melted smoosh

bump watch: this bump is not joking around! i notice a big change from last week. baby girl is growing, growing, growing. at least i can still see my toes!  little peanut:  is the size of a banana! she weighs about 11 ounces and is seven inches long. this week, the biggest development is that she is starting to swallow some of the amniotic fluid, so she's getting a taste of whatever tickles my fancy each day.  image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  feeling hiccups for the first time. it's just the cutest thing in the world. can't wait til we hear that sweet sound in November!  symptoms:  definitely feeling a little more pregnant this week, with crazy heartburn and some ankle puffiness in the heat. i've also been getting some stiffness and discomfort in my lower back, and had the brilliant thought that it might be because i haven't been doing any regular exercise for the past few months. i started back up

bump watch: several coworkers have told me in the past week that i finally look pregnant! it's such a conveniently-sized bump right now ... big enough to validate that there is, in fact, a baby inside, but small enough that i'm still able to curl up in my favourite recliner (as i am doing right this second), or bend over, or hold Greta on my lap.  little peanut:  is a mango, tipping the scales at 10 ounces and measuring 6 1/2 inches long. she's able to yawn and hiccup (although i have yet to feel any hiccups!). in less cute news, her digestive tract is starting to produce meconium. and most notable of all, she's made it halfway through the standard 40 week pregnancy! perhaps she'll be a little more punctual than her older sister (who chilled out for 41 weeks and 3 days).  image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment: feeling movements from the outside of my belly. there is absolutely nothing like the stomach flipping

   bump watch:  it's growing by the day! especially at night, i feel like i already look six months pregnant. the joys of a second pregnancy! a few of the patients i see regularly have started to look a little longer at my belly when i walk into the exam room. so far nobody has been brave enough to ask if i'm pregnant, but i can see the wheels turning!  little peanut:  weighs half a pound and is 6 inches long, about the size of a tomato! which is fitting, since at least three of the meals i planned for this week involve marinara sauce. baby's movements are much more coordinated this week, and vernix is starting to develop to provide a protective covering for that sensitive skin.  image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment: we had our anatomy scan yesterday and ... little peanut is a girl!! despite my (clearly faulty) intuition, i am so excited for Greta to have a little sister, and for peanut to have such a great big s

with a cameo from Kaiser     bump watch:  with the exception of a few loose-fitting clothes, i'm in maternity wear and loving every comfy minute of it. i was particularly excited last week to find side-panel shorts instead of the full-panel monstrosities i wore with Greta. and i'm beginning to wonder if my belly button is just lower than average, since the midwife felt my uterus "at the umbilicus" at 14 weeks (the typical benchmark for 20 weeks), and i can feel it now at least 3 finger-breadths above. Little Peanut is growing right on track and that's all that matters!  little peanut:  is five and a half inches long, weighing five ounces. the size of a sweet potato! pretty crazy. this week, baby can yawn and hiccup. and truly amazing: our little one's unique fingerprints are already forming.  image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment: there have been some really great ones this week! Greta has been ver

bump watch: not only is there more of a bump in my lower belly, but now my upper belly is starting to pop out too! and the top half of my belly button is protruding a little, which is bizarre (but i remember the same thing happening with Sweetpea). by the end of the day i'm feelin' huge , which makes me a little nervous for what the next 22 weeks may bring. holding steady over the past few weeks with a 10 lb weight gain total.  little peanut:  is the size of a turnip -- not the cutest vegetable out there, but oh well! estimated weight is five ounces and estimated length is five inches. baby is practicing sucking and swallowing, and can also hear outside noises now. so he or she will be well prepared for the chaos of our house with two cats, one dog, and a toddler ...  image credit from Baby Center best moment:  hitting up the outlets over Memorial Day Weekend for some fantastic sales on summer maternity clothes, as well as gender-neutral clothes for Li