Week 12 - It's a boy??

So you've probably already heard Jim or me tell you, but we had our second ultrasound on Friday. This one was to check measurements for Down Syndrome. Here are the pics of the little one:



and a close-up of the head:



All the measurements looked normal.

It was kind of funny - the doctor was pressing up and down with the scanner on my belly, and then we would watch the baby kind of writhe around - Jim said it looked like just like me when I eat something with too much pepper - like it was coughing! The heartbeat was 160, if I remember right. And the baby measured 5.3 cm.

Then the doctor asked if we were going to find out the sex. We both said yes, and then he surprised us and said, "well, I'm not 100% right, but it looks like you're going to have a boy" Now, this was surprising because we weren't expecting to find out anything until 18 weeks. I told the doctor that is actually what my mom and sister were betting because of my lack of significant nausea. He said, with a wry sense of humor, "what do they know? That's just an old wives tale!" Then when we went back to get the bloodwork taken, the nurses told us that he was 93% accurate with his early predictions - they knew because he had actually had one of them go back through all the records and check. So - 93% confidence it's a boy!

And here's this week's fruit - a plum:



For the baby...
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. (but we definitely saw it on the ultrasound) 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.

For me...
As I'm finishing up my first trimester, I am definitely starting to have a little more energy - thank goodness! On Thursday night in class, I was terribly uncomfortable with sort of cramping/uterus growing pains. But other than that, this week went pretty good. I went to Kohls to buy a few cheap bigger tops (my rotation of 4-5 pregnancy hiding tops was getting old). Luckily, there are a lot of very blousy things out this season - so only one was actually "maternity". Here's my belly picture:



(I'm wearing one of the new tops and a pair of capris I made with a belly band - so much more comfortable now than a waistband...)