Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth. 

How your baby's growing:

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.

• How far along? 14 weeks
• Total weight gain: +2. Starting to feel a little better.
  
• How big is baby?  A lemon.  
• Maternity clothes? Want more.
• Sleep? Not enough.Never enough!
  
• Best moment this week? I developed an aversion to chicken, but started feeling better yesterday and did fine with it.  It's the little things...we have a freezer full of chicken.
• Movement? No...but something feels weird sometimes. 
  
• Food cravings? Nothing really sounds good still, but things aren't sounding as bad either.
  
• Labor signs? Not remotely.
• Belly button in or out? Innie 
• What I miss: craving food.
• What I'm looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat on Wednesday.
  
• Milestone: Entering the second trimester!
  

Already.

We are out of control already.

About 2 weeks ago we "made a quick run" to a woodworking store to see what kind of crib blueprints they carried because Corey is thinking about building Moby's crib.  Since we were already halfway there, I asked him if he wanted to go check out Babies R Us. 

Sure!  So off we went.

It became pretty clear as soon as we walked in there that we weren't leaving empty handed.  Our plan became to buy one thing each paycheck so it's not all overwhelming and expensive.  I saw flaws in this plan too, but it was too fun to say no to right away.

After running our hands across every crib, sitting in every rocker, and pushing every shiny toy button we saw.  Then we found the swings.  This swing was AWESOME.  It didn't swing like a normal swing, played cool music and nature sounds and womb sounds (which sounds bizarre, but hey).  You can even plug an mp3 player into it and pump The Beatles or Vanilla Ice or Snoop Dogg in your newborn's head if you want.  Not that we would do that.

Of course they were out of stock.

So we got a bouncy seat instead. Of course it vibrates and does cool stuff too. 

But...as soon as we get home, Corey asks me to see if I can find the super swing of awesomeness online.  I do, and we order it.  We went and picked it up last Monday.  Of course someone (aka...not me) decides it needs to be put together THAT NIGHT!  We're a little excited.  I mean seriously, the head thing has fuzzy little bear ears.  I also showed Corey how to swaddle on a stuff bear his grandma made.

You can see the beginning and then the end results.  The cat was not amused, and Corey proved to me that no one wants a camera right up in their face by doing it to me.

13 weeks

I promise that these aren't going to be the only blog posts I ever have.  I'm just in a big funk right now with my job, and the job I've been offered.  If I wasn't so happy about this baby, I think I'd be in a pretty dark and depressed place right now. 

Have I said that already?

If so, sorry. 

Anyway. 

Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

 

How your baby's growing:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

• How far along? 13 weeks
• Total weight gain:  -1.  I was really sick the last few days.
  
• How big is baby?  A peach.  
• Maternity clothes? Found the Gap Maternity clearance section at the mall.  SCORE.
• Sleep? Not enough. 
• Best moment this week? Let's go with worst.  How about when I ran out of Zofran thursday and was sicker than ever for 2 days until I got my refill.  Not pretty.
• Movement? It'll be awhile. 
  
• Food cravings? Nothing sounds good.
  
• Labor signs? Not remotely.
• Belly button in or out? Innie 
• What I miss: craving food.
• What I'm looking forward to: Feeling better. Feeling Better.  Feeling better.
  
• Milestone: I had to buy a bigger bra already.  These things are going to be out of control when all is said and done. 

12 Weeks

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed. 

How your baby's growing:

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

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

• How far along? 12 weeks
• Total weight gain:  0.
• How big is baby?  Some say the size of a either a plum or a lime.  
• Maternity clothes? I'm wearing maternity jeans and a shirt today.  So much more comfortable.
  
• Sleep? Not enough. 
• Best moment this week? All of the laughs Corey and I have over the future of this baby.
  
• Movement? Not that I can feel, but apparently it's busy in there. 
  
• Food cravings? Orange sherbet. Mmm.
  
• Labor signs? Not remotely.
• Belly button in or out? Innie 
• What I miss: my bladder of steel
  
• What I'm looking forward to: Feeling better.
  
• Milestone: None that I can think of. 

Wish me luck.

I have a job interview first thing tomorrow morning.  I realize I never blogged about the job that I took 2 months ago, but that's probably a good thing since I pretty much hate it to pieces.  I need out of there....like yesterday.  There is also another job that I threw my hat in the ring for, but I haven't heard from them yet.

Anyway, the job I'm interviewing for tomorrow is one that I applied for months ago via this company's career site.  I meet their qualifications so exactly that it is a bit freakish, so I was bummed that I never heard from them.  Last week (or was it the week before?) I realized that the job was still posted.  I thought that was strange and decided it was time for a new approach.  I looked up some specific people within the company that would likely be who I'd work directly for, and sent my resume and cover letter directly to them.  I heard back from them less than 24 hours later.

I felt pretty ballsy for doing that.  Now that I have an interview I am wondering where my balls went.

I guess we'll find out at 8 am.

So hey, we're having baby!

We've known for over a month, and I think most of you who read this know already too.  I wasn't keeping it a secret or hiding it, I'm just a lazy blogger.  It doesn't help that with the phone, email, and whatever else, I feel like the world already knows!

Anyway, our first ultrasound was on Thursday, and things are looking great so far!

As of today I am 11 weeks, 1 day and due on April 24th.  The baby actually measures a few days short of that (due to my longer cycles), but a few days isn't enough for my doc to change the due date for it, so there it is!  My grandma's birthday is also the 24th, and Corey's is the 26th, so there is a chance for some birthday sharing there.

I started out feeling great, and then morning sickness hit full force.  And I mean full.  I was having a hard time keeping down even water and bread and vitamins, so I am taking Zofran twice a day to keep myself going.  It helps a ton, although I still get nauseated once or twice day for a bit.  Other than that, I'm crazy tired, just like every other pregnant woman in the history of man.  Making it through the day is HARD, yo.  Especially since I HATE MY JOB TO PIECES - but that is a story for another day.

If you're interested, I made sure to put an obnoxious baby-countdown-ticker thingamajig (wow, firefox recognizes that as a word?) on the top of my blog page.

So what's new with the Moby this week (short for Morris-Baby if you aren't one of the people who know me as Mo)?  I guess I'll go with the "standard" blog post that knocked up chicks I know seem to go with.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?  Let's start by comparing the baby to fruit.

From The Bump: Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through. But, fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.

From BabyCenter: Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccuping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

• How far along? 11 weeks
• Total weight gain:  I'm even now.  I lost 4 at first from being so sick.
• How big is baby?  Some say the size of a lime, some say a fig.  
• Maternity clothes? I'm wearing a Bella Band with my work clothes, stretchy yoga pants are my best friend, and I've bought some maternity clothes here and there.  I wear some of them already.
• Sleep? Not enough.  I'm so tired. I already wake up 3 or so times a night to pee, and I'm already having a hard time getting comfortable.  I'm going to be in for a REAL treat a few months from now.
• Best moment this week? Seeing the baby on the first ultrasound, and getting to have an external one.  Also, my husband is so fun in the baby sections of stores.  He's so excited - I love it.
• Movement? Bowels would be good.  Otherwise, no.  
• Food cravings? Very rarely does ANYTHING sound good right now.  But when it does, it really really does.
• Labor signs? Not remotely.
• Belly button in or out? Innie 
• What I miss:  a normal digestive system
• What I'm looking forward to: Everyone says I'll feel tons better and have more energy in the 2nd trimester.  I hope they are right.  Desperately.  2 more weeks.
  
• Milestone: None that I can think of.