6 Months to Go!

Baby has been good this week, keeping quiet and not getting into too much trouble. Last week Baby was either forming a prostate or the ovaries were moving down from the abdomen to the pelvis. The thyroid gland started functioning, so Baby can now make hormones. Also, the palate (roof of the mouth) should now be completely formed. This week Baby is growing eyebrows and hair!!! That is incredible! Eyes and ears are now pretty human-like and in the right spot, though the ears will still move up a little bit higher on the head. Baby's skin is developing, and it is so thin that you can see blood vessels through it! The bones are continuing to grow this week and now they are starting to form the marrow (spongy insides of bones that will eventually take over the job of making blood cells). Baby is working on muscle definition this week; by the end of the week he/she will be able to make a fist!

Mom: As you can just barely tell from the picture (you may have to compare it to one of the earlier ones below), Baby is taking up more room in my abdomen than before. I feel like I'm just getting chubby because it isn't a defined round pregnant belly, but I hear from other pregnant ladies that the "chubby stage" will pass soon. I wore maternity pants for the first time last week, but not because I really needed to. I got sick of the three pairs of pants that still fit me well and wore the maternity pants to alleviate the wardrobe limitation. Don't picture me swimming in giant pants cinched up at the waist. Much to my delight they make some pretty cute (and elastic-y) maternity clothes nowadays. Thanks for the Christmas present CarolAnn! My only other interesting thing to say is that I might have one weird craving/food obsession. People keep asking me if I have weird cravings, and the answer is no except for I have recently been really excited about drinking ice water with lemon in it. Then when the water is gone I eat the lemon slice. Then I get another glass of water and put more lemon in it. This cycle repeats itself until someone notices how much lemon I've eaten and I stop out of respect for my acid-attacked teeth. So who knows, maybe I just like lemon, or maybe this is related to pregnancy.

Dad: Our pet camel should be honored by his presence in the expanding family pictures above. His name is Humphrey and he is 10 months old now. He hasn't grown much yet, and is easy to take care of. Its hard to get into too much trouble with your legs nailed to a board. I hear thats not a good way to deal with a hyperactive child, but we'll see about that. Not much is new and exciting for me right now. No weird cravings, not getting any bigger, ho-hum. I have begun the arduous task of trying to shop for baby stuff though. I find it difficult to wade through the sea of expensive blues and pinks to decide what Baby really needs. So far I've only found one thing. A beefed-up Radio Flyer red wagon with extra large real air tires! Now that is something Dad can get excited about. Oh, and I have been informed by another father-to-be a few months ahead of the game that as the father-to-be I have the awesome responsibility of giving Baby his or her pre-natal name. So Baby's name will be... Little Foot! I know if Laura is reading this she will be excited. Other options high on the list were BigFoot and Tank. Next OB appointment is on Friday and we'll get to hear the heartbeat again which should be good for reminding us that, yes, there really is a baby in there. This little fact is easy to forget sometimes when the belly isn't there as a constant reminder yet. Then Friday the 26th is the ultrasound! Baby's first picture!!! So keep tuned in for Baby's first web profile picture. So Baby is growing hair this week. Glad someone is... this baby's gonna have more hair than baby's daddy in no time.