14 weeks!

Thank you for everyone's kind comments! Well, today is officially 14 weeks and I am so excited about being in my 2nd trimester!! I will admit I was a little timid and just overall on edge for the last 10-11 weeks, just because everything seems so fragile. Plus, only a select few people knew so I had to keep a secret, too! So, my mind feels better and not only that, but I am feeling a little belly grow...which is really great....what do you think?

14 weeks

At my last OBGYN appointment on 2/12/07, I had gained 4 pounds so far. I've felt really good so far and have only had fatigue (and a lot of it!!), some food aversions, tenderness (in certain areas of my body ;), and peeing a lot. But, that's starting to go away a little and I can tell my body feels more at ease with this whole baby thing!! I'll also post each week what my babycenter emails are telling me about the week:

"How your baby's growing: Head to bottom, your baby's 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She's also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she'll keep up until birth. You still can't feel your baby's movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

As early discomforts (nausea, fatigue, breast tenderness) begin to fade, you may start to regain some energy and feel more comfortable with how your body's changing. (Although the top of your uterus is only a bit above your pelvic bone, that growth may be enough to push your tummy out a bit.) Starting to show is an exciting pregnancy milestone and it will likely give you and your partner the visible evidence of a baby that you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but you can also breathe a little sigh of relief knowing that with the start of this trimester your risk of miscarriage has dropped significantly. Now try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead."

Our next OBGYN appointment is on 3/15/07 when we will meet with the sonogram tech. I'll be 17 weeks going on 18 weeks and the tech will measure the baby to make sure we are on target, take a picture of our baby, and maybe, just maybe, we can find out the sex! Those of you asking, "do you want to find out the sex?" the answer is without a doubt, YES!!! I'm too much of a planner not to and I won't even start to put together the baby's room until we know. But, if he/she wants to be stubborn, I guess I'll have to use gender neutral design, which I guess I can live with :)

Thanks for reading!