bobbing and weaving.

i think i felt wee move on thursday night. it felt like a small thump on the back side of my belly. it might not have been wee but until further notice i will count thursday (7/26) as the first time i felt the wee moving around. happy little april.

lazy wee baby and week eighteen.

our last ultrasound was done by a fetal medicine specialist to scan for defects and the like and we are happy to report that the wee is right on target although not very cooperative as wee baby did not find it necessary to uncurl from his/her comfortable ball just to let us have a look around.

heartrate: 152 bpm
weight: 8oz
sex: we didn't find out despite herschel's weakness...my hubs was wavering

this view makes the wee look like a duck but i assure you that there is human DNA in there.
that cranium is shazam!

i can say with confidence that this is the cutest little foot you have ever seen, my friends. if you were thinking that those three little lines on the left were toes, you have given the wee clown feet and you are wrong because that is part of the umbilical cord. what is that wonderful thing that wee is propping a foot on? it's the placenta, friends, and i find it to be super fine.

and me:
* enough frequent bathroom miles to take a trip abroad but no one honors them
* beginning to feel uncomfortable in clothes
* still get the queases after i eat. i am beginning to suspect that this is not going to go away. that makes me sad
* still no sweet tooth
* still refuse fruit
* still waiting for wee baby to make a move that i can feel

Week Eighteen:

• Vernix (a white cheese-like protective material) forms on baby's skin with the lanugo (soft, lightly pigmented hair covering the body and limbs); both serving to protect your baby's skin during the months in water.
• Your placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby.
  
• Tiny air sacs called alveoli begin to form in lungs.
  
• Her vocal chords are formed. She goes through the motions of crying but without air she doesn't make a sound.
• Features of your baby's heart, including ventricles and chambers, should be visible during an ultrasound.
• Your baby measures about 5.59 inches (14.2cm) this week and weighs about 6.7 ounces (190gm). (or 8 oz if you're special

18 week old fetus (not wee).

addendum

i forgot to thank team leggett and big chreeses for helping to make wee's room slightly blue. you guys are swell!

avocados and onions

four months down, five to go and i am officially getting a pooch o belly. although not much different than the pooch o belly that has been there since forever. it may actually be just fat. it's difficult to tell.

also. i said goodbye to my happy red room where i spent countless hours putting off studying, pretending to study and, sometimes, actually studying. it is now a wee haven in all of it's slightly blue glory...

peectures:

we get to see the wee on monday at an ultrasound appointment where we will not find out the gender even if we want to. no weak moments. pictures, hopefully, to follow...

and of course the weekly update of wee happenings (times two because i'm lazy sometimes):

Week Sixteen

• Fat begins to form underneath skin, providing your baby with insulation (and character which is what i call fat) for the coming months.
• Did you know that both baby and placenta are now about the same size? herschel can tell you all about the placenta. he's a regular horn of plenty of knowledge.
  
• Your little one has reached 4.57 inches (11.6cm) and approximately 3.53 ounces (100gm) about the size of an avocado.
  
• His head and neck are held straighter now.
• This is a week of "mights!" You might hear the tiny thumps of his heartbeat with an external monitor now. The genitals are developed sufficiently that an experienced sonographer might be able to determine if your baby is a boy or a girl.
• Her heart is pumping as much as 6 gallons of blood a day and beats at a rate about double your heartrate.
• Sucking, swallowing and blinking are now evident
  
• Your baby has learned to breathe! This is apparent from the regular movements of his chest. Inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid help the lungs to develop and grow.

Week Seventeen

• By week 17, your baby weighs about 4.97 ounces (140gm) and is 5.12 inches (13cm) long, about the size of a large onion.
  
• He or she has a much more normal "human" appearance now. She holds her head more erect and her body and limbs are longer in proportion to her head.
• Pads are forming on his tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent.
• Her eyes are looking forward now, but they are still firmly closed.
• Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. This black gooey substance will become your baby's first poop!
  
• The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger and continues to rush blood and nutrients to your growing baby.
• If your child is male the prostate begins to develop.
• Her skeleton is tranforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.

107 days

there wasn't an ultrasound at this week's doc visit and there was no amount of begging that was going to get us one despite poor herschel not having been able to see wee yet. so, we snuck into the radiology ultrasound room (with the help of lauren) and checked wee out on our own. i can't feel it yet but that wee can kick! things we saw: toes, hands, shins, spine, head, heart (pumping away) and a few hiccups (?) i am a happy girl.

heart rate: 145 bpm

weight gain since visit #1: 4 pounds -- but it feels like more

what's going on with the wee in general.....

Week Fifteen

• You may begin to feel some fluttering movements as baby kicks, flails, twists and turns
• Your baby's legs have grown longer than the arms and the body is now longer than the head.
• The skin is very thin -- so thin blood vessels are visible. It's covered by a fine, soft layer of hair called lanugo.
  
• The three tiny bones in his middle ear have begun to harden. The auditory centers in your baby's brain haven't developed yet, so she might not really understand what you say but her hearing capacity is in the process of developing (selective hearing develops later i think)
  
• Fingernails and toenails are growing.
• Eyebrows are beginning to grow
  
• 3.98 inches (10.1cm) long and may weigh 2.47 ounces (70gm).

also weighing in at 2.47 ounces.....paprika.
it only costs $4.50. wee will cost more than that.

the spoils of wee...

i thought i would show everybody the stuff wee is getting. i love it all and it only makes me impatient for this baby to get here...
(you can click on the picture to make it bigger because i know you all want to see every detail of this baby fabulousness.)




a swaddle blanket from mrs. ralph (chicken pox weasely creature not included)

the best baby bedding ever - from grandma and grandpa womack



a woolly mammoth surprise from bubbie and zadie chambers ...






monogrammed frog paraphernalia from the lovebird newlywed thompsons.

look how jealous i am....





captain carrie gives up the sweet blanket for wee's first blanket party...





of course everyone has seen the herschel seal of approval onesie from team leggett and wee's first fat pants from those that know the comfort of fat pants the best.. me and hersch.

thanks everybody!

and last but not least.....wee's new door. good for keeping monkey out without sacrificing visibility.

hello lanugo.

Week Fourteen

• Thyroid gland has matured and your baby begins producing hormones which will be used throughout his or her life.
• In boys, the prostate gland develops
• In girls, the ovaries move from the abdomen to the pelvis
• Your little one may have learned to suck his thumb by this point!
• Your child's bones are getting harder and stronger by the day!
• Your baby's skin is very transparent still
• Lanugo (very fine hair) covers the baby's body and will continue to grow until 26 weeks gestational age - Generally this will be shed prior to birth. Its purpose is to help protect baby's skin while in all that water!
• Your baby is 3.42 inches (8.7cm) long and weighs about 1.52 ounces (43 grams) - approximately the weight of a letter!

i don't think herschel ever shed his lanugo. let's hope the wee does.