13 Weeks Today ~

Here is the update on the baby this week:

The baby is only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Fetal growth is amazing from now through about the 24th week of pregnancy. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, their head is now only about a third the size of their body. Their tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. Their kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and they are starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid they have been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed. Their cozy little amniotic sac is also increasing in size and mass, as it continues to fill with more fluid. There is a milky membrane that surrounds your baby. It is pierced by the umbilical cord and is made up of two layers, which are fused together. Your placenta provides most of the nutrients and oxygen that your baby needs. Tissue that will form your baby's bones is being laid down, especially around the head and limbs. The nose and chin are becoming more prominent. Your baby's eyelids meet and fuse together and they will not open again for nearly four months. The eyes started out on the side of your baby's head and they are now moving closer together on the face. The ears come to lie in their normal position on the sides of the head. If examined outside of the womb, you will be able to distinguish male from female at this time. The sockets for all twenty teeth are formed in the gums, and vocal cords are beginning to form.

I am still doing pretty good. I had to be home from work yesterday, but I think it was a result of the baby not liking what we had for dinner the night before. That was the first time we had Genghis Grill since we found out we were pregnant.