18 weeks

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (one book compares him to a bell pepper and the other a sweet potato) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound (don't we know this). His heart has formed completely so that you can see the heart's different structures on the ultrasound. His senses are rapidly maturing too. He has more taste buds than he needs. At long last he's able to use his ears. His inner ear bones and nerve endings from his ears to his brain have developed enough so that your baby might startle if he hears a loud noise. He can also sense sounds like your heartbeat and blood pumping through the umbilical cord. If there were light in your womb, he could detect that too. Baby's visceral organs, such as his heart and liver, are growing fast, he's sitting more erect inside you to make room for them. He now has 200 bones, and they're continuing to harden; at birth he'll have about 300 bones, but some of those will fuse later, which is why the adult skeleton has only 206 bones in all. Baby is as big as the placenta, which is still his main source for nutrients and oxygen. The placenta is also a waste disposal system, rushing baby's waste into your bloodstream, where it will be filtered through your kidneys and liver. Baby E spends his time yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, swallowing and of course sleeping.
Me this week...Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 18 Weeks
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 5lbs, (I haven't weighed since my last appt)
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing them and they are so much more comfy!
Best Moment this week: Feeling Baby E more often...he's a busy baby!
Gender: It's A Boy - We THINK!!! haha
Movement: I've been feeling him for just over two weeks now. It's amazing! He gets more and more active everyday.
Food Craving: Still on the cereal kick not really "craving" anything in particular although I was just catching up on some of my blog friends and one person was talking about strawberry short cake and now I'm thinking it sounds really yummy.
What I miss: Sushi!!!! yum-o
Sleep: I sleep like a rock these days with the occasional trip to the bathroom.
What I am looking forward to: Another ultrasound in one week to confirm that baby E is a boy and BJ being able to feel Baby E.
Belly Button: In
Symptoms: The emotions have calmed down so far for this week :) I have been experiencing round ligament pain when I make a sudden movement or sneeze. Yowzer it just feels like you pulled something for a second or two and then I'm okay. OH and still experiencing acne like no other!