Week 18

Okay, so it's week 18... and "they" say it's about time to start feeling some back pain! Right in time, as usual! What I thought was especially interesting was that JUST THIS MORNING I was looking at myself in the mirror thinking... "wow....I don't remember my lower back curving forward that much.... hmm... maybe it always has..." Apparently, my cantaloupe-sized uterus is causing my center of gravity to shift, pulling my lower back forward and pushing my abdomen out! Hmm... who knew?

The baby is about five and a half inches long from crown to rump (about the size of a grapefruit) and weighs about five ounces.

The art of the yawn has been mastered by the baby this week! In fact, it's possible that we might catch a glimpse of that adorable yawn if we're lucky during our ultrasound this month. The baby is finally big enough to be felt moving (and everyone and their mother has asked me if I have yet) but I haven't.... :( Although I am very excited for the day that I do!!!

The baby's nervous system is in working order and rapidly maturing during this time. Nerves, now covered with a substance called myelin (which speeds messages from nerve cell to nerve cell), are forming more complex connections. And those in the brain are further specializing into the ones that serve the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. The baby's hearing is growing more acute, making our little one more conscious of sounds that come from inside my body (which must get noisy!) like digestion, hiccups, my heartbeat, etc. The baby is supposedly hiccuping now as well... but like I said, I have yet to feel it.

Daddy is starting to talk to the baby more & more and sometimes sings us to sleep :)