Week 10: The Prune

Highlights this week: Baby has arm joints, and the cartilage and bones are forming. Small indentations on the legs are developing into knees and ankles. But the arms are about the size of this:1
Vital organs are fully developed and starting to function.
Fingernails and hair are starting to appear.
The baby's swallowing and kicking in there.
The tooth bud fairy is making her appearance this week, forming under the gums.
The baby's stomach is producing digestive juices, the kidneys are producing larger quantities of urine, and if the baby's a boy, he's already producing testosterone!

To save time in the morning figuring out what to wear (and to spare me from accidentally teaching in uncomfortable clothes), I went through my closet today and put away all my skinny clothes. My friend who just had a baby girl is shipping me a box of her maternity clothes to borrow until she is ready for baby No. 2. I've gained 10 pounds so far!! I'm hoping this won't be a pound a week thing; there are 40 weeks in a pregnancy! I am ravenous all the time. Craving watermelon and grapes. I love protein. Splurged on scrambled eggs and bacon twice this week. But all from the farmers market and oh so yummy.
Next week the baby fruit size starts to get into much bigger fruits. Up next: the lime!!

Week 9: The Olive

At nine weeks, me and Baby Woody have made two big accomplishments: I've made it to month three, and she's no longer an embryo: now she's a fetus. She's developing more distinct facial features and the essential body parts are accounted for. The heart finished dividing into four chambers and the valves start to form, as do the teeth! The embryonic tail is completely gone. The external sex organs are there. The eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes. My uterus is now the size of a grapefruit!

As for me, my hormones have been totally stable this week (So far this pregnancy, I've had 2 hysterical melt downs). I've been able to continue running and or speed walking 2-3 miles a day. My pants are on the verge of not fitting anymore and I'm starting to freak out. This weekend I'm going to take out all clothes not suitable for maternity so it doesn't take me forever to get dressed in the morning. Isn't it too soon for maternity clothes??

August 17th 8 week ultrasound

Here's Baby Woodbilly!

Estimated due date: March 30, 2013

Age: 8 weeks 4 days

Size: 1.52 cm (about the size of a raspberry)

When the doctor saw our conception/ovulation date, she said "Oh! Well then we will have to see about it being a girl!". This little one was conceived with a 0-4% chance because she lived 6-7 days before ovulation! 

You can see the little arm buds in the picture. 

So very exciting! It was so cool seeing the little heart fluttering like crazy. Next appointment (no ultrasound, just lab result reviews) September 14.

Chinese Gender Calender

Quick poll: How many of you found the Chinese Gender Calendar to be accurate? According to my numbers, we are having a girl. Click HERE to try it yourselves!

Week 8: The Raspberry

New this week:
Baby's growing taste buds. The fingers and toes are now only slightly webbed, and the tail is gone. Eyelids now cover the eyes, breathing tubes extend from the throat to the branches of the developing lungs. In the brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another. My uterus is now the size of a small orange. The baby weighs less than a paper clip. The ears are developing quickly and will be the first sensory organ to work inside the womb. Eye formation is in high gear. The tip of the nose becomes visible this week. This week, the baby's primary reproductive organs will either become testes of ovaries. Even though the gender was determined at conception, the gonads took until now to become one or the other. The baby's face now has an upper lip. A tiny tongue is even growing inside the mouth.

This week Friday is our first ultrasound at 2:30. I have never looked forward to something more than getting our first glimpse of our baby!! My mom the astrologer told me a month ago that my chart shows twins. So everyone is anxious to find out! My appetite is great. No food aversions. Certain smells are over bearing. Fatigue has been awful. I feel like a zombie all day long and swear I could sleep the entire day away. I'm still able to run (but certain body parts have been making it almost too painful to go more than a mile). If I can't run, I power walk 2-3 miles a day. The dogs love this "try to be fit while pregnant" kick!

Week 7: The Blueberry

While in upstate NY, my cousin and I hand picked about 15 pounds of blueberries. The craziest part about this picture? I was totally pregnant and had no idea! This week, the baby is the size of a blueberry (10,000 times bigger than it was at conception a month ago!) Major developments this week include: The head (new brain cells are being generated at the rate of 100 cells per minute). The arm and leg bugs begin to sprout and grow longer and stronger, dividing into hand, arm, and shoulder segments. Leg, knee, and foot segments look more like paddles than hands and feet at this stage. Also forming this week are the baby's mouth and tongue. S/he has already gone through three sets of kidneys. The ones in place now are the permanent set and are poised to begin their important work of waste management. In a week, my baby will start producing urine. Much of that urine will be excreted into the amniotic fluid, swallowed again by the baby, and then excreted again in a continuous cycle. Yummy. I guess it's too late to teach my baby "Don't eat yellow snow...or....water....."