19 weeks (Not quite halfway...but almost!) :-)

This week baby is the size of a grapefruit...

Here is what's happening with baby this week...

• Fetus is around 6.5 inches (17cm) and 9 ounces (250gm).
• Your placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby.
• Features of your baby's heart, should be visible during an ultrasound.
• Your baby's genitals are distinct and recognizable.
• Scalp hair has sprouted and continues to grow.

If baby is female the uterus starts to develop, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place. Females have a limited supply of eggs in their lifetime. At this point your daughter will have 6 million eggs. This amount decreases to approximately one million by birth. If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable. Even if the sex looks obvious, ultrasound operators have been known to make mistakes.

Baby's legs are reaching their relative size and with the increase muscle development occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon. If you have not felt movement yet, you will soon. Your baby will increase its weight by more than 15 times between now and delivery.

This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named "brown fat" he'll need to keep warm when he gets evicted from his comfortable uterine home. Other highlights this week:

Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby's skin, appears all over your baby's body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid. Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin' on. ... Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby's body. Don't worry, your Mini won't look like Cousin It when he's born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance.

Good news: Your baby's kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. But so far you're safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid.

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Here's me at 19 weeks...


So, I know that halfway is technically 20 weeks, because that is halfway to 40 weeks and my due date of May 10th. But I am now halfway to 38 weeks, which is still considered full term. So, tecnnically I could have this baby in another 19 weeks!! It's all so exciting!!


I am definitely feeling stretched to the max, which is funny, because I know how much farther I have to go! I also have the feeling of heaviness or pressure as well as the start of lower back pain. It literally feels like my lower spine is being pulled forward...gee, I wonder why?! :-)


My dear friend Karel who had her daugher over 2 years ago, has let me borrow her pregnancy belly ring, since as you can see in the picture below, my belly button isn't going to be considered an "innie" for very much longer! It's on the move and beginning to come out...I just hope it doesn't pop out into a huge outie!! The piercing is flexible, so it will bend and move as I grow. (It says "Baby on Board.")



You can also just barely see in this picture that I have a linea negra (that line of darker pigment that runs up the middle of your belly.) You can't see it as well in this picture, but it is definitely getting darker and has now extended to above my belly button going almost up to my sternum. I just think it's fun as these changes occur. There are more changes, but to mention them here would be too much information! :-)

I am still feeling the baby move off and on. I feel it at least a couple times a day now, though never at the same time. It still feels like flutters and little taps, but I am more easily able to discern this now from the regular muscle twitches or gas bubbles. It's not excessive nor huge movements, though I will say that on Friday night, I was able to fill him/her kick from the outside for the first time. Unfortunately, Nathan wasn't there, so he didn't get to feel it. Baby was being particularly active, so I put my hand on my lower abdomen and waited for a long time, and all of the sudden, I was able to feel one of those kicks with my hand and not just inside. Then I felt another one! I haven't been able to feel it from the outside since, but that was pretty amazing. I know Nathan is really hoping to feel it soon, and I really hope he does too!