1/4 Made

We made it to 10 weeks (of 38-40)! Baby is now the size of a kumquat (pictured here) — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. Baby has now completed the most critical portion of development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in the body rapidly grow and mature. Baby's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout pregnancy.
Tiny nails are forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. Baby's limbs can bend now; hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body. The outline of the spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord. Baby's forehead temporarily bulges with the developing brain and sits very high on the head, which measures half the length of the body.

My body seems to be starting to show some real changes too. I can't get over how much my "ladies" have grown. Our (potentially broken) scale says I've actually lost weight but I definitely have a little gut that's harder to keep sucked in (maybe that's because I don't have much core strength though). I've been trying to walk more often. Need to consider doing yoga (it's always just seemed so boring to me) or a little light weight training. It's just hard to imagine a little being in there. Sometimes I picture a little baby yelling "FEED ME!" in a very deep voice (like that man-eating plant in "Little Shop of Horrors"); that idea cracks me up.

I've definitely been feeling more of the desire to nest in the last week. On the weekend though, we set out to camp at "our" spot on the very popular and accessible-only-by-boat section of Sparks Lake. We had paddled out there on Wednesday night and setup our tent in our spot. Matt joked that he hoped 1- that our tent was still there, 2- not torn up or damaged and 3- without a big pile of poo right in the middle of it from someone angry that we'd claimed the spot. Fortunately, the tent was there, untouched. Unfortunately, Matt did such a great job of prepping us to camp last time that, in addition to the fact that I was very very tired, I didn't help pack at all. Thus, also unfortunately, after leaving Friday night, we realized we hadn't brought enough food for two nights. I still maintain that we could've at least made it through Saturday lunchtime, maybe even dinner. But Matt wasn't convinced. Paired with the fact that this time we brought different sleeping pads, which was not an improvement, we decided to only spend one night. Also, it was very cold at night up at 5,400 ft. The girls crowded Matt in his sleeping bag (luckily mine is a mummy bag with barely enough room for me to move). This time we did remember their cute little vests, or in Ellie's case- camo snuggie. Matt thinks it makes them look too sissy. But it helps keep them warm; they don't have a ton of fur. Ellie this time was much more brave, after we leashed her to a tree for most of the evening to keep her from running off at the sight of the campfire. By the next morning though, she was at least sitting quietly on our laps. So Saturday later morning we packed up and went home.

Do you think he actually jumped?

The rest of the weekend we spent working on some house projects; Matt was a superstar and washed the cars and fixed some things and reorganized the garage and mowed the lawn. AND he fixed our "new to us" bassinet.

I... did much less. I decided to take a shot making a handmade gift for my buddy Jake's wedding gift; he and his fiance asked for homemade items, particularly napkins. I found some awesome fabric to make double-sided placemats... but they were different types of fabric and after many failed attempts to join them, I ended up making two different placemats. Oh, this project was nothing but trouble, which reminded me why I usually don't attempt sewing projects. But being that I'm about to start sewing together my baby quilt, I thought it'd be a good way to get back into using my antiquated sewing machine. This all may or may not have led to a little hissy fit when it was very hot and late and I was frustrated... sorry Matt :( Being pregnant is a bit like just perma- PMS'ing.

The good part about us coming home sooner is that we did discover Jack had a nasty abscess (larger than a dime size hole) under his chin so we took him to the after-hours vet. Two years ago he had an abscess and had ripped a quarter-sized hole after I tried to see if it'd heal. My vet at that time gave him stitches, which he then ripped out, and gave him stitches again and it was a very expensive and drawn-out healing process (look at this pic from then... Ellie was so tiny and this was the start of their cuddling). I was dreading another expensive visit but this vet just cleaned it and said it'd heal on its own. So now Conehead is sulking around the house and poor Matt has to clean the litterbox (another thing I can't do while preggers, darn!). Ohhh pets...

Next week, we have our first appointment with our O.B., not that this necessarily matters since her nurse told us she only has a 30% chance of being the one on call when we go into labor. As long as it seems like their O.B.s will be open to what I'd like for my birthplan (assuming the best), I'll be happy and I don't care so much who delivers our baby. The exciting part will be finally hearing our baby's heartbeat! Maybe then it'll seem even more real!

Oh... AND.. check out how amazing our garden looks now, thanks to Matt's green thumb!! We harvested our green-bean-like-peas, and we've already harvested and enjoyed some carrots. I'm about to cut that rhubarb back for the 4th time!