She Reads In The Dark

What’s going on this week:

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. 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.

My Update:

Due Date: November 4, 2011 – 182 days to go!

Weight Gain: +2.4 lbs (from pre-preg weight).  One of my books says I will likely gain about 4 lbs total this month.  We’ll see!

Symptoms:  Not much this week…more twinges and pulls and feelings that I am attributing to things stretching out and growing.

Cravings/Aversions:  None, really.  Food is sounding better and better, and I am back to more normal portion sizes.  I’m going to make an educated guess that this development will have some impact on the “weight gain” category from here on out.

Sleep: Good.  No complaints in this department!

I am loving: That my belly is starting to get harder.  And definitely more noticeable.  And how the ladies in my Pilates class have started touching it and are fawning over it.  🙂

I miss:  It seems that it’s every time we eat at Chuy’s that I notice that I really miss a good margarita.

Movement: Not yet.

It’s a: I *still* think it’s a boy.  Only about 5 or 6 more weeks till we can find out!  Ali and Mom…get your shopping shoes ready!

Exercise: Uhh…I’ve done a couple of workouts on the recumbent bike.  And Pilates.  Nothing else spectacular.

Diet: Better!  We ate all the Easter candy, so that’s done with.  Fruit is still sounding good all the time – especially fruit right out of the fridge so it’s nice and cold.  I’ve eaten more pineapple in the last few weeks, than probably ever in my life.

(New category I just made up.) Looking forward to: My midwife appt. on Tuesday.  I imagine it will be more of the same, (urine sample, talking and pushing around on my stomach) but I get to hear the heartbeat again, and that’s the mot exciting part!

Belly Shot:

14w