15 Weeks!

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

Well, nesting is kicking in! It usually kicks in for me during second trimester. One may ask what a woman does as far as nesting when she doesn't have a baby to prepare for? Declutter the house, prep for post-birth, etc. When you have kids, there's always something to declutter or clean, so I'm good there! I'm not at the prepping for post-birth, yet. For me, prepping for that time is about making some meals in advance (less for hubby to worry about), deep cleaning things that I won't be able to do for a month following the birth, getting my pumping supplies ready and so on. I do anything around the house that will make it easier on me during postpartum. I think some are surprised that I'd bother doing these things, when I don't have a baby to care for, but there's still recovery time for me. And then when you're exclusively pumping (which means every two hours at first!), you need time to just do that and rest, not having to worry about a lot of other things. I'd rather focus on pumping and my kids and husband, not worrying about laundry or what have you. (Thankfully my husband is like many good husbands in that no chore is "my" chore, he does them just as decently as I do, if not better!)

My energy is coming back a lot more, hence the nesting. I'm feeling baby a bit more than the week before. I still need to be pretty still, but I feel the bumping around. My fundal height is just a bit higher, right at or slightly above (maybe by 1/4") my navel now.

I had an appointment last Friday with the OB. She did a quick ultrasound and my placenta is low, but there's no reason to worry really. Baby looks good, solid heartbeat and all. She began to scan between the legs, and while it was still very early, it's possible to see the gender at this point. So, I looked away, even though I am anxious to know! I'd rather find out in a few weeks when the daddies are in town for our "big" ultrasound. Speaking of that, it'll be mid-February hopefully. I'm waiting on the imaging department at the hospital to make that appointment, though (they won't schedule it yet as it's too early to do that in their system). I am excited to see baby then, I'll admit. I think more so I am excited for my IFs to see the baby. It seems to make the pregnancy that much more real, especially for the intended parents of the baby, when it's a surrogate carrying your child.

So, not much to update overall. I'm just taking it easy in between cleaning and decluttering, drinking massive amounts of water (cannot get enough!), and feeling pretty good right now!