Nursery

Thanks Aunt Sarah for picking out the nursery color, I LOVE IT!

Any volunteers to paint...ha!

Week 18

Our baby is about 5.5 to 6 inches long about the length of a bell pepper and weighs around 7 ounces this week. The blood vessels can be seen through baby Hertel's skin and a protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the nerves (this process lasts for an entire year after baby graces us with their presence). Genitals are now noticeable through ultrasound...but we will have to wait for our twenty week checkup to see what the sex is (November 5th).

Week 17

Our baby's skeleton is now changing from cartilage to bone. Baby Hertel weighs as much as a turnip (5 oz) and around 5inches long (head to bottom). The brain, muscles, nervous and circulatory systems are all functioning and the sweat glands are starting to develop. As the baby grows I should start to feel it move (quickening), so any day now I am sure I will feel flutters from the baby.

Week 16

A growth spurt is coming, the baby is between 4.5 to 4.75 inches now weighing in at 3.5oz now but in the next few weeks it will double in weight. The legs are more developed along with the position of the head/neck being more erect and the eyes and ears being close to there final position. The heart is pumping around 25 quarts of blood each day. Our baby has hiccups that are caused by the diaphragm although they don't create sound because there is no air to make noises. Our prenatal appointment went well last Tuesday, everything is going smoothly thus far... and babies heart beat was around 148 bpm. November 5th will be the big day... little Hertel will finally be known as girl Hertel or boy Hertel.

Week 16 Belly

Week 16

Week 15

Baby's body is growing faster than its head which makes it look even more baby like. The baby has hair now (called lanugo) that covers its body and head. It is about four inches long and weighs under 2 ounces.

Our baby can hear the tones and noises going on outside the womb now, although it probably sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher instead of clear voices. It can also sense light (flash light), even though it's eyes are shut until later in the third trimester.

We have our third prenatal appointment on Tuesday the 3rd, there probably won't be a ultrasound this visit but next month we will find out the sex of the baby... finally.