A New Wardrobe

Well, I pulled the maternity clothes out of hiding this week. It made for a massive laundry day! Some of my pants are feeling a bit tight already. I'm sure I can still get a few weeks of wear out of my regular pants, but I want to be prepared for when I need the stretchy pants! I can't tell if my uterus is growing if I'm just bloated. Isn't that charming? My favorite clothes these days are jeans with an oversized sweatshirt.
People have been asking me a lot if I think it's a boy or a girl. I can't say if I've had any "gut feelings" either way. Whenever I picture this baby, it's a boy with Joel's big brown eyes and sweet demeanor, with dark hair, and pudgy cheeks with rolly legs. I can't tell if that's my gut feeling or wishful thinking. Joel told me today that he had a dream that we went in for our first ultrasound and it was twins. I did not think that was funny.

How the baby is growing this week....Your baby still appears to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of his tailbone), which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — he has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In his oversized head, both hemispheres of his brain are developing. His teeth and the inside of his mouth are forming, and his ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover his tiny peepers, which already have some color, and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. His skin is paper-thin and his veins are clearly visible.Your little one also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. His liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his tiny body. You can't feel his gyrations yet, but your baby is like a little jumping bean, moving in fits and starts around his watery home.