18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks (August 18, 2011)

Size of baby: 

Photo Credit: The Bump

Interesting Facts: Week 17- Your baby is now about the size of a turnip {or onion, according to The Bump}! She is roughly 5 inches long and weighs 5 ounces now. That's even more than the placenta weighs. Though no new structures have formed this week, she has developed fat deposits under her skin that will account for about 2-6% of her total body weight at her time of birth, just 23 weeks from now! Her skeleton, which up until this point has been made up of flexible cartilage, is now hardening into bone. Another exciting event…her sense of hearing begins to develop this week!
   Week 18- Your baby is now roughly the size of a bell pepper {or sweet potato, according to The Bump}. She is about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 7 ounces now! If you are having a boy, his genitals are now noticeable, if he isn’t curled up and hiding them during the ultrasound. If you are having a girl, her uterus is fully formed and in place, along with her fallopian tubes.
     Your baby’s skeleton, which up until this point has been made up of flexible cartilage, is now hardening into bone. Myelin, a protective covering around her nerves, has begun to form. Myelin plays an important role in the communication between neurons and it will continue to develop through her first year of life. At 18 weeks, your baby’s skin is still thin and transparent, so to help protect her, something called the vernix caseosa develops. This is a greasy, cheese-like substance that not only insulates her developing epidermis and dermis from the amniotic fluid; it also makes her nice and slippery for an easier delivery!
     Credit: Planning Family

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'd estimate that I gained a pound in the past 2 weeks, so 9 total. I'm interested to see what the doctor's office scale says next week! 

Maternity Clothes: More and more, yes. A few more pre-pg shirts have been pushed to the back of my closet, not to be seen again until next summer (or longer).

Gender: Next Friday is the big day!

Movement: I'm pretty sure I've been feeling Baby Dub!!! SO exciting!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach!!! I'm laying with a pillow between my knees but I keep trying to turn over. I've always been a stomach-sleeper so it's a challenge.

Sleep: Once I fall asleep, I'm good, but I flip back & forth on my sides trying to get comfortable and then fidget with the pillow. One night, I kept pushing the pillow all the way down to my feet {where is does no good}. In the morning, Perry told me he kept reaching down and pulling it back up! Awww.

Symptoms: Overactive gag reflex: every time I brush my teeth and sometimes when I eat!; Gas & belching more than I always have; Feeling a little bloated again.

Cravings: Nothing in particular... but seeing that sweet potato up there makes me really want one. With butter starting to melt and drip down the side and brown sugar & cinnamon sprinkled on top. Mmm!

Best moment of the week: Catching up over dinner with Sayra and her Mom; Getting blessed out of the blue with no bill from a-big-name-tire-and-automotive-repair-garage after finding a nail in my tire!;

What we are looking forward to: Perry's birthday next week, then our 19 week appointment the next day! {The day before Perry's birthday we have something going on that's not fun at all. It's causing me some anxiety; although I can't elaborate, please pray for us on Wednesday.}

17 & 18 week belly pictures:

(No picture for Week 18 yet. We would have taken it Thursday but I slept all day in preparation for work Thurs, Fri & Sat nights!)