14 weeks

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.

Wahoo! Second trimester here I come! It feels good to have made it to trimester number two. I'm feeling quite good. I definitely count myself as landing on the luckier end of the sickness spectrum. It hasn't been too bad. Now my pants are just getting tighter. I've been unbuttoning the top button on some. I also had Jared take pictures of my now growing belly for the first time. Nicki, this is for you:

I mostly just look fat unless you know I'm pregnant. And at the end of day (when this was taken) I do feel like my belly needs more room. It feels so good to let it hang out there. I can totally stick it out far too. This picture is just me trying to remain neutral.

As all you moms out there know, when you are pregnant it's really wonderful to have friends going through pregnancy with you. I have been quite blessed to have 3 friends all due within days of myself. Rachel, my dear college friend/cousin-in-law, is due July 31st. Emily, who I've known since age four, is due August 2nd. I am due August 3rd. And Katie, another college friend, is due August 4th. Any takers for August 1st? Apparently November was a very fertile month.

bountiful birthday

Tuesday was my 25th Birthday. And it was wonderful! Here's why:


First, I got flowers from my parents. Then about 15 minutes later, flowers from my darling husband arrived. The bouquet from my parents is lilies and irises that need to bloom still. I am sure they will be gorgeous! Jared got me a potted orchid, which will be so fun to have for months to come.

Second, my sweet co-worker/supervisor Darlene made me a cake! It was chocolate and delicious and a group of us at work enjoyed in immensely.

Third, I got new scriptures! I have had the same set of scriptures since I was 8 years old! They went through seminary and BYU religion classes with me and it was time for some new ones. I've really wanted a compact quad with the snap cover, but for the past few years, the Church stopped making them. Then this fall they brought them back! It will be so nice to take a smaller set to church.

Fourth, Jared made me a beautiful card. For special occasions he draws a card and then writes beautiful things inside.

Fifth, we went out to eat at PF Changs. It was very, very yummy. We even got the Great Wall of Chocolate, which we haven't finished yet.

Sixth, I got my engagement and wedding rings cleaned and re-rhodiumed. They look like new again!

Seventh, we went over to the mall and ran a few errands, and then Jared indulged me while I wondered around a bit. I bought some cute black maternity capris on sale that will be great to wear to work when it gets warmer.

Eighth, my wonderful Iverson girls left me birthday messages on our blog. And I got several emails and facebook messages as well from far away friends.

Ninth, I also got really nice phone messages from several friends and family. And I got to talk to my dear friend Afton with whom I've been playing phone tag for months. She just had her second baby and it was so fun to talk about baby and pregnancy stuff.

Tenth, my dad deposited a very generous birthday gift into my bank account! It's going to go towards my camera purchase. Thanks, Dad!

I felt so very loved. Thank you to everyone for helping make my birthday so fabulous!

question

Does being married, pregnant, and 25 years old mean I have to be a grown up now?

some light reading

There is lots going on in the news today, so I thought I'd share a few great articles I read this morning.

We will miss him dearly. The New York Times has a fantastic article about Gordon B. Hinckley today.






*photo from www.ldsmag.com




The rest of these are political:

From Time: "Can Romney's Inner Geek Win Out?"

From The New York Times: "Desperate Husband"

Also from NYT: "A President Like My Father" This one is a HUGE deal. If you only read one, read this one.

And related to the last one: "Kennedy chooses Obama, Spurning Plea by Clintons"

13 weeks

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.

I can't believe I only have one more week left in my first trimester! This past week I didn't feel as well as I had for the past couple weeks. Wednesday night I got terrible cramps. It was a bit scary, but I wasn't spotting or bleeding at all so I wasn't too worried. Jared gave me a blessing, and I was able to go to sleep. The next morning, the cramps returned but milder and lasted through Friday. Friday I didn't go to work because I woke up with a headache that wouldn't go away and just felt crappy all day. That night I was seriously craving a hamburger so we went out to a local restaurant, and I had a very delicious burger! Sometimes I just need meat I guess. Or maybe the baby does! Saturday the cramps were gone, and I felt quite good. I think the cramps were just my uterus growing because my tummy seriously got bigger over night! All of a sudden my pants are tight and to the observant eye I have a bit of a belly now.

obama vs. the clintons; heath ledger

photo from www.dailymail.co.uk

If you are paying attention to the craziness that is the presidential campaigns you know that the Clintons have been pulling out all the stops against Barack Obama. As he said in the South Carolina debate the other night, "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes." They've been tag-teaming it and not being very nice about it, especially Bill.

In today's New York Times, columnist Maureen Dowd has a great op-ed about it: Two Against One She brings up an interesting point: "It’s odd that the first woman with a shot at becoming president is so openly dependent on her husband to drag her over the finish line."

Something to think about.

photo from nytimes.com

In other more tragic news, I am so sad about Heath Ledger's death. It's terribly tragic. He was a great actor and seemed like a decent guy. He was also my number one celebrity crush for years back in high school. Who didn't fall in love with his bad boy with a heart in 10 Things I Hate About You? I feel so sad for his family and especially his little daughter. It will be strange to watch the new Batman movie this summer knowing that he won't.

there really is a person in my uterus

Well it's officially official. I have heard the heartbeat! Someone is growing in my uterus.

We went to the doctor today and they used the Doppler to listen for the heartbeat. It was beating nice and strong. I thought this would make it feel a lot more real, and it does sorta. But it also still feels very strange to know that a little person is inside me. My abdomen is starting to grow a bit, but I don't look pregnant. Perhaps once I do it will feel more real. Or when I feel the baby for the first time. That will be nice.

The doctor says I am looking and feeling good and my blood test was normal and all that. I go back in 4 weeks and then in March we will have the ultrasound and get to find out if we are having a boy or girl! I'm REALLY excited for that visit!

(btw... isn't that photo amazing! I can't believe how developed a 12 week fetus is! It really is miraculous.)

12 weeks

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 two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

This past week as been really good! I think I am definitely over the worst of being sick. I feel SO lucky that it didn't last very long and wasn't that bad. I'm definitely hungrier than usual now, and I still feel mildly icky if I don't eat soon enough, but other than that I feel great. I'm also not as tired as I used to be. And now only two more weeks until my second trimester! We are going to the doctor on Tuesday, and I am really excited to hear the heartbeat.

push presents?

Have you heard of "push presents"? Several weeks ago I read this article in the NY Times, "A Bundle of Joy Isn't Enough?", about the growing trend for new moms to receive gifts from their husbands after giving birth, usually in the form of jewelry.

Quoting the article: That’s “push” as in, “I the mother, having been through the wringer and pushed out this blessed event, hereby claim my reward.” Or “push” as in, “I’ve delivered something special and now I’m pushing you, my husband/boyfriend, to follow suit.”

“It’s more and more an expectation of moms these days that they deserve something for bearing the burden for nine months, getting sick, ruining their body,” said Linda Murray, executive editor of BabyCenter.com. “The guilt really gets piled on.”

A recent survey of more than 30,000 respondents by BabyCenter.com found that 38 percent of new mothers received a gift from their mate in connection with their child. Among pregnant mothers, 55 percent wanted one. About 40 percent of both groups said the baby was ample reward.

I remember first hearing about this idea years ago when Angie Harmon appeared on Oprah after the birth of one of her kids. She was a wearing a big fancy ring and said it was her present for giving birth. Her husband gave her a piece of jewelry for each kid. At the time I didn't think much about it other than, "That's nice." But now it seems that this trend is catching on and becoming an expectation for some new moms.

So while the idea of getting a gift for going through nine months of being inhabited by an alien and then getting that baby out seems justified, I also feel that this is becoming just another way for us to be materialistic. I mean, a baby is pretty great gift for all that work right? What do you think? Did you get a special gift, jewelry or otherwise, from your husband after having a baby? Do you think this sounds like a great idea or just another marketing ploy to get us buying even more stuff?

Do tell me what you think, and have a wonderful 3 day weekend!

*ring pictured from sundancecatalog.com

afternoon surprise

This afternoon I got a very nice workday surprise with a delivery of fresh flowers sent by my darling husband. They smell delicious! (Sorry for the lack of visuals.) The card read:

Just wanted to let you know how much I love and appreciate you, Katrina.
I love you more than ever!
Jared

Today is not a special occasion or anything. How sweet is he? And then he just stopped by to see me real quick on his way home from campus. I sure love him.