Week 16

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How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Week 15

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How your baby's growing:

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.")

Week 14

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How your baby's growing:

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.

Week 13 Sympathy Pregnancy

Couvade syndrome -- or sympathetic pregnancy is when men have similar symptoms like their wife when the wife IS actually pregnant. A little goofy but I thought I would make a little comic strip about it.

Week 13

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How your baby's growing:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Week 13: Heartbeat

Sharon had another doctor appointment today and

was able to capture our baby's little heartbeat at a steady 120bpm.
Sounds a little funny but the little one is in there
kickin around and hangin out.

First Parental Sacrifice

Mark and I have the semi-ideal life of a young married couple out of college. We have appreciated (and made the most out of) our ability to put our careers first. Finances have not been ideal but manageable as we try to lay the groundwork for our futures. We had the ability to move to suit our careers or help our families (first to phoenix, then to Maryland, then to Vegas, and finally LA). However with a child on the way and finding ourselves in the worst financial situation we've been experienced, we are having to make some tough decisions. Do we stick it out in magical LA, scraping by until something pans out, and then move again when I get into graduate school? Do we return to Vegas or Phoenix, where I can find a well paying job but Mark may not, and where neither of us want to live again? Or do we move to Boise, where Mark and I can likely find work and save for our baby thanks to Grandma Joy, and we have family for support, until we move again when i get into graduate school?

Well, we decided that the idea of having $37 in our checking account when our child is born is NOT how we would like to start our journey into parenthood. We possibly have the ability to save for a child, be better prepared financially for my graduate school change, and have stable living situation until mark's animation contract kicks back in. Its not the most glamorous choice. Its not the choice we had envisioned. Its not the choice that someone like me who has always prided myself on solving my own problems and taking care of myself would choose. Its what we should do. Ironically, moving in with Moms is the mature thing to do.

So alas! as we prepare for our move to Boise, we cant help but contemplate what other AWESOME sacrifices parenthood has in store. Until next time...

momma sharon

Week 13: END OF FIRST TRIMESTER!

Been a long and exciting first three months. Who would have thought
growing a baby is such hard work. So congratulations to Sharon!



High Quality Version

Week 12

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How your baby's growing:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Week 11

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

Week 10

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How your baby's growing:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Week 9: Craving

This weeks craving is definitely BK Fries and Buffalo Sauce.
That's Sharons Way.

Week 9: Baby Growth

Check out how much our baby has grown!

Getting bigger all the time.

Week 9

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How your baby's growing:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Week 8: Napping

Who would have thought that growing a human being would make someone so tired. Naps are the big craving of week 8, so everyone have one on us, and experience the joy of dreaming in the middle of the day.

Week 8: Halloween

Our first Halloween actually dressing up together and Sharons first Halloween being pregnant, even our baby has a little costume.

Week 8

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How your baby's growing:

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

Baby name comments

We would love to hear all of your comments to our baby name poll. It's been a lot of fun thinking of what would make a great name for our baby Thomas. Let us know what you think.

Week 7 Cravings

Salt and Cheese are definitely on the menu at our house, Sharons love for them has gone way up.

Week 7

Beginning of Week 7, can't believe the baby has doubled in size!

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

Week 6 Relaxing

Trying to relax a little with all the craziness so we went to the beach. One of Sharons first pregnancy photos.

Week 6

Feeling Queasy :(

Baby Update:

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

Five Weeks

Hello all, starting this baby tracking at week five cause before that we didn't really know :) Going to be posting periodic updates of the happenings for the next few months until our baby is born! Hope you like.

First up is our very first ultra sound! Hard to see exactly but it's there, look real close, closer, not too close.

Five Weeks Old: Due 06/12/2010