Week 12

Just one more week until the second trimester!! Yay! I had my second doctors appointment yesterday and everything is great! The nurse used the doppler to find the baby's heart beat. She said that 12 weeks is still pretty early to hear the heart beat and so if she couldn't find it not to worry and we'd go take a peek at the baby. Honestly, I was hoping she wouldn't find it so that we could see our peanut again but no such luck. She played around with the doppler for a minute or two and heard it really faintly twice and then all of a sudden... there it was! Loud and strong! 156 beats per minute. It was so fun. I honestly thought that I would be more excited when I heard the heart beat, and I was very happy, but maybe it's just that I am so sure about this pregnancy that it feels like a normal thing. It's like, okay, that's what it's supposed to sound like and that came from my belly, what's next? Maybe when we have our ultrasound in October and when I can feel the baby move it'll make me feel differently. Who knows?

I also lost four pounds. Woo hoo! Doc said it was perfectly normal for this stage in the pregnancy. I always thought that I would be one of those girls that gets pregnant and instantly starts gaining weight everywhere. I haven't been exercising and I haven't been watching what I eat too closely. I figure that at this point I'll eat whatever I can keep down. lol! I did get a prenatal yoga DVD but I have yet to try it. Maybe tonight.... maybe.

I have been on two antidepressants for the past couple of years and the past couple of weeks they have been making me sick when I take them. So what have I done? Not taken them. I know, I know, not the smartest but I have had no side effects of not taking them (like I normally do if I forget them) and I've been a little bit more emotional, but I'm also pregnant. So after the nurse got mad at me for not taking them I talked to the doctor about it and he said that if I feel fine and they make me sick then not to take them. He said we don't want a sad mom so if I do start feeling depressed and my meds are still making me sick then we'll try a different kind. So Andrew is on crazy lady alert and he's gonna help me monitor my moods and depression. Poor guy gets the brunt of my bad moods so he'll know if something is wrong probably before I even realize it. :)

But, the best part of the appointment is when the doc told me that I CAN EAT COOKED SUSHI!!! Yay! I am so excited! Mom took me out to lunch today and we had sushi and it was sooooo yummy! The best ever! Thanks mom!!

Okay, so since I was a slacker last week here is what was going on with the baby then:

Week 12 of Pregnancy

While it may seem as if you've doubled in size over the past few weeks, it's your baby who actually has!

Your Baby in Week 12 of Pregnancy
By now, your baby weighs a full half-ounce and is about the size of a large plum. Most of his systems are in place, though there's still plenty of maturing to do. For one thing, his fetal digestive system is beginning to practice contraction movements necessary for eating, and his bone marrow is busy making white blood cells — weapons against germs once he's out of your safe haven. The pituitary gland (at the base of the brain) has started producing the hormones that'll enable him (or her) to make babies of his (or her) own in a couple of decades or so.

Week 12 of Pregnancy: Fetal Organs and Systems

Most of your baby's systems are fully formed, and if you haven't already, it's likely that you'll finally hear your baby's heartbeat at this month's checkup! Your developing fetus now has a crown-to-rump length of about two and a half inches (the size of a large plum).

This week marks a turning point for your baby. At 12 weeks pregnant, the herculean task of developing new bodily structures is nearing an end as most of your baby's systems are fully formed. Now comes the maintenance phase, during which your fetus' systems continue to mature for the next 28 weeks and the organs get to work.
 
Your little fetus weighs as much as half an ounce now, and the crown-to-rump length is about two and a half inches (the size of a large plum — busily working his or her way through the whole produce department). It's hard to believe (especially from the outside, since you're probably barely showing at this point), but your baby has more than doubled in size during the past three weeks.  And that's just on the outside — there's plenty going on inside too. The fetal digestive system is beginning to flex its digestive muscle — literally — as it starts practicing contraction movements, a skill your baby will need after birth to push food through the digestive tract. The pituitary gland at the base of the brain has started producing hormones. And the bone marrow is making white blood cells, which will one day help your baby fight infection (including all those germs passed around the snot-nosed playgroup).  

If you haven't already had the pleasure, it's likely that at this month's checkup you'll finally hear your baby's fetal heartbeat — a sound that will make your heart race with joy!

And here is this weeks development:


Your Baby in Week 13 of Pregnancy
What's up with your baby? Well, besides being as large as a peach now, that big old noggin of hers is now about half the size of her crown-to-rump length (that’s one reason why your little peach looks more like an alien from outer space at this point). By the time you give birth, her body will catch up, measuring three-quarters of her total size. What else is going on in there? Tiny bones are beginning to form in her arms and legs, the intestines are beginning to move from the umbilical cord to the abdomen, and the vocal cords are well under construction (the first step toward saying, "I love you, Mommy!"). And because she can move her arms and legs in a jerky fashion, she may be able to get her thumb into her mouth (a habit that may come in handy for self-soothing when she’s a newborn).

Week 13 of Pregnancy: Fetal Growth Rates

Your fetus is now about three inches long, the size of a peach — and half of that length is head. By the time your baby is ready to make his or her entrance into the world, the head will be only one-fourth as large as the body.

Your fetus is about three inches long and the size of a peach at 13 weeks pregnant. But don't compare your fetus with the fetus next door. Starting about now, babies begin growing at different paces, some faster than others, some more slowly, though they all follow the same developmental path. Growing at a universally breakneck speed now is your baby's body as it tries to catch up to the head in terms of size. Though your baby's head is about half the size of its body now, by the time your baby is ready to make his or her entrance into the world, the head will be only one-fourth as large as the body.
 
Your baby's intestines are also in for some big changes right now. Up till this point, they've been growing in a cavity inside the umbilical cord; but now they're moving to their permanent (and more conveniently located) address, in your baby's abdomen.  And to serve your growing baby's needs, the placenta is also growing.  It weighs about an ounce now and will weigh one to two pounds at birth (something else you'll soon be able to blame your weight gain on!).

Also developing this week: your baby's vocal chords. Because sound can't travel through your uterus (your baby's current habitat), you won't be able to hear any sounds or cries just yet, but oh boy (or girl) — those vocal chords will get a good workout once that baby is born.