18 Weeks

The baby is now about 6 inches long from head to bum, and weighs about 7 ounces. If you watched you'd be able to see it's chest moving up and down, mimicking breathing, but all s/he's taking is amniotic fluid. Right around now (friday to be exact), an ultrasound is done to check for certain birth defects, check the placenta and umbilical cord, and determine whether the gestational age, and due date is correct. At this ultrasound, we may see the baby kick, flex, roll or even suck its thumb! We'll be able to get printouts of the pictures at this one :)

If the baby is a girl, the sex organs, uterus and fallopian tubes are in place. If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable. This, however, does not mean we'll be finding out the sex. I'll admit, we're wavering a little - we both WANT to know, but I'm on the fence, because I know it will be such a wonderful surprise when all is said and done, and Rob doesn't want to know, purely out of spite, because he wanted to know in the beginning, and I talked him out of it :) That being said, if we DO find out, you can pretty much guarantee, we won't be telling ANYONE. The only person that may hear is my dad, mostly because he's needed to repaint the baby's room a nice, dark Maple Leafs blue, should our little one be a boy :)

Another happy moment, last night while I was relaxing in the tub before prison break, reading my book, I felt 4 or 5 tiny punches on my lower belly! It was so distinct that I almost dropped my book in the water, reached to hold my belly, and waited. It didn't happen again, but I'm sure that Rob would have felt it this time, it wasn't a flutter, or a roll - it was a punch! I'm so excited now, I hope it means that now I'll be feeling our little one more often - and hopefully Rob will soon too!