Our Growing Baby!

I apologize to anyone who finds the next few posts rather boring, but I thought I would share the development of our baby, week by week, with everyone because I find it rather facinating and amazing how we all started and became human beings. So to do this, I need to catch up to where I am currently at in the pregnancy. I have tried to do this as one big post, but the computer would not cooperate with what I wanted it to do (long story). So I am doing each week as a different post so it will look closer to the way I want (just FYI, I am copying and pasting this from a website, so that is why it says "...your baby..."). So here are weeks 4-11!

4 Weeks

This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development. Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of her organs and body parts will develop. The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty.

5 Weeks

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

6 Weeks

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

7 Weeks

Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

8 Weeks

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

9 Weeks

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

10 Weeks

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. Tiny nails are forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

11 Weeks

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

Almost Week 12...

We are almost at Week 12, so I will just continue to post each week as they come. There were a lot of things I wanted to do during my last pregnancy and I didn't do any of them, so I am trying to do better with all of that with this pregnancy. Some of those things were to keep a record on how I am feeling each week, what progress the baby is making, how big my belly is getting, important info from doctor appointments, etc. This is an exciting time in our lives and it seems to be flying by so quickly. February 14 seems so far away when you look at it as 198 days away, or 6 1/2 months away, or 28 weeks away; but we know it will be here before we know it. We're excited!!

200 Days!!

OK, so for all of you that check my blog on a regular basis, or used to and just got sick of checking because I wasn't doing anything with it, I'M SORRY. Although I keep telling myself I have a good excuse, in the back of my mind, I hate that I am such a slacker lately. Just for those of you who don't know, we are expecting our second baby!! (In fact today is our 200 day mark!) So that is one of the many reasons this blog has remained the same for the past "long time." I have to admit that this pregnancy has been glorious compared to the last one, but I still have the constant lump in my throat, churning stomach (otherwise known as nausea) and MAJOR fatigue all the time. Besides working two jobs, this seems to take all my energy and desires to do much of anything. I am just as shocked as some of you at the fact that it has taken me so long to announce this exciting news on my blog. But the truth is, I'm still in shock with the whole idea. This was not a planned pregnancy, and the timing couldn't be crazier. I had finally decided to start working as a CNA again, so I just got a job with a Home Health and Hospice company and was so excited about it. My schedule is Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-8 and Saturday mornings from 9-2. It is just enough to get my break from being home 24/7 but not be away for too long. I had been working for them for not even two weeks when I found out the surprise. I have to say my boss was quite surprised too! Anyways, so I finally make a big decision (that took me forever to finally decide to do) and as soon as I do, I'm pregnant again. Sound familiar to anyone? Last time I got pregnant, I had finally decided to go back to school and get my Medical Assistant; which I was SO excited about. Then I couldn't even finish the first semester due to constant pewking. So that obviously did not work out! This cycle is quite interesting, and I think I'm learning a lesson from it! So back to me being pregnant again, I am currently almost 12 weeks along and I'm due on February 14, 2009 (Valentines Day). Even through all the surprise and shock of it all, we are getting more and more excited everyday. I just have to say that I am grateful more than ever for the 9 month gestation period because I definitely need it! I am planning on posting more things soon, but we'll see what happens! I am way behind and there are a ton of things I want to post from months ago so you'll just have to bear with me for a while, or just not read this blog for a while...you choose!