This week is a big milestone- we are officially halfway to the due date, which is 40 weeks. And that's if I make it that long- technically anything after 36 weeks is considered full term. Woohoo! I still feel huge for how far I am, but apparently us moms come in all shapes and sizes. Also this week is big, because we will be having the first (and only planned) ultrasound. We get to see baby's size, movements, profile- all of the wonderful things we have only been guessing about this whole time! And of course, everyone is dying to know if our little bean is a boy or a girl! : ) Mike just left to go offshore today, so we are crossing our fingers he makes it back in time for the ultrasound on Thursday. If not, I hate to bum you all out, but I promised I would put the "goods" picture in an envelope and not let the tech spill the beans, and Mike and I will find out together. Which means I won't know until he does, which also means no one else will know. Sorry. But he is super bummed to think that he may miss out on the ultrasound, so this is the best we can do to make things right for him.
So this week, according to babycenter.com our baby is the size of a banana! And thebump.com says the size of a cantaloupe! Both of which should be about 6.5 inches (measuring baby from crown to rump) and about 10.6 ounces. From here going forward, they will start measuring baby from crown to heel, so that puts baby at a whopping 10.5 inches! That's almost a foot!! Baby is drinking lots of amniotic fluid at this point, both for nutrition, and also to practice swallowing and digesting. They say taste buds are starting to work now, and the taste of some foods are passed into the amniotic fluid. Studies show that babies respond to tastes that have already had via amniotic fluid, so the foods I eat now may influence what baby will eat later!
My tummy as you can see is still growing along with this baby. My previously hidden tattoo does show a bit over the top of some of the pants that I wear now (if you look close you can see it in this weeks pic) and my belly has more hair than before and itches. No stretch marks yet (knock on wood) but I have been using the lotion that you get from the drug store that is supposed to prevent them. We will see in the upcoming months! I think my biggest complaints at this point are heartburn- it usually starts around 7 pm every night and makes me feel like my throat is on fire. Tums and Calmicid (an all-natural form of Tums from Melaleuca) are my best friends : ) And my other complaint is the swollen feet deal. They swelled up so much at work on Friday just from sitting at my desk that after taking my Birkenstocks off, I could hardly get them back on! It's more on my right foot than my left, but they both tend to swell a lot. My blood pressure has been completely normal at all of my appointments, so I am not too worried about preeclampsia, although a lot of things I have read say that this much swelling early on, and the fact that it is more in one foot in the other could be an early symptom of that... I am not a worry wort, so I have been trying to not think about it. It's more painful and disgusting more than anything else. It's like, you already feel fat with this big belly in the way all the time, and then I look down and see fat feet and ankles, it doesn't make me feel attractive anymore. Oh well, it's worth it : )
Today I will probably either be hanging out with my girlfriends at the house, or I may try to convince them to drive to Baton Rouge with me... I am craving some fresh fruit from Whole Foods, and I would like to go to the mall to get my favorite mascara. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that by the time I post again next week Mike will be home from work and we can share with everyone the pics (and possibly video?) of our ultrasound!
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