18 Weeks Today ~

Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and they weigh almost 7 ounces. They are busy flexing their arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Their blood vessels are visible through their thin skin and their ears are now in position and stand out from their head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around their nerves, a process that will continue for a year after they are born. This is a big week for their baby skin. There are now two distinct layers—the epidermis (or the surface skin) and dermis. Currently, their skin is covered with a greasy, waxy, cheese-like substance, known as vernix caseosa. Sure, it sounds pretty nasty, but this mixture of fatty secretions covering your little swimmer from head to toe is the best way to protect their oh-so-thin skin from bruising and abrasions as well as chapping caused by amniotic fluid exposure. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

I'm not sure if I've felt the baby move or not, but it's possible. I have asked a few friends, they weren't really sure either until about 20 weeks or so. Mindy said that it wasn't until her ultrasound and the tech asked her if she felt the baby move that she knew what she was feeling a couple weeks prior was the baby. It was nice to see our friends over the 4Th, the party has really changed over the past few years. It's hard to believe that just 5 years ago no one had kids and now there are 9 of them with 2 more on the way (all under the age of 5). It was a lot of fun though. We got to meet our new "niece" Ashley, born June 4. Jared has been kind of nervous around really little ones, but when I was holding her for a while he asked if I was going to hold her all day. I gave her to him and he did a great job. Then we couldn't get Ashley away from him. We also got to see our friends Ben and Jessie who are due in August, it was neat to be able to see their little one moving around. We can't wait for that to start happening. We have just over two weeks until our next ultrasound, hopefully our little one is going to cooperate and let us know. I haven't had a feeling of boy or girl, I've just had a feeling that he or she is not going to let us know and make us wait until they arrive. I hope they prove me wrong, but if not we will just wait for our big surprise.