Week 8

Baby's development:
"Your baby measures just over 1/2 inch (14 to 20 mm) from crown to rump.
Your baby's head is still larger than the rest of his body, and his facial features continue to develop. He now has a tongue and nostrils--you can even see the tip of his nose--while his jaw is fusing to shape his mouth. The next eight days are crucial for the development of his eyes and inner ears, responsible for balance and hearing.
Most of your baby's internal organs such as his heart, brain, liver, lungs, and kidneys have developed in their basic forms. His intestines are starting to develop in the umbilical cord. His heartbeat has normalized and the pumping capacity has increased. Under his paper-thin skin, you can see a network of blood vessels.
Up to now, your baby's framework has been made up of cartilage. Now bone cells begin to replace this. His leg and arm bones are hardening and lengthening, and his joints start to form. He begins to move around, although you can't feel him yet."
- from: "The Pregnancy Bible" by J. Stone and K. Eddleman
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It seems as though the whole morning sickness deal is starting to get worse, much to my chagrin. Often I will feel sick the entire day and, this morning, for about an hour I felt as though I was going to vomit. Generally the "vague nausea" that I have been describing feels about how you feel if you've been reading too long in a moving vehicle. Sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse. My brain keeps trying to convince me that these are ulcer-related problems, probably because I just cannot grasp that hormones could hijack my body and betray me by making me feel ill all the time! Whatever the case, I am very much looking forward to the 2nd trimester, when I feel better than now but not so uncomfortably large and swollen as I no doubt will in the 3rd.

Our friends, Mike & Carey, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Matthew McRae, on Tuesday October 24th. Congratulations!! Check out our normal blog (see link in box on the right) for a photo.