Sixty-two

14 weeks 0 days

I'm now officially in the second trimester. Only ten more weeks until the viability mark. Since this week means ten weeks since we found out about this baby, I'm hoping the next ten go by as fast and uneventfully as the last ten. 

  

I decided I'm going to do something to celebrate this milestone. I'm going to start a registry on Amazon. I doubt we'll actually use this one for people to buy off of (that's what Target is for), but it would be nice to start organizing what we need. We didn't register for the twins until a few hours before we were in the hospital, so I'm taking a major leap by doing this now. (Target and Babies 'r Us will wait until we definitely know the sex.)

 

I was thinking about how different this pregnancy is than my last. I still have these pesky symptoms sticking around. My nausea is now limited to after midnight, but this bad taste in my mouth will not go away. I'm also having issues with my blood sugar on almost a daily basis if I don't eat every two hours. This was something I only struggled with during the first trimester with the twins. Oh, and I find myself getting heartburn quite a bit. I never had this last time, so it's interesting. 

I felt the first movements a couple of days ago (and have felt a few more since). I'm looking forward to when they are regular. Because Madelyn's placenta was in the front, a lot of the twins' movements were cushioned. I could only feel them if they were below or to the side of her placenta. This baby's placenta is in the back, so I should be able to feel a lot of movement. It'll be good to have the reassurance. I'm just hoping this baby doesn't stay as lazy as he or she has been because I will go bonkers if I have one of those babies who doesn't move very much. You best believe I'd be in the hospital for non-stress tests every day.

I have another ultrasound on Tuesday to get the baseline measurement for my cervix. The doctor then said that we'd do every other week (even though she said every week during my consult), but that's not going to fly. She is going to see me every week if she likes it or not. Hubby thinks we're definitely going to find out this is a boy at this appointment. He doesn't understand that it's still very early and things can change. I'll feel more confident at the ultrasound in two weeks.

 Anyway, here's the weekly bean update:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.