Pregnancy update: 14 weeks

The weeks are flying by!

Every day I can feel the bond with my baby increasing in strength. During my first trimester there were times when it was easy to forget for a moment (or a couple hours) that I was pregnant. However, now it has become more of a full-time job. When I look in the mirror, the woman looking back me is definitely pregnant. My pre-pregnancy clothes are too tight or short to wear comfortably and I am beginning to fit into more of my maternity clothes. Can you believe this is really happening! I am having a baby! 🙂

What Baby Peters is up to this week

This week’s big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he’ll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you’re having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby’s stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body’s growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that’s in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He’s starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby’s liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it’s doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can’t feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist’s hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active. (Source)

Energy level and mood

I feel more energized each day. My uterus is still a bit tilted to the right and causes me some discomfort if I sit up quickly or hastily change positions, this is most likely due to round ligament pain that is common during the second trimester.

Exercise

The sun has been shinning and we have spent a lot of time outdoors. There were a few rainy days that kept us indoors, but now the grass is green and the flowers are growing. Spring has arrived!

Aside from the few walks that Matthew and I have taken, I attended an hour long Zumba class on Tuesday. I felt very sore the day after class. I am not sure if this was because I am getting the hang of the routine and am able to complete the moves with more intensity or if it’s due to my changing body. Either way, it was a great workout.

All things food

I have small bouts of nausea if I allow myself to get too hungry or if I eat too much. I have found that I need to eat smaller meals, as I get full a lot easier than I used to. This means that I am eating all.day.long. I need to have food on hand at all times, just in case hunger strikes. I have felt very thirsty this week and have been diligently drinking water to keep myself hydrated.

This week has been all about baked goods. Breakfast bakes are back with a vengeance – look for a new mango buckwheat bake recipe soon. My favorite rhubarb breakfast bake made an appearance using frozen rhubarb from last year. It tasted like spring in a bowl! I am not in the mood for anything overly sweet, just oven baked deliciousness.

I have also been loving salads piled high with romaine, cucumbers, red peppers, berries, balsamic dressing and cheese. We honestly cannot keep enough of these veggies in the house to satisfy me. It really must be spring!

Nesting

This was a week of intense nesting action… hence the lack of structured workouts. You may have seen my Twitter posts over the weekend of our kitchen in shambles because we had a few of our new appliances delivered! There are still more to come this weekend. I will post photos next week when they are all in place. We are still contemplating our countertop options and should reach a decision by the end of next week. Then it’s on to getting our stucco repaired and hardwood floor refinished. To any local readers, contractor recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

We also decided that instead of taking a traditional babymoon this time around that we would (finally) buy some camping gear so that we can spend long weekends this summer camping as a family. Along with everyone else in Minneapolis, we stopped at REI to pick up a bike rack, tent and footprint. I was also able to score amazing online deals on sleeping pads for Allan and I and a sleeping bag for Matthew. We simple need a few more odds and ends and we will be ready to go!

Matthew

My little love has been so silly this week. His desire for independence and to do things on his own grows every day. This has made meal time challenging, as he does not feel control over the choices on his plate. I have been trying to encourage him to make choices (does he want his food cut up or whole, ketchup or mustard, etc.) to try to empower him. Although, this does not always work.

Naptime is back to normal and Matthew easily sleeps 2 1/2 to 3 hours every afternoon. A rested toddler is a much happier toddler! Although, when he awakes from nap he expects daddy to be home and is very disappointed when I tell him that it will be a while before daddy arrives.

Matthew would love so much to be able to use his words to tell me his wants, but they are simply not there yet. He gets frustrated easily when I don’t understand him. I feel terrible that he is having such a hard time telling me what’s going on inside his head; although, I know that this is simply a part of toddler development that will soon pass.

How are you today?