting me to have! I think it's a boy ... Nick is saying girl (just to go against me!), but only our 20 week ultrasound will tell us the truth and will prove the old wives tales below true or false!

Heart Rate test: Girl (supposedly a heart rate less than 140 means boy, more than 140 girl … baby has been a steady 153)

Cravings test: Boy (legend has it that if you crave sugar, you are having a girl and craving salt means a boy)

Morning Sickness test: Girl (they say lots of nausea & morning sickness lets you know it's a girl, feeling great with no nausea means boy)

Chinese Gender Chart: Boy (Legend states that the Chinese Gender Chart was buried in a royal tomb near Beijing over 700 years ago. It is said to be over 90% accurate. By cross referencing your age & month of conception on the chart, it points to either boy or girl).

Skin test: Girl (it has been said that carrying a girl can cause your skin to break out. This stems from an old wives' tale that your baby girl will "steal your beauty.")

Only time will tell! What do you think we're having????

I'm a peach!

There is a fun website www.thebump.com that tells you what "fruit" your baby is each week. Today I'm 13 weeks so the baby is a peach!

The 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. Fingerprints have formed on the baby's tiny fingertips, and his/her veins and organs are clearly visible through their still-thin skin.