11 weeks and counting!

This week, the baby is the size of a fig or a small lime...

Here is some info on the baby's development...

(If you look at the picture below and our ultra-sound pictures in the last post, you will see that the baby looks almost exactly as depicted here. I thought that was pretty cool!)

All of your baby's vital organs are now formed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week as your baby becomes less susceptible to outside influences. Phew! Other exciting developments include:

• Baby's ears are assuming their proper place this week and the fingernail and toenail beds are beginning to form.


• Your little "pumpkin head" really lives up to his nickname as his head is nearly as big as the rest of his body.


• While testes or ovaries are completely formed now, don't start decorating the nursery. You won't be able to see your baby's gender for a few more weeks yet.


• Your baby is really on the move now. In an ultrasound you might be able to see your little acrobat flailing his or her arms and legs and doing somersaults worthy of Cirque du Soleil. You still won't be able to feel any movement, so if you feel something "kick" in there, it's probably gas.


• In the next nine weeks, your baby will increase 30 times in weight and almost triple in length. You might feel like you're increasing 30 times in weight at this point, too, but we can assure you're not—because, honey, you ain't seen nothin' yet!


• The muscles in the intestinal walls begin to practice contractions that digest food.


• Your baby is about 1.61 to 2 inches long and weighs 0.25 ounce (7gm).

Here's me at 11 weeks...

(I may not have the actual "baby bump" yet, but I'm definitely getting "thicker" around my middle and baby is pushing things up and out a lot more. My pants are definitely getting tight. I only fit in one pair of jeans, and am about to make the move up to my "fat" pants. No maternity clothes yet.) :-)

So, this last Friday, my mom and I went browsing around in different baby stores. I wanted to just start getting an idea of what's out there. I was so overwhelmed by the hundreds of choices we will have to make, that we more or less spent the time looking at bedding and themes and colors. I want to find something that will work for either a boy or a girl, since we plan on waiting to find out till the baby's born. I did get a couple of ideas, but am going to wait till Nathan and I can go together to discuss them with him and explore the options. There are so many cute things out there!

So, while we were at Baby's R Us, my mom parked in the Expectant Mother's parking and made me take a picture by the sign. So, the picture below was her doing, not mine! (She's not excited to be a grandma or anything!) :-)