19 Weeks

Baby Girl

     "Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid."

Me:

 I felt the first for sure kick this weekend! I had just come home from work and Jake was on the phone with his parents. This also happened to be Jake's 32nd Birthday! I decided to sit/lay in the recliner while Jake was on the phone and while he was sitting next to me talking loudly to his parents I felt a little kick. My response was, "woah!" Jake thought something hurt at first, but I explained it was the baby and he was pretty excited! After that, we went out for Indian food and came home. I hoped it would happen again so strong and obvious like that. But, it hasn't yet.  Jake even tried yesterday being really loud to get her to move. hahaha.  He was banging on the piano, making Riley bark loudly next to my tummy, and tapping on my belling saying, "BABY!?" Nothing else so far though.
   The long 20 week ultrasound is coming up this week and I'm both excited and nervous about it. They go through all of baby's body systems to make sure everything is growing and progressing how it should. We plan on getting a dvd of the whole thing so we, ok I, can watch it again when I'm feeling worried or nervous. Somehow, that grainy little image of her relaxes me and makes me feel less crazy.