Week 24

This week was a fun one :) We got to see Ryder again at the Arlington Perinatal Associates and my mom got to come with us this time! He was being a little shy and hid his face for most of the sonogram. We got one little frontal view and then he crossed his arms in front of his face and would only let us get a look at his mouth and nose. But we caught him holding onto his feet at one point and that was pretty darn cute :) He was totally healthy and his heartbeat was about 144. We don't have anymore sonograms scheduled at this point, but I think we are going to go get a 3D/4D sono sometime soon.

Here is the video from our most recent appointment:



Our little boy is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. The doctor told us that he is right at a pound and a half, which is right where he should be at this stage in the game. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Here are some pictures from our last sonogram:












And as for me, in the past few weeks, the top of my uterus has risen above my belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. That's kind of a lot to take in haha. It's weird seeing my belly button getting less deep too. Pretty soon it will be popping out! haha

Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. I actually have this scheduled for May 31. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition. It's not going to be a fun appointment from what I hear (lots of time spent just sitting there for hours and drinking some yucky orange-soda-without-the-carbonation-like stuff and then getting poked with needles). Yay! Not.

Here is what Ryder might look like this week:



And here I am:

15 Weeks

It's amazing to believe that I'm just a few short weeks shy of being half-way through my pregnancy! It is really flying by fast now that I'm feeling better. As of today, I'm 15 weeks 3 days and it feels great to be a couple weeks into my second trimester! Last Friday and Saturday I switched to a different sample of prenatal vitamin that I got from the doctor, and they caused some pretty crazy dreams. I know that around this time, dreams are a normal side-effect of pregnancy, but it was only on the nights that I took the new vitamin that I experienced some pretty violent dreams. I switched back to my normal (but crazy expensive) vitamin Sunday night and voila! No more crazy dreams!

I had a doctor appointment back on the 8th and everything was great :). We got to hear Tiddle's heart beating away in the 140s where it should be. He/she didn't want to cooperate tho and kept running away from the heartbeat monitor. Once the nurse got him/her to calm down we got to hear the little thump for an exciting few seconds. I really want to go get one of those heart rate monitors so that I can listen in whenever I want! Our next appointment with the doctor isn't for about a month, and shortly after we will have our gender-identification ultrasound! Eeee! I can't wait!

Here's where we are at with the developments of week 15:

Our growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). He/She's busy moving amniotic fluid through its nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in the lungs begin to develop. Legs are growing longer than the arms now, and it can move all of its joints and limbs. Although the eyelids are still fused shut, our little bean can sense light. If I were to shine a flashlight at my tummy, for instance, it's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for Tiddle to taste at this point, but he/she is forming taste buds. Finally, if we were to have our ultrasound this week, we may be able to find out whether Tiddle is a boy or a girl. Although I'm super anxious/excited to find out, I'm glad we will be waiting just a little longer to give it a little more development time to make sure we get the sex right. Hopefully he or she isn't modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods" :)

Here's a picture of what the baby might look like at around this time:

And here's what I look like at around this time (super flattering outfit, I know):