14 Weeks

I am officially into the second trimester at this point. (Yay!) My fingers are so swollen (already?!) that I had to get the cheap fake ones in 2 sizes larger! Nice, huh? Yesterday we had our 14 week appointment and heard the heartbeat on the doppler, which was 145 beats per minutes. Thats "perfect" so I'm told... (Let the spoiling begin already!) We also got a referral to schedule our big ultrasound where we will be able to find out the sex. (July 11!) I do have slightly low iron so I have to take some pills for that. Also, she insisted on taking more blood because of this and I officially look like a human pin cushion.. or a junkie. The girl tried in 4 different places before she got a vein that wouldn't wiggle around and collapse, so I have lovely bruises on the inside of both of my elbows and on the tops of both my hands. At least when I came out of the lab with all those bandages on I scared the bajeezus out of the lady waiting to go next!

So here is my 14 week gut...

According to Babycenter: This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches - about the size of a lemon - and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.And because I love the fruit comparison pictures:
This weeks fruit picture courtesy of my favorite comic: Natalie Dee.