Pop?

So, I think this is part wishful thinking, part bloat, and part baby. Mainly because I don't look like this today, so how the hell did I look like this a few days ago. Anyway, I am knowingly posting pics of myself in my underwear online. Wow, things have changed.

Exactly 14 Weeks
As compared to 12 weeks

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (or no one, I have no idea who reads this)! I have my turkey in the oven and am regretting stuffing it with garlic and onions because it smells so damn good. There is so much to be thankful for this year it is almost ridiculous. The baby puts everything in perspective and makes me thankful for such mundane things like health insurance and clean water. I have no idea how people in underdeveloped countries deal with pregnancy when there is cholera and dysentery. I am just so thankful for my family and Mike, the baby, a job, a warm place to live and the luxury and privilege that comes along with being American. Not in a patriotic way, but in a "holy shit, life really could suck if I was born a thousand miles away" sort of way.

The baby and I are doing well. My dad has taken up the nickname fatso since I don't actually look pregnant, just chubby. I have always had a peculiarly flat stomach--peculiar since I do NOTHING to maintain it--but now it is gone and the baby is a muffin top. I have either a beer gut or some extra donuts floating around my middle. Ick. Oh well, eventually I will be nice and round and dislike that too :) The pregnancy is much better. I feel better, I am much less exhausted and I seem to have at least a balanced share of control with the baby over my body. For a while the baby was definitely winning.

The hardest thing right now is waiting for the gender. I really want to know. I never thought I would want to know that much, but I do. We don't find out until January and I am cursing myself daily for forgoing on the genetics testing since we may have found out the gender at the NT screen. Oh well, I am still happy not knowing anything about the genetic risks. I really hope the baby is cooperative at the anatomy scan in January. If we can't see anything because it is prude, belly and I are going to have a discussion.

As far as baby progression, this is what we get week 14:

Baby is a lemon, measuring 3.4 inches. Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

By weeks 14-17, your baby's bone marrow is producing blood cells; his liver is secreting bile; his pancreas is producing insulin; and he will be covered in a layer of downy hair called lanugo. Around week 16, you may get your first ultrasound, but don't count on learning your baby's sex quite yet. Between weeks 14 and 18, you can opt to have a Quad Screen or amniocentesis, tests that can detect a neural-tube defect, such as spina bifida, Down syndrome or other genetic disorders. Discuss these tests with your doctor to help you decide.

Peachy

The baby is now the size of a peach and has left the development stage and entered the growth stage. My belly is definitely getting bigger, but I think it is only noticeable if you are in the know. I am feeling better in general, but I am still exhausted. Hopefully that will fade too, if not at least we have a holiday soon. I can still wear normal pants, but they are definately snug and I will have to look into some maternity clothes soon. Mike and I have opted out of all genetic testing and I feel pretty good about it. A close friend of mine had a horrible scare and had to have an NT scan which came back good, and I just don't want to go through that. Her baby is totally fine, but for one week I am sure it was terrifying. However, I am a little jealous because they know the gender now, and I won't know ours until January.

Your baby is 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, the size of a medium goldfish. She weighs about one ounce. Your baby is shorter than a finger, but her face is already showing individual features and characteristics! Her ears are now developed enough that she may be able to hear when you sing, hum, or talk. And her vocal cords will form this week—soon she'll be able to sing back. Your baby spends her time in your womb flexing her new and developing muscles and joints. Bouts of prenatal hiccups are strengthening your baby's diaphragm, which is preparing her respiratory system for breathing. Less glamorous but highly necessary organ systems for making hormones, absorbing nutrients, and filtering waste are also in place this week. The pancreas, gall bladder, and thyroid have developed, the kidneys can make urine, and her bone marrow is making white blood cells to help fight infection after she's born.

Sharing the News

I don't know what it is, but I hate telling people I am pregnant. I detest it. I have no idea why. Actually, telling strangers isn't so bad, so it is just people I know. I love that I am pregnant, I am super excited for the baby and am getting to the stage that is supposed to be enjoyable. I have started to dream about the baby moving instead of having nightmares about miscarriages. So, it isn't that I don't like being pregnant, and it isn't that I don't like people knowing, that doesn't bother me at all, I just hate telling people. Maybe it is because we are an unconventional couple and that makes other people unsure about how they feel. No one has asked me if I plan on getting married now that I am pregnant, but Mike faces that a lot. Maybe I am just apprehensive of judgment. I am happy with my decision. I love Mike, I am happier than I have ever been in my life and I am very content with my decisions. Yet I just hate telling people. Maybe I should have told people we were trying, then it wouldn't be a surprise, but I didn't really want that pressure either. I don't know. Maybe it is just who I am. I get too much attention for it.

Week 12

Ahh, week 12, when everything is supposed to get better. Or at least start to get better. No more morning sickness, increased energy, better skin. I can't wait, because as of this morning I feel no different. I went to bed at 7:30 (come on, it was day-light savings time, that was 8:30 my time) and got up at 6:00. I guess I feel rested, we will see how 8:00 tonight feels. We are out of milk, so I had to look for breakfast alternatives and eggs are still out, as is the toast Mike bought me, so I am resorting to strawberry eggos and hot cocoa--definitely still pregnant. I have gained about 3 pounds in total, but about one pound was just yesterday, so I think that may go away. It probably had something to do with the chile cheese fries and BLT I had for lunch. Speaking of which, the weirdest craving I have had to date was a BLT. Not so weird? It is if you have never had one. How can you crave something you have never had? We had them the other night with turkey bacon, and they were pretty freaken sick. Yesterday I had the real thing. It didn't live up to my expectations either, and I kept almost gagging, but then I was okay again. I ate half. I didn't die. I guess the baby isn't going to be vegetarian.

As far as the pregnancy goes we are entering trimester II. I am not sure if this happens at the end of the week or now. I supppose it doesn't really matter. Although 1/3 if the pregnancy is still a week and half away, most people count this second trimester because of fetal development:

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

Your baby's crown-to-rump height is 2 1/2 inches, or about as tall as a squash ball. She may weigh as much as half an ounce. This begins the age when the fetus starts to look really cut in those womb pictures. If you had a womb camera, you'd be able to see your baby's proportions changing, with the growth of the head slowing down to let the rest of the body catch up. Arms, legs, and fingers are also growing out and tapering to look more like a newborn's, and your baby's posture becomes less curled and more upright.

Apparently my hips are also starting to widen. Oh god.

zzzz

I am so tired. I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep for another 10 hours. When will the exhaustion end? I thought I was doing better a few weeks ago, but that was short lived. I went to bed at eight last night, got up at 12:30 to pee, got up at 1:45 to eat toast and then finally rolled out of bed around 6:45. Even with the night time breaks, that is plenty of sleep, but all I want to do is sleep more. If Ella didn't wake me up, I am not when or if I would even get out of bed. I swear, the baby is already kicking my ass.

Peanut, Lime or Golf Ball??

I am now eleven weeks pregnant. The first trimester is coming to a close and I am getting more used to being pregnant, or at least obsessing about it less. I even sometimes forget that I am pregnant for a few moments, which I never thought would happen. Life is becoming more bearable or I am learning to live differently. The house is pretty much never clean. I sleep a lot more, and much better. Work is a distant second priority and people around me actually know what is going on. Some of these are welcomed changes, some less so, but it is all becoming more normal. I am seriously considering a maid, and a doula. I am getting more used to saying that I am pregnant out loud and finally I don’t have to fake drink at the bar because I successfully reached my second World Beer Tour. Essentially, life is becoming normal with being pregnant instead of life being about being pregnant; if that makes sense.

I still read a lot of information about fetal development and get updates about me and the baby. However, this week it seems sort of confusing. One site says the baby is the size of a peanut, another a lime, another a golf ball. WTF? I guess a golf ball and a lime are about the same size. A peanut though?? Not at all. I was so looking forward to having a lime. I mean, a lime seems like a decent size for a fetus. It seems real. I was so excited. A peanut is such a disappoint! Oh well. Here is what it says:

Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through it. But fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds, and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.

Your baby is about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long and weighs about a third of an ounce, the size of a peanut. This is a big week for your baby's growth—she'll double in height. At the end of the week, her head and body will be roughly equal in length. This week also starts an active phase for her - she can turn somersaults, roll over, flex her fingers, hiccup, and stretch. You won't be able to feel her movement for another month and a half. She's floating in lots of amniotic fluid. Her limbs are developing from webbed paddles into arms and legs that have well-defined fingers and toes. Fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles are also beginning to form. Your baby's testes or ovaries have developed, though the sex probably won't be visible on a sonogram for at least another month. Intestines have developed at the place where the umbilical cord meets your baby's body. The intestines are now able to make constricting movements, though there won't be anything to digest until later.