Twelve Weeks.

I keep wanting to come up with a nickname for the baby on the blog, well and in real life, too, but Baby Skinny sounds really weird, so I don't like that. What did you call your baby when it was in utero?

Guess you guys don't like guessing games with my kindergarten picture, so I'll tell you which one I am. Left half of the class, front row, 3rd from the left. Don't I look sexy with my strap falling off my shoulder?  Party poopers :)

Whew! 12 weeks already, the first trimester is just flying by, but I'm still trying to appreciate every day and take it one day at at time. Marveling in the miracle that is growing a child. 

How Baby's Growing:

"You are 12 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 10 weeks)

• The fetus is now about 2.5 inches (6cm) length and weighs about 0.7 ounce (20 g).
• The feet are almost half an inch (1cm) long.
• The fetus starts moving spontaneously.
• The face is beginning to look like a baby's face.
• The pancreas is functioning and producing insulin.
• Fingernails and toenails appear.
• The baby can suck his thumb, and get hiccups.

From this week you may well be able to hear the baby's heart beat through a doppler monitor on your tummy. You will notice that the rate is up to 160 a minute, double that of a normal adult.


Your baby now has a chin and a nose and a facial profile. Vocal chords are complete, and the baby can and does sometimes cry silently. The brain is fully formed, and the baby can also feel pain. The fetus may even suck his thumb.


The eyelids now cover the eyes, and will remain shut until the seventh month to protect the delicate optical nerve fibers. The hair is on the head and the fingers and toes have developed soft nails. The kidneys are developed and begin to secrete urine.

Your baby weighs between 0.5 and 0.7 ounce (14 to 20g), and crown-to-rump length is almost 2.5 inches (63mm). Your baby's size has almost doubled in the past 3 weeks.

The 12 weeks scan [10 weeks fetal age] above shows a very active fetus. The mother who can not feel these movements; belly laughs, as she looks at the screen and can see her tiny baby kicking out."

Source

Momma's Thoughts:

Holy macaroni! Knowing that my son or daughter's feet are almost half an inch made me smile from ear to ear. The fruit comparison that baby center uses each week doesn't really make me "aww" but an example like that definitely hits hard. Also, knowing that the baby can cry makes me want to give him/her a hug! Amazing how something so small is already so developed. And look at that ultrasound! It's not mine, I just borrowed it from the website, but wow! I know it's not necessarily true that my baby is that active, but I am in such awe! How can a mother not feel that? Craziness! 

How I'm Changing:

"Morning" sickness is just about gone, I think. I actually laid in bed on Monday past the normal dry heaving stage of hunger and it went away and I was just hungry. So I thought that was pretty exciting. My appetite is coming back, along with my interest of cooking again which I've missed so very much. My mom's missed that, too. She hates cooking, but she's been a good sport of helping out for the past few weeks. 

Baby must be moving off my bladder, too. I can almost sleep through the night again! Oh how I've missed sleeping through the night. I'm usually up one or twice, but that's so much better than upwards of 5+ times a night. 

12 week picture first thing in the morning.

When I weighed myself on Friday, I was up the pound that I lose the week before, so I'm back to +2.2 pounds, which I am very proud of so far. My wardrobe is still shrinking, but I've bought a couple maternity shirts to cope with that, and I'm going to be borrowing my cousin's whenever I can get down to see her. I'm in maternity jeans every day, but they're so comfortable, I don't mind one bit. 

I think I've been fighting off a cold for the past few weeks too. Tis the season for that. My brother is full out sick, and my mom thinks she's been fighting something. So far (knock on wood), my body has been pretty good at fighting it off, and I'm hoping that continues. I've been trying to wash my hands frequently and long enough, and not touch my face, but it's hard! 

My acne is still bothering me, and that's something I don't think I've talked about. I've always had pretty bad acne, but it went away while I was birth control. Once I got off, it came back and hasn't gone away since. I'm hoping this is signs of a girl, but who knows. Speaking of the baby's sex, I have a post in mind about whether we want or don't want to find out the sex of the baby. Maybe next week I'll write that. 

Much more awake in this picture.

What I'm Eating:


I mentioned that my appetite is coming back, but I still have a main focus on carbs. Meat has been sneaking back in, but not too much, and still not ground beef. Veggies and fruits aren't too much of enemies anymore, however it's hard when I'm still missing all those delicious farmers markets fruits and veggies. I've been craving watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, but I don't trust buying them from the store out of season. What's a pregnant lady to do?


I had a craving, well still do, for a big soft chocolate chip cookie. When we were at the store on Sunday, I saw a box of them, so I just had to grab them and I took them to my in-laws because I was making dinner for everyone there. My father-in-law saw the cookies and asked where they came from and I had to tell him that I had a craving for them, so I got them and he asked if he could open them. I said sure and between the two of us, I'm pretty sure we polished off nearly the entire box. But they were little cookies, so not exactly what I wanted. I've been wanting to make cookies, but I know I shouldn't eat the raw egg, so I need to make vegan cookies, but I'm a little leery they won't taste the same. Any suggestions on recipes?


One good thing that's been sneaking back into my diet (and by diet, I mean the food I eat)...

Ignore the Budweiser glass. I don't even know where
this came from. No one drinks in my family!

Yes! Green monsters! Okay, well I made one and it was delicious. I tried to make one the next day and it was nasty. Fail. I think I put too many chia seeds in the second one, and it was too thick, I had to toss it. I used a half a scoop of my brother's protein powder for some extra nutrients, but he warned me that night that he didn't know if the creatine in it would be okay for the baby. So looks like I'm going to have to buy my own regular protein powder then. 


Not that this is healthy, but with all the rain we've gotten this week, I've been craving hot beverages, too, so I made some peppermint hot chocolate this morning and it was delicious and just what I wanted! 

How I'm Moving:


Last week I was good, walking 3 days and even doing yoga! This week, I'm using the excuse of fighting off something to go for a walk. Granted, the cold, dreary weather hasn't been helping either! Mr. Skinny keeps getting on my butt for not exercising, but it's hard from now until say April :) I know it's only hurting me if I don't exercise though. I get bored with walks, I feel like that's not a good enough workout even though I get out of breath. 

Walking with the doggie.

Momma's Feelings:


I feel better as each week goes by and everything feels good. I love feeling my bump, I've caught myself rubbing it multiple times a day. I can just stare at it and wonder about the person inside. I also feel more relaxed with how many people know now. I don't have to hide it from anyone. I told my 3 best friends from college this past week and they're all super excited for me. We have one more very important person to tell though, and that is Mr. Skinny maternal grandmother. She lives in Florida and will be up on Sunday for Thanksgiving. This will be her first great-grandchild and she's not even 70 yet! I'm super excited to tell her, and I'm so glad that everyone has kept it all a secret and we've gotten to tell who we wanted to on our terms. I get nervous for everyone we tell though. Just writing about telling Grandma is making my heart pound. I don't know why, I guess because I'm not sure what exactly they're going to say, even though I know they'll be super excited. Once it's out on FB, and my church knows (just one more week!) I will breathe a huge sigh of relief that that's over.

There are days where I get nervous about our financial situation - BTW, I've been graduated for six months, so all those awesome student loans are coming in, including ones I didn't really know about. Awesome. But I know that 1) God won't give us anything we can't handle, which gives me instant peace and 2) a loving family is so much more important than anything monetary. I'd rather have my family and love them than worry about having enough money to go on a yearly vacation or have the latest gadget, and I think God is trying to teach me that. We have a wonderful extended family and we will never go hungry and we will never be homeless, and we'll always have love.

Tell me:


Are you as amazed with that ultrasound as I am? 


What's your favorite hot beverage? Unless it's still warm where you are, then what's your favorite beverage right now?