Week 17

At 4 to 5 inches long and about 7 ounces, your baby is roughly the size of a large pear. And she's ripening--the brain, muscles, nervous and circulatory systems, and urinary tract are all functioning. Amniotic fluid is pumping through her lungs. Her skeleton, composed of rubbery cartilage, will harden later.

Movement

Sherry felt the baby move twice this morning.

Fast and Furious

Sherry seems to be gaining weight nicely. I mean that both in the fact that she still has a tiny little butt and in the fact that I want her to gain weight (even if she doesn't want to)... to me it is a sign of health. Every other day she will come in with a surprised look on her face and tell me that she has gained another pound.

We are going to Florida this week for a house hunting trip and she was concerned that she is going to sweat her a%^ off because she doesn't have any shorts that fit... so looks like it might be time to go shopping!

Week 16 picture - our little alien

Your little sweetie (alien) is about 4 to 4-3/4 inches long from the new fine hair on his head to his bum. He weighs about 3 to 4 ounces -- that's about as much as your average kiwi fruit!

His head is now erect, and those tiny arms and legs are developed -- and his fingernails are also formed. His muscles begin to move energetically. In fact, starting this week, your baby’s movements -- like him kicking and punching and sucking his thumb -- can easily be seen via ultrasound. (Soon, you will be able to feel them yourself.)

His skin doesn't yet have color -- it actually looks pretty transparent, and the veins and arteries are clearly visible.

Here's a closer look at what your baby may look like right around 14 weeks after conception, or at 16 weeks menstrual age.

from sheknows.com

Decisions, Decisions

This is our current pick for the baby's crib. I think we both agree this is the style we want, now we just have to decide between this color or white. What do you think?

Week 16

Your little one has hiccups! An involuntary movement of the diaphragm causes these painless contractions. In adults, this movement is followed by closure of the vocal cords (making the familiar "hic" noise); because the baby's trachea is filled with fluid rather than air, fetal hiccups don't generate sound. The frequency of hiccups varies widely, with some babies experiencing several bouts a day and others never seeming to get them at all. By the sixth month, you'll be able to "see" fetal hiccups as they occur--they'll make your belly jump.

Week 15

The body is now growing faster than the head, balancing out that brain-heavy look and making the fetus appear more baby-like. The skin is covered with lanugo, an ultrafine hair that protects it until birth. There's also hair on the baby's head, and the beginnings of tiny eyebrows. Your little one is now about 4 inches long and weighs just under 2 ounces.

Is Sherry Showing?

To answer the question I get quite frequently I figured pictures are better than words:

Week 14

Your little boy or girl has fully developed sex organs by this week, although they're still difficult to see through ultrasound. He's 3 inches long and weighs an ounce and a half, give or take a few grams. Now that the major systems are in place, the fetus will start to grow at an amazing rate. In the next month or so, he'll triple in length and reach the impressive weight of 1 pound.

29 days!

Our next doctor's visit is scheduled for September 6th. At that appointment we will have an ultrasound and if Baby McDonald cooperates, we will know whether we will be the proud parents of a baby girl or boy! We still don't have any girl names... so if you have suggestions- let us know!

Some Old pictures

The test results:


My wife that I had to take a picture of right after she told me... I wanted to capture that moment forever:

No more secrets!

In case we had not told you, any of you still keeping it a secret are free to discuss our wonderful news at your leisure. We are still technically 6 days away from the 2nd trimester, but we just can't keep it in anymore and we have 3 doctor office visits under our belt so we are feeling confident.

Heartbeat

So I didn't hear the heart beat with the fetal monitor, but we did get to hear it today with the Doppler contraption at our doctor's appointment. Since Pearl had an appointment near ours today we had her come with us, so she could hear the heartbeat. We met at IHOP and then Sherry went to find out how much she had gained. To her delight she had only gained 2 pounds. The doctor wants her to gain around 5 before the end of the first trimester (which is the 9th) so we will have to get some ho-ho's, pecan twirls and fried twinkies for her to stuff her face with before the end of the week.


The baby's heart rate was 156 beats per minute, and Sherry's blood pressure was a little lower then last time, all normal stuff. Sherry asked about a pain in her back that she figured was her sciatic nerve... she was correct. She also asked about light headedness which the doctor said was also common.

We are going back for our next appointment in 5 weeks and will find out the sex of the baby hopefully (if he/she will face the camera) and most likely get the blood tests for Down's Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Trisomy 18 and a few other birth defects. I say most likely, because the test is pretty inconclusive either way, but I am all for getting the medical staff as much data as they can get to help us in case of complications. But I am pretty confident that we are going to have a very healthy soccer player.