18 Weeks... Bring on the Blue!!

Wow! I just flipped to the 18th week in my book and realized that I have entered the fifth month of pregnancy!! How awesome is that! Now it is a little confusing because that would mean that out of 9 months I am over halfway there, but in reality I'm not, that's because whoever said pregnancy was 9 months, must have really meant it was closer to 10. Anyway, without arguing the numbers I am 18 weeks today!

Our baby is about 5 1/2 inches long and about 5 ounces in weight. The baby is filling out I am definitely feeling those twists, rolls and kicks that he is perfecting! I actually was even able to feel kicks from outside with my hand on my belly early this week! I think he's going to be a soccer player! It was sooo crazy! Of course, he didn't show off any more when I had Jake there trying to feel it. Another set of skills our baby is mastering is yawning and hiccuping, which I may be able to start feeling soon. Our baby is truly a one-of-a-kind baby now, complete with unique fingerprints on his fingertips and toes. The ears are completely formed and the baby can hear us talking (through a fluid-filled bubble of course).

This weekend we made the news official to our family members that we are expecting a little boy! Well, at least I am, Jake still wants to actually see it for himself on the ultrasound in two weeks and I hope that then he will be convinced, honestly I think he's just giving me a hard time. I actually thought I saw that it was a little boy about 3 weeks ago, but I wasn't completely convinced yet, then the next week I went back to thinking it might be a little girl. The week after that through some connections in OB where I work I had an ultrasound tech (yes, a professional!) do a quick scan and tell me that yes, the cord was right between his legs (making it tricky) but that we were expecting a little boy! It wasn't until this weekend that I felt convinced enough to make it official! I'm just hope Jake doesn't get to say "I told you so" at the ultrasound in two weeks (although it won't be the first or last time)!

The top pic is between the legs, the two white lines are the femurs. The other two pics are head and body shots.


Like I said, I had the excitement of not only feeling the baby fluttering around inside but I actually have felt about 4-5 palpable kicks on the outside. Granted with all the minutes in the day he probably spends a total of one minute (all added up) of doing movements that I can feel. So it takes a lot of diligence to catch these little moments, but anytime I am horizontal you can bet I have my had on my belly just waiting for that kick.

These are the pic's that the ultrasound tech did at 16+6 telling me it was a boy! The arrow points to the boy parts on the third one down!



Sorry it's so tiny but if you click on it they should get bigger!