Week 16

Sorry I've been bad at posting. I've been in Arizona for a week relaxing at my parents house and refused to get on my computer for longer than five minutes at a time. I'm finally getting around to my pregnancy posts though (yes, I'm aware that I'm already 16 weeks along). It's been a busy few months and it doesn't help that I'm just too lazy to upload the pics to my computer - even though the cord is about three feet away at all times. I'm going to try to get better and do weekly posts if I can. Not only for you, but for my own memories down the road.

To catch you up so far. We are due May 16th and we are not going to find out the sex. I know, I know, this is kind of dumb of us. But we are really looking forward to the ultimate surprise at the end. We had the first part of our sequential screening and the baby looks great. The screening was to detect if the baby had any chance of having Downs Syndrome or other genetic defects. It's not 100%, but our ratings were very good and the baby looks healthy as can be so far. I'm going in for my second part of it this week.

So anyway, back to WEEK 16!

(For those of you that have not been pregnant) The books say:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop


I'm not exactly ready for a growth spurt but I'll deal with it when it happens. When we went for an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago our baby was already 4" long, so I figure we're about 1" ahead of what the books usually say. That is my non-medical educated guess so who really knows if I'm right or not. Both GK's and my family are on the taller side, so I'm thinking this baby will be on the taller/longer side when it arrives. For those of you thinking, why the heck isn't she posting the ultrasound pics too? I agree, the ultrasound pics are much cooler then shots of my growing stomach, but we didn't really get any good shots this time. Our little guy likes to stick his/her thumb in it's mouth (a habit that will be broken at birth by yours truly) and therefore cover his face. We have another one at the end of this month so hopefully we can get some great shots then.

Now on to the horrid self portraits that I took this morning. The bump does not seem that big since it's the morning and it grows throughout the day ~ after I eat everything in reach for 12 hours straight. Yes, ladies and gentleman my appetite has grown along with the baby. during my first trimester I didn't really eat that much, now I'm always starving. I also like to believe that I've felt our little bundle move. It was a feeling that I've never felt before on the side of my stomach. I know it's really early and it was most likely gas or hunger pains. But it's my baby and my stomach, so I'm just going to pretend it was our little bean telling me to "stop eating all of those cheese fries and pick up a damn apple or something"!


Side note: I would have made the bed for you in these pics, but if you look closely my fur baby Grace is fast asleep on it, and heaven forbid I should wake her up. Also these are most likely the WORST pictures I've ever posted on this blog, so please stick with me. By the time I remember to take them, GK is already back in Dallas for the week so I have to take them myself - and that is never a good idea. So I do believe when we move in January the images will get much better and you won't have to suffer through my lame photography skills anymore.

comparable pics: The one on the left was taken on 11/10/09 when I was 13 weeks along.