Week 10

Yay! Week 10. Only 30 more weeks to go more or less. I'm feeling great. Haven't had any morning sickness for about a week and a half now. I'm on vacation this week and I'm super excited about that. We're going to leave to Orlando on Thursday and come back on Sunday. We'll be going to Sea World on Saturday. It's always nice to get away. Here's what's happening with the baby this week:

10 Weeks Pregnant

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.
He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.
If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.
In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Baby's First Picture

Sorry I skipped Week 8. Either way...I'm in week 9 of my pregnancy right now. All the symptoms are starting to die down and for that I am very grateful. We went to the doctor yesterday and got to see our baby...or what looks more like a little alien right now, but still our precious baby. We also got to hear the heartbeat and that was very exciting. It all became extremely real yesterday to me and I'm sure to Chris also, actually seeing the baby develop. I can say I didn't cry, but definitely got excited. The doctor says everything is fine and he/she is measuring 2.8cm. You do the math. Here's what's going on in week 9.

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Summer is Here

Today I thought I'd write about something besides the pregnancy. I imagine it can get pretty irritating reading about it week after week. I'm so glad the school year is finally over. I survived my first year teaching music and art and while it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun. I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at my church's school with great people and great students. However, I am very glad summer is here. A few months of relaxation. While I will still be working during summer camp, things are different and a little more relaxed. I'm looking forward to my week of vacation and hoping to actually do what it was meant for, relax. No specific plans for the summer, but I think we'll just be spontaneous about it. Can't wait.

7 Weeks

Thank God the nausea has eased up the last couple of days. I've been eating a lot of peaches and natural strawberry popsicles. I can't live without them. The more time goes by, the more real this all becomes and the more exciting. I catch myself looking in the mirror a whole lot more than I used to. Every time I go to a store I go directly to the baby section. Can't wait to find out what it is. The bad part this week...I have a cold and I had to stay home today because my stuffy nose barely lets me sleep. Other than that, things are going great. I'm loving being pregnant right now and I thank God everyday for this blessing He has sent us.


Here's what's going on this week.

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of his/her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering his/her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of his/her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and his/her liver is churning out red blood cells until his/her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. He/She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his/her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his/her tiny body.

7 Weeks Pregnant

6 Weeks

6 Weeks Pregnant

6 Weeks pregnant. Time seems to be going by so slow. I guess it's because I'm so anxious to get out of the first trimester and out of all these crazy symptoms. Morning sickness is really kicking in. These past few days have been rough, but I've made it through thanks to God, preggy pop drops, and saltine crackers. I've been rejecting certain foods that I thought I would crave more of. Such as ice cream, cake, anything sweet. Today I went to the doctor. My first visit. I was very nervous, but everything turned out fine. He did a sonogram and he saw something. He tried to show Chris and I where the baby was, but I couldn't see anything. What's important is that he saw it and he says everything seems to be going fine. Either way....here's what's going on this week.

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. If you could see into the uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where the baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, the baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

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