14 weeks

I've been getting requests for an updated post, and we have quite a bit to share......so here we goooo:

On April 7th, we were 14 weeks along!  We are officially into the 2nd trimester of the pregnancy----HOLY SMOKES!  :)

The weekly updates on what's going on with the baby and my body that I post on the blog come from a website called parentsconnect.com.  I signed up to receive weekly emails from them and I recommend it to anyone who becomes pregnant and wants to know how the baby is growing.  I don't post the entire email most of the time, but some of the stuff they say in the emails makes me laugh.  Here is what I received regarding my pregnancy at 14 weeks:

Your Pregnancy: Week 14

You're officially in your pregnancy glory days: the second trimester. At 14 weeks pregnant, your energy levels should come back up, nausea levels tend to go down, and you may even be have cute little baby bump that's beginning to show. Time to say "Hello, belly! (And, "So long, feet!")  

What You're Thinking: "I'm too sexy for this pregnancy, too sexy for this pregnancy ..."

Your Baby

Think of it this way: You're a third of the way through and baby's a third of the way cooked. Now that the "big stuff" (like skeletal and organ development) is taken care of, your baby starts a period of rapid brain growth, fat buildup and detail work.
Highlights this week include:

• Your baby now has fingerprints! Book 'em, Danno! Believe it or not, he actually created them himself while swimming around in the amniotic fluid. As he moved his hands, the skin on the tips of his fingers formed unique ridges and folds. That's why no one on earth has the same fingerprints, not even identical twins! Cool, right? Baby's arms are now in proportion to his tiny body, but his legs are still on the short size in comparison.
• Meconium, that tar-like, sticky first baby poop, is now loading up your baby's intestines, which means you might want to set aside a bottle of olive oil, one of the few things that will get the gooey poop off of baby's bottom.
• Your baby continues to gain new and impressive skills such as practicing and controlling voluntary muscle movements (this will help him fling food across the room later in life). Your tiny dancer's movements are no longer the jerky, uncontrollable twitches of yore—he now moves with graceful control.
• Your baby is now weighs about an ounce and is the length of a flip phone, or roughly 3 1/2 inches—he's tripled in size from a mere three weeks ago! Luckily, you haven't done the same.

Your Body

• You have reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, the light at the end of the first tunnel (there will be more). Chances are good that you're feeling as good as you've felt in weeks. If you're not feeling it yet, don't worry, it'll come soon.
• Enjoy this reprieve. If you haven't been milking the fact that you're pregnant, make up for lost time this week. Stockpile on sleep, have your partner cater to your every need (craving Ben & Jerry's at midnight? Go get it, lover!), let your mom baby you, have your friends come over to your house, take a personal day off of work, insert whatever you normally would feel pushy doing here ...
• Thought you'd never want to do "it" again, right? You may find that now that your energy levels are picking up, your interest in sex may increase as well.
• If your back is starting to hurt, you can thank yet another hormone, relaxin, for the aches and pains. Just like it sounds, relaxin relaxes the joints and muscles in your body to help your pelvis expand and loosens the joints in your hips to make room for baby to come out. It'll also help you do a wicked downward facing dog, so join a yoga class and relish your new flexibility. Relaxin production peeks at 14 weeks and remains in your system until after baby is born.
• If you're feeling little contractions or pulling and stretching sensations this week, don't panic. It's just your ligaments stretching and your organs moving to accommodate your growing baby. (Don't worry, your organs will all plop back into place shortly after Junior is born.)

Your Life

• Thinking about life insurance may make your head spin off, but since you'll soon have someone else to protect, you need to make sure they're taken care of. Now's the time to do your research and start considering what kind of coverage is appropriate. A reputable agent can help you make sense of those cryptic insurance terms. Ask family members, colleagues or friends who their trusted agent is, to help get you started.
• And without getting too Debbie Downer, you should consider updating (or creating) a will. Consider who you might choose as your child's designated guardians. This is a tough decision and you'll need some time to make the right choice. OK, we'll switch the subject now and talk about something a little more fun.
• Now that you're feeling so much better, get out of the house and get active. Make the most of your energy (and size) now ... go snowshoeing in the winter or hiking in the summer. Go swimming, go sailing, have picnics, take walks, lie on the beach or go dancing under the stars. Whatever it is, just get out and move around.

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So yeah---they send a lot of information each week!  But it's really cool (at least to me...duh.)

Here is the 14 week belly pic:

 

As most anyone who reads our blog knows, we had our first appointment with Durham Women's Clinic on April 6th.  It went great!  I'm so excited to be going there.  Our next appointment is on May 3rd and it will be a regular check up.  We also scheduled our 20 week ultrasound with them for May 17th.  They told us that is the appointment when they can tell us the sex of Baby Jennings.

But of course, we don't want to wait that long!  We scheduled a "fun" ultrasound with prenatal peek in Durham at around the 18 week mark (May 4th) and they will do a 3D ultrasound and tell us the sex of the baby (if the baby cooperates...fingers crossed!).  We can't wait!  

Jackie picked up a doppler (baby heart rate monitor) from Jill at the horse farm for us to borrow.  It is AWESOME!  It's so cool to find the baby's heart beat and listen to it thumping away!  It's also comforting knowing everything sounds ok.

Our weekend in Charlotte (or the suburbs of Charlotte) was wonderful too!  It was soooo nice to catch up with Shelley and Tyler and Chicky and Jason.  We had a fun, but relaxing weekend.  Shelley and Tyler were great hosts (with good food)!  We went bowling that Saturday night and a great time!  We hope to see them again soon!  :)  Here are a few pictures I stole from Shelley (like a boss!  haha):

This Friday is the lingerie shower for Katy----it should be fun!!  Their wedding is coming up fast, and I can't wait!!  More good times with great friends!  :)

Amanda and Jake are also planning on coming to visit this weekend.  Tax season is over on Friday, so Jake can finally have some Saturdays off....plus it's turkey season and the boys want to go call some birds up.  Which means Amanda and I may just stick to doing baby stuff this weekend.

I hope my next post will have before & after shots of the guest bathroom.....it's SO close to being done.  Jeff spent a lot of time on it, and I think it looks great!  Sorry this post was pretty long, but we've been busy!  :)