22 Weeks

At 22 weeks I'm feeling really good. Baby boy moves a lot, and Steve and I really enjoy the time right after dinner when he's the most active. My belly has grown a lot recently, and I'm just now starting to get random lovey smiles from strangers and requests to rub my belly.

Here's what is new with growing Baby Tootle this week:

Week 22 At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

19 Weeks

Look, I climbed a mountain when I was almost five months pregnant! Okay, it's technically a hill, but it's really steep. It felt great to be exercising in the fresh, spring air.

Here's an update on what's going on with little Tootle baby right now:

19 Weeks
Your baby's sensory development is exploding! His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that he may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to him, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom --about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

19 Weeks: Ultrasound Shots

Today we had our ultrasound, and as Steve posted below, we're having a boy! It was fun to watch our little one squirming around in there. We could see him opening and closing his mouth, which was especially cute. Here are the goods:

Boy

Just got back from the Doctor's office. We are going to have a boy. Everything else was good and healthy, too.

Baby Moves

I felt the baby move today for the first time!

16 Weeks

This week, Baby Tootle got a visit from his or her grand-
parents, my mom and dad. I'm so thankful they were able to make the long journey from Ohio for a "just for fun" visit. We had a good time just hanging out and I was again reminded how lucky Steve and I both are to have such great, fun, supportive parents. Thanks for coming, Grandma and Grandpa Lutterbein! The picture at right is me and my belly before a hot Valentine's Day double date with Steve and my parents. Below, my dad and I are comparing bellies. He's still got me beat!


In other family news, Baby Tootle's new second-cousin was born today. My sweet cousin Marla brought Oliver Craig safely into the world today. Congratulations to Marla and Brian!

Speaking of giving birth, at 16 weeks, the reality that I'll actually be doing that has been setting in. Until recently, I'd focused on sections of my pregnancy books about the development of the fetus, what foods I should be eating, etc. but had avoided the parts about birth. Now that I'm four months into this, it seemed time to start tackling those chapters.

Also, I now understand the big deal about pregnancy cravings. I've had an unstoppable craving for strawberry milkshakes lately. One day last week it was so severe that I HAD to leave work and get one in order to make it through the afternoon.

Besides forcing me to down milkshakes like there's no tomorrow, here is what baby has been working on over the past week:

Week 16
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

14 weeks

On Tuesday we had our second prenatal appointment. All is healthy and properly growing. It was a treat to listen to the baby's heartbeat again, though the conversation I was having with the midwife about constipation took away from the special moment just a bit!

At our next appointment in early March, we'll have another ultrasound with the possibility of finding out the baby's gender.

Here's some exciting news about the baby's development this week:

Week 14
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.