Week 14 – 15: Moved to New York! What an insane idea that turned out to be. I was so sick during the flight from lack of sleep and general exhaustion from having to carry around huge suitcases and my carry on bags that had two laptops and a hard drive, plus all of my photography equipment in them … not the best idea ever. I tried to go shopping for jeans and nearly cried when none of them fit me. I thought jeans shopping while not being pregnant was tough – I had no idea it would be so traumatic while pregnant! I’m quite tired with the jetlag and finding it harder than usual to adjust to being somewhere different.
Baby is now the length of an apple, weighing about 2 1/2 ounces and measuring 4 inches. At the close of this week, all major organs will be formed (heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, lungs, and spleen), although not necessarily performing their functions yet. The organs will continue to grow and develop over the next couple of months and will be up and running in no time. Blood vessels can be seen through the baby’s thin skin, and although the eyelids are fused shut, the baby can sense light.
Week 16: Over the jetlag and settling in to New York. I’m busy finding us an apartment and sorting out paper work that needs to be done, but have found a great pre-natel yoga class that I have been doing twice a week. I don’t seem to be any noticeably bigger or be feeling any different to the previous few weeks. I can’t wait to move into our new home so we can start putting the nursery together. We looked at baby things in FAO Swartz yesterday and they were so cute I wanted to buy everything! Met our new doctor – he was great and made us feel very comfortable in his hands. He did a quick scan to try and determine the gender, but the baby was being most inco-operative, so we will have to wait till the next scan to find out.
Baby’s now the size of an avocado! Tiny bones forming in baby’s ears mean she can now pick up my voice. A few more minuscule changes: Eyebrows, lashes, and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming.
Week 17: Just before the end of this week, I started to feel not so good – really tired and unwell. It seems the baby was going through a growth expert, and my tummy popped out a bit. It felt so weird, I could feel the baby pressing down on my organs for the first time.
Baby is about 5 to 5 1/2 inches long from top to tail and weighs a little more than five ounces, about the size of a lobster tail. This week, the bones of the ear become fully formed along with the part of her brain that processes signals from the ears. She may change positions frequently, cross her legs, recline, suck her thumb, and turn somersaults. Her retinas have become light sensitive, and she may be able to detect a glow if you shine bright lights at the belly (even though her eyelids are sealed).
Week 18: It’s getting harder to bend over in my mid-section. It feels like there is a giant waterballon in my way. I felt the baby kick for the first time tonight, while we were at the theatre watching Driving Miss Daisy on the last day of March. She has good taste in theatre already. It felt like a little punch or kick!
At five and a half inches long and five ounces in weight, she now may be large enough for you to feel her twisting, rolling, kicking, and punching her way around the womb. Plus, she’s developing yawning and hiccupping skills and her own unique set of toe and fingerprints.
Week 19: I feel her moving much more frequently this week. It feels incredible! Little pokes from her tiny arms and legs. We go to Washington DC for the weekend and I realise that I look obviously pregnant for the first time on this trip.
Baby is now about the size of a mango. Vernix is beginning to coat the skin, which is a greasy, fat-like substance that provides insulation and regulates body heat as well as protects the skin since it is submerged in amniotic fluid.
Week 20: Halfway there! I had my 20 week ultrasound and everything looks perfect. They confirmed the baby was a girl and gave me the print out to prove it. I was weighed and I’ve put on 4kgs since becoming pregnant – most of it in the last week I think. I have to cut back on the ice cream and cupcakes and get more exercise!
Baby is now the size of a banana. She is now starting to hear sounds, both from inside the uterus and on the outside. She will have no way of identifying the noises yet, but in time will come to recognise our voices over anyone else’s. The baby can now be startled by loud or sudden noises and can hear both my heartbeat and my growling stomach.
