Week 14

We've let the cat out of the bag this past week to anyone and everyone that will listen. Boy, is it fun! The reactions have all been so wonderful - everyone seems genuinely thrilled! However, I have encountered a few remarks that leave me a little stunned. I am sure they are meant with the nicest of intentions, but they still sting. Here's a few of my favorites:

- "I was going to say something...I can see it in your face."
- "Are you sure you aren't having twins?"
- "You actually look thinner since the last time I saw you!"
- "Careful about eating carrots, they can turn your baby orange."
- "I hope you aren't planning on giving your baby their immunizations."
- While eating lunch and enjoying a small canoli: "Eat all the sugar now, you don't get your Gestational Diabetes test until week 20."

Of course, these are the ones that are easiest to remember, but there have been so many wonderful things said and such wonderful stories shared. It has been so much fun to share our news with everyone, I've waited anxiously for these days and now will be kept as wonderful memories.

All in all, this past week I've felt great. I had one night when I was up with a migraine and then lost my cookies in the morning. But, I'm blaming that on a long day in New York City. Otherwise, I feel my energy increasing and my eyes staying "lighter" longer into the evening. However, my clothes are definitely getting tighter and my belly is growing! (Thank goodness for Belly Bands - I don't have to button my pants and have been able to avoid buying work maternity clothes.) I feel the twinges and pings in my lower belly - they say it's my uterus growing! Yay!

I'll post a belly shot when I get a chance to capture one.

Pregnancy Update: Week 14 (from ParentsConnect.com)

You're officially in your glory days: the second trimester. Energy levels come back up, nausea levels go down and you may have a cute little bump that's beginning to show. It's a great time to celebrate the happy news ... if people haven't guessed already. And you'll be surprised at how oblivious some folks are. Here you are walking around at 28 weeks with a big belly and all along they've been thinking you ate too many hot wings for lunch.Wondering what's up with your body, your baby and your life this week?

Your BodyYou have reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, the light at the end of the first tunnel (there will be more). Chances are good that you're feeling as good as you've felt in weeks. If you're not feeling it yet, don't worry, it'll come soon. Enjoy this reprieve. If you haven't been milking the fact that you're pregnant, make up for lost time this week. Stockpile on sleep, have your partner cater to your every need (craving Ben & Jerry's at midnight? Go get it, lover!), let your mom baby you, have your friends come over to your house, take a personal day off of work, insert whatever you normally would feel pushy doing here. ... Thought you'd never want to do "it" again, right? You may find that now that your energy levels are picking up, your interest in sex may increase as well. If your back is starting to hurt, you can thank yet another hormone, relaxin, for the aches and pains. Just like it sounds, relaxin relaxes the joints and muscles in your body to help your pelvis expand and loosens the joints in your hips to make room for baby to come out. It'll also help you do a wicked downward facing dog, so join a yoga class and relish your new flexibility. Relaxin production peeks at 14 weeks and remains in your system until after baby is born. If you're feeling little contractions or pulling and stretching sensations this week, don't panic. It's just your ligaments stretching and your organs moving to accommodate your growing baby. (Don't worry, your organs will all plop back into place shortly after Junior is born.)

Your BabyThink of it this way: You're a third of the way through and baby's a third of the way cooked. Now that the "big stuff" (like skeletal and organ development) is taken care of, your baby starts a period of rapid brain growth, fat buildup and detail work. Highlights this week include:Your baby now has fingerprints! Book 'em, Danno! Believe it or not, he actually created them himself while swimming around in the amniotic fluid. As he moved his hands, the skin on the tips of his fingers formed unique ridges and folds. That's why no one on earth has the same fingerprints, not even identical twins! Cool, right? Baby's arms are now in proportion to his tiny body, but his legs are still on the short size in comparison. Meconium, that tar-like, sticky first baby poop, is now loading up your baby's intestines, which means you might want to set aside a bottle of olive oil, one of the few things that will get the gooey poop off of baby's bottom. Your baby continues to gain new and impressive skills such as practicing and controlling voluntary muscle movements (this will help him fling food across the room later in life). Your tiny dancer's movements are no longer the jerky, uncontrollable twitches of yore—he now moves with graceful control. Your baby is now weighs about an ounce and is the length of a flip phone, or roughly 3.5 inches—he's tripled in size from a mere three weeks ago! Luckily, you haven't done the same.