18 & 19 Weeks

Life the past week has been unbearably busy. We had our biggest fundraising event of the year on Saturday night and my job for the past week (and probably for the next week) has revolved around the event-- I worked over 15 1/2 hours on Saturday and I still haven't fully recovered. My feet and back were so sore yesterday that my gait was between a waddle and a limp! Ouch! My parents were in town over the weekend closing on their house here, too. Can't wait for them to move!

So, this week, the 18 week & 19 week update come together! Sorry that there are no belly pics for week 18, but I'll try to get some up for week 19. Rob has been in Massachusetts since last week so I'll have him take some when he gets home. More to come this week, including the ultrasound video and the big name reveal...Ooooohhh!

18 Weeks

Last week, baby was the size of a big deli pickle:
And looked like this:
Baking Baby Blakely

"Your baby's ears are now facing forward and are completely formed so she can actually hear you talking now. You don't need to abandon your potty mouth just yet, but you might want to start thinking about it!

Other highlights this week:

This week is also the beginning of ossification. And while that sounds like some long and involved paperwork you'll have to fill out, it's really a fancy medical term for the hardening of your baby's miniature bones. And that's a good thing.

Your baby's nerves are making more and more complex connections. Her sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing. A substance called myelin, which makes nerve connections travel faster, is now coating your baby's nerves.

Your baby now weighs between 5 and 7 ounces (Baby Blakely was actually 8 oz. at the ultrasound!) and is about 5½ inches long—about the size of a pickle from the corner deli. (You're familiar with pickles, right? Your regular accompaniment to a big bowl of ice cream?)"

19 Weeks

This week, baby is the size of a 6" sub (God, I'd kill for a Publix turkey sub!):And looks like this:

Baking Baby Blakely

"This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named "brown fat" he'll need to keep warm when he gets evicted from his comfortable uterine home.

Other highlights this week:

Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby's skin, appears all over your baby's body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid. Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin' on. ... Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby's body. Don't worry, your Mini won't look like Cousin It when he's born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance.

Good news: Your baby's kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. But so far you're safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid.

He or she now weighs about 8 ½ ounces and measures 6 inches, as long as a turkey sub from Subway on warm, delicious Italian Herbs and Cheese bread (or Honey Oat bread, or Oregano bread or ...)"

Feels impossible that next week we'll be halfway through this pregnancy-- I'm incredibly thankful that things have gone well so far with no complications. And now that I'm through this event at work, I have a vacation to look forward to-- my pregnant SIL and I are going to the beach for a few days in May and I can't wait. We leave one month from yesterday and the time cannot pass fast enough!

More to come this week-- sorry for being MIA last week!