week 16 bump (if you can even call it that)

^week 12^

^week 16^

Here is one of my students drawings of what the baby looks like inside my tummy...

It's a boy...

...or maybe a girl. Your guess is apparently as good as anyone's these days! Two appointments today, one with reproductive endocrinologist (fertility specialist) and one with the OB. Three weeks ago, RE was SURE it was a boy. Now she says she thinks it's a girl due to the fact that she couldn't find any dangle today. OB predicted boy based on baby's heart rate. So we really know nothing more. We did get back our results from our 12 week screening and they said everything looks fabulous and we are low risk in all categories. So there is some good news, who really cares if it is a boy or a girl, as long as it's healthy anyways?? Oh and today was our last appointment with the RE!!! We did our first insemination on New Year's Eve/Day of 2009. That's 10 months of basically WEEKLY appointments. No more co-pays, no more blood draws, no more missing work, no more drugs!! =) also no more weekly pictures of baby =( Here is the last one for a month, but in a month we will get more 3D/4D shots! (unless we cave and go in early to find out the gender, which isn't out of the realm of possibilities)

So here is baby, the head is at the bottom of the pic.
The image is basically flipped so baby is essentially standing in my uterus! You can't see the legs though, they are out of the plane of view, just the head and the body and a little arm. Not a great pic, sorry! It's all you get until Nov. 14

Make a pregnancy ticker

baby at 16 weeks

This week, your baby is just beginning to accumulate some fat cells underneath her translucent skin. Your baby is about 4 ½ inches long and weighs about 3 ½ ounces, about the size of an avocado. She is beginning a huge growth spurt within the coming weeks in weight and height, so hold on!

Your baby’s heart is strengthening, and is now pumping about 6 gallons of blood per day. The heartbeats doubly as fast as yours, and it is furiously working to promote circulation and feed the organs for growth. The whorl pattern on her scalp, which will form her hair, has started to develop. If you were to watch your baby’s face, you would see that she has also developed some reflexes, including sucking, swallowing, and blinking her eyes. Her eyes have moved to the front of her head as well.

Another great milestone this week is that your baby is breathing. Her tiny lungs are taking in oxygen-enriched amniotic fluid for practice until she can breathe air one day. Further development in her lungs will take place until she is ready to breathe on her own after she is born. As she swallows and breathes amniotic fluid, her urinary tract is beginning to function as well. (source: smartmomma.com)

Let the record show...

today may be the first time I felt the baby move! I'll know for sure as time passes and it happens more frequently and gets harder, BUT I really think I was feeling it today! It felt like bubbles popping and it was only on the side that the baby was on (it seems to like my left side)

Baby's first Halloween

and it was a ghost!

it was really for my school's fall festival. my students helped my make it and were excited that my baby had a costume. although, there was quite the heated debate as to whether I would would swallow it so the baby could wear it or just stick it on the outside. one little girl was very worried about my safety if I was going to swallow it. I told them maybe I should keep it on the outside so that everyone can see it. they all agreed.

...and the ghost is to scale. that is approximately how big the baby is!

Watching paint dry

literally & figuratively!

Yesterday Matt took three trips to home depot resulting in 6 paint samples and different color splotches all over the baby's room wall. I think we made a decision. We better get painting before we change our minds!

Time seemed to be flying for awhile, now it just seems to be standing still. I feel normal again, not much of a belly to speak of, two week hiatus from doctor's appointments, no more shots... the only thing that reminds me that I'm pregnant are the occasional hormonal freak outs and sciatic pain. I know, I know, enjoy this time before I'm getting kicked in the ribs and can't tie my shoes!

A little late but this is what's going on with baby in week 15...

Your baby is looking more like a baby every day. This week he is about 4 inches long crown to rump, and may weigh about 2 ½ ounces. The body is now growing faster now to catch up with the growth of his head. His legs have grown longer than his arms and he can move all of his limbs. Speaking of movement, this may be the week you feel him flutter about like a butterfly’s wings. Make no mistake that he is dancing around in there. You just may not yet feel it. Baby can kick, flail, twist, and turn.

His skin is still translucent. If you were to take a look inside your womb, you would see his blood vessels underneath his lanugo-covered skin. Lanugo is a downy-like hair that keeps your baby insulated and warm. He usually sheds this before birth or soon after.

His toenails and fingernails are beginning to grow, along with this eyebrows and head hair. Bones in his middle ear are beginning to harden, but his hearing has not yet fully developed. Sweat glands are begging to form, as well as taste buds. Although baby’s eyelids remain shut, he will move away from any bright lights shown directly at him. (source smartmomma.com)