13 week update

Can't believe 13 weeks are here already! It has both flown by as well as dragged slower than imaginable if that makes any sense at all. Some things about Spot for the week include:

* The fetus has grown to about 3 inches (8cm) long.
* Weight approximately 1 ounce (25 grams).
* Bone is beginning to replace cartilage and the ribs are appearing.
* The nose and chin are well defined.
* Movements can be measured.
* The child will begin to learn to suck its thumb.
* The child can open and close its mouth.
* The external genitalia are well defined making it is possible to determine the baby's gender.

Your baby is now producing insulin the hormone that controls their blood glucose. The fetus is now 3 inches long and weighs about an ounce. The baby's unique fingerprints are already in place. The muscles lengthen and become organized. You can't feel it yet, but your baby can move in a jerky fashion, flexing the arms and kicking the legs.

Your uterus has grown quite a bit. You can probably feel its upper edge above the pubic bone in the lowest part of your abdomen, about 4 inches (10cm) below your bellybutton. At 13 weeks, your uterus fills your pelvis and starts growing upward into your abdomen. It feels like a soft, smooth ball. Soon you will start feeling the first flutters of the unborn child kicking and moving within.

Well, all I have to say about that is I think we should have this little one finger printed already, you know just in case they continue to be mischevious! Just kidding! Spot already seems to like to make their presence known that they are not going to be a quiet boring child, hence all the problems we've had. I like to think of the fact that Spot maybe already likes to challenge authority and has a very independant streak. Even though a cervix shouldn't shorten yet, Spot has said, "What the heck, lets rock the boat a bit and see what happens." But the good thing is that these are all traits of a strong person who will go far, so as much as I joke...I guess I'm already a proud mom of our little Spot!

Well, since I am already bored out of my mind being off of work, I decided to make some food to freeze for when I'm on couch arrest for the time remaining (after our cerclage Wednesday). I decided that I could sit and make some turkey meatballs that could be used in a variety of recipes, and freeze them. Plus I could sit down to make them for the majority of the time. So what started out as a small recipe turned into like 150 meatballs! I guess we'll have a lot of frozen food and stuff to make dishes with. My favorite little kid movie of all time is Lady and the Tramp, so I guess my husband and I can have a lot of romantic dinners sharing a plate of spaghetti and meatballs just like the two dogs :-) Since I've been on pelvic rest my whole pregnancy so far, and will continue to be due to the cerclage I guess that's as far as the romance department will go for some time, ha!

I told my 90 year old Polish grandma that I made so many turkey meatballs and she said why didn't you make pierogis? Well, that's my grandma for you...always having the Polish food on the mind :-)

Just a day and a half til my surgery. I've tried as much as possible to put it out of my mind. I find that if I start to think about it, my mind just races and I worry. So I think I'm trying to repress those thoughts, at least until Wednesday morning. No matter what though, it seems to be consuming every thing I do. Now that I am off of work for good, I could actually sleep in as late as I want. But since I found out my cervix was shortening quicker than I can shake a stick at, I've woken up early every morning. My husband asks why I'm awake before he is for work. But he doesn't really need to ask, because he already knows my answer. I can't really sleep, I am not hungry, I just want this Wednesday to be over. I want to know that my water isn't going to break when they do my procedure, and I want to know that I'm not going to miscarry afterwards. I just want this day to come and pass and move forward. I'm ready for that.