17 weeks (almost)

Can I start by saying thank you thank you thank you for all of you kind words again? They have helped me get out of my funk and have helped in more ways than one! I swear blogging is so much cheaper and more effective than therapy! Since the other day, things have been quiet on the home front which is music to my ears. I'm hoping for many boring days until my anatomy scan and next cervix check in a week. Hopefully we'll find out if little Spot is a boy or a girl then. Any thoughts or feelings?

Spot is almost 17 weeks, holy crap. Every week that goes by still amazes me because one of these weeks I'm going to turn around and we're going to be at the point of a viable baby! Only 7 more weeks until I can get the steroid shots that we are planning - not that I want to think of any delivery that early in the 20 some week range, but it's nice to be receiving all of the "safety nets" like the steroid shots. Tomorrow I'll post a belly shot, view at your own risk - hehe! But here's some of what Spot should be doing and developing this week:

* The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger.
* Fetus weight is just over 5 ounces (150g).
* Baby is about 5 inches (14cm) long crown to rump.
* and would be about 9 inches (23cm) head to toe, if it could stretch out.
* The retina has become sensitive to light.
* The first stools (meconium) are now beginning to accumulate.

They recycle the amniotic fluid by swallowing up to a litre a day. Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. Fat stores begin to develop under your baby's skin this week. The fat will provide energy and help keep your baby warm after birth.

Baby's eyes are looking forward now, but they are still firmly closed. The skeleton is tranforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier. You can feel your uterus just below your bellybutton. If you put your fingers sideways and measure, it is about two finger-widths (1 inch) below your bellybutton. Your uterus is the size of a cantaloupe.

I was amazed that Spot is already almost 9 inches long if you stretched the little one out, at that rate I told my husband that they'll hopefully be ready to dunk by Christmas! The fact that Spot is swallowing up to a litre of fluid a day also blows my mind (I wonder if he or she has already inherited my preference for diet Coke over diet Pepsi?) Also, my uterus is already the size of a cantaloupe - that's huge! My husband bought some cantaloupe at Kro.ger yesterday, hmm - perhaps I'll let him eat that this week. It suddenly doesn't look quite the same to me anymore. Cantaloupe suddenly = uterus, not the yummiest thought :-)

Friday my friend came over and had lunch with me and we devoured the yummiest burgers and fries from this new place that opened near my house. It was fun because you can custom order your burgers and add pretty much any wacky topping, and they have sweet potato fries as an option as well. Did I ever say I have a new found love for a juicy old burger and fries? Tomorrow my friend from college is bringing over Noodles and Co for lunch which I've never tried so that should be great as well. Most days I actually do just eat something from my own kitchen, I swear! But I do need your help because I think I have one more day this week to make a lunch choice from. My friend from nursing school and I are going to catch up over some lunch later in the week and she always makes me pick the place (which is actually very kind of her). Where should I get lunch from this week? Any favorites?

(PS - I hope everyone is having a kick butt weekend. If you are bored, go give Morrisa a hug she hit a little bump in her pregnancy - and everyone loves a hug. Next week is Fourth of July - I still can't believe it!)