Week 15"At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help the air sacs in his lungs develop. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you were to shine a flashlight at your tummy, he'd be likely to move away from the beam.
If you're scheduled for an ultrasound in the coming weeks (most women have one between 16 and 20 weeks), you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! Don't be disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down the gender depends on how clear the picture is and the position of your baby during the ultrasound; he may be curled or turned in such a way as to keep you in suspense.
Your baby's taste buds are beginning to form now, too, and a study at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia suggests he may be able to taste what you've been eating. Researchers found that flavors from the food pregnant women ate ended up in their amniotic fluid. They also found that eating healthy foods during pregnancy may help your baby develop a preference for those foods that could last a lifetime."
-- from www.babycenter.com
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Darryl came with me to my appointment on Dec. 14th and so he got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! :-) He recorded it onto a small, hand-held taperecorder and took it to work with him, to play for the people there (and again for himself, I suspect). I know Darryl was very happy and proud to hear the baby's heartbeat! We timed the beats, and the heart is beating at around 120 bpm, which falls within the normal range of 120-140 bpm. We hope to transfer the heartbeat recording onto the computer soon, and put a little sound clip into this journal.
We have our first ultrasound scheduled for Jan. 4th in the morning, and Darryl will come with me to that. I was hoping that we would be able to get an ultrasound date during the week my parents are here, but the ultrasound techs are off that week. In any case, we are very excited to have visual evidence of the baby! We will bring along a blank VHS tape so that the whole ultrasound can be recorded, and then shared with family & friends. On Jan. 4th, I'll be somewhere between weeks 17 and 18, and it may be possible to tell the gender of the baby! We will ask the technician not to tell us, unless it appears obvious to us from looking at the ultrasound, in which case we will ask them to confirm our guess (I don't want to have convinced myself utterly that it is a boy, for example, only to find out upon delivery that my ability to interpret ultrasounds is lacking!). It will be exciting to wait for the surprise of the baby's gender at delivery! Right now, though, Darryl and I are both sort of convinced somehow that it is a boy. There is no particularly good reason for this and believing does not make it so.
It's quite exciting to think that our baby's taste buds are developing and that (s)he may be able to taste some of the flavours of foods I eat. Since I can't really eat lots of strong-tasting spices at the moment (like garlic or cinnamon), Baby will only get to experience relative blandness. I hope this does not make him/her a picky eater who will not want to try new spicy dishes in the future! Another exciting thing is that I'm approaching 16 weeks, the time around which I may start to feel the first movements of the baby. I'm looking forward to looking at least a little more pregnant than I do now (at present, it just looks like my spare tire has had some padding added to it). If I lie down, though, I can feel that my lower tummy is getting bigger (somehow it seems noticeably bigger this morning than it did last week).
So far I've gained about 5-8 lbs., which I think it pretty reasonable. I am hoping to gain no more than about 25-30 lbs. during the whole pregnancy. I am also hoping that, with the end of my class, and with days soon becoming longer once again, that I will be more inclined to exercise (at least take walks or ride bike). It was hard to think about being very healthy during the first trimester, since I felt lethargic and my schedule overextended me, but into this second trimester I find that I have a lot of energy (definitely needed for all the Christmas preparations!) and a real desire to increase overall health.
For the Pendergrass Christmas, we got some baby items from Mamie & Gramps: a little squoosh ball, a Pooh rattle (Pooh as in Winnie-The-), a very darling receiving blanket, a little sleeper suit, and a teddy bear. Although we have bought no large furniture items, Darryl & I have begun a little book collection (which will be a lot more appreciated by Baby in about 2-3 years!). So many wonderful children's books out there! This past weekend, we also visited Mike & Carey and got a first-hand look at their Graco Pack & Play (see example [[here]]). It folds up very compactly, and it met our expectations from browsing the website and catalog. There are several models and fabric patterns to choose from and we have a few picked out from the Graco catalog we received in the mail. We also have some potential strollers (with car seats) picked out. I'm looking forward to when the baby's room is painted (light yellow) and we can start setting up the nursery, etc. :-D
