19 weeks

Only one more week to go and I am officially half way through this pregnancy- crazy how quickly it is going by, huh? And at the same time, part of me is ready to be done with being pregnant and just have this baby here. I know it is a bit early to feel that way, but being pregnant isn't all that great. I am trying to remind myself to enjoy this time before parenthood, so that's what I am trying to do.

From babycenter.com and thebump.com, baby is now the size of a mango! About 8.5 oz and about 6 inches head to rump. Baby is covered in something called vernix caseosa, mixture of lanugo (fine baby hair that covers the whole body), oil, and dead skin cells (yummy) that protects the delicate little skin from pickling in all of that amniotic fluid. Arms and legs are finally in proportion to the rest of the body, and hair may be starting to sprout on top of baby's head. Some studies have shown that at this point baby may be able to hear our voice now, so it's a good time to begin reading, talking, and singing to baby.

In mommy's development, I have officially experienced the extreme swollen ankles. We went to the Reverend Horton Heat and Motorhead concert in Houston on Friday, and I stood nonstop from 7:30 PM until about 1 AM, and when we left the concert my ankles were so swollen they were literally rings hanging over the sides of my ankle socks. It was absolutely disgusting. I spent all day yesterday with my feet propped up, hoping they would go back down so I could actually be of some use today. The good news was that in the second song of the Reverend Horton Heat's set, Mike was standing behind me with his hands on my belly, and he felt a single but wonderful kick from the baby! It's the first time anyone has felt baby on the outside, though I am pretty used to the little kicks and movements pretty constantly throughout the day now. My first thought was, our baby has good taste in music, it likes the Reverend!!

That's all I got for now- I am figuring out how to deal with the achy back and ribs, and the extreme (and I mean extreme) heartburn that I get everyday. I know it will all be more than worth it in the end : D