Moving along...weeks 16 & 17

I missed a week again...but this time I kind of have a good reason.  I have been sick.  Boo, right?  The stomach bug has been floating around my family and unfortunately I got it!  The worst part wasn't even the 48 hours of the stomach bug, it was the aftermath that was caused by the ever constant pregnancy heartburn.  Apparently after eating basically only crackers and Gatorade for 2 days during pregnancy, the amount of acid in the stomach will greatly build up.  As a result, this causes the WORST HEARTBURN EVER!  I have never really had trouble with heartburn until this pregnancy and I am not kidding that last night I truly thought I have having chest pain.  The heartburn was SO bad!  I called my OB so she could convince me I was overreacting.  Luckily I was and it was indeed just terrible heartburn.  Shawn went to the store and got me the medicine she recommended and I ate what she told me to and after a couple more hours I started to feel some relief.  Today I feel almost normal again.  Still having the stupid heartburn, but now with medicine and eating more than a few bites of bread products here and there, I feel better.

 

So, weeks 16 and 17.  What is going on with baby now??

 

In the last week the baby has been changing so much!  The baby has grown from the size of an avocado (approximately 4-1/2 inches and 3-1/2 ounces) to the size of an onion (approximately 5 inches and 5 ounces)!  Pretend the avocado in the picture is smaller than the onion.  The baby will continue this fast growth from now on.  The baby has started ground toenails and even has fingerprints now.  The baby's heart has started pumping about 25 quarts of blod each day.  Amazing, right?  The skeleton is changing too...becoming less cartilaginous and more boney.  The bones of the inner ear are starting to form too, so the baby should be able to hear me now (but probably not anyone else yet, just my private concerts!)  There are even sweat glands (hopefully not like mine though!).

 

It could be anytime that I will be able to start feeling the baby move, but I haven't yet.  Or at least I don't know that I have.  They say that during your first pregnancy you don't always recognize the first movements for what they are.   I guess they could even feel like little gas bubbles.  I have no idea what to expect but I can't wait for it to happen.  We still have to wait a few more weeks to find out the sex, but we have had a few predictions.  Most people are predicting a boy, but we'll see :)