Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds.

Just a quick update before I fly off to Japan for two weeks tomorrow! For about a week or so, I've been feeling much better! The morning sickness seems to have more or less gone away, unless I let myself go to far between meals. The exhaustion is gone, and I've even hit the gym several times! The bloated belly is ever growing, and I think I've only got a couple more weeks left in my work skirts (the pants are no longer). Each week they ride higher and higher, but still fitting. My uterus has moved up and out enough so that you can totally feel it when I lay down - my nightly and morning ritual of greeting the baby ^_^

Also checked in with the midwives and got a returned voice mail that they reviewed the results from my NT scan and blood work and all were within normal ranges so nothing to worry about there! Phew - relief!!

Hopefully all will go well in Japan. My appetite is still not 100% back, but I'm not nauseated by the look or smell of everything anymore, so hopefully I can enjoy the food! And YES, I'm planning to have sushi!! Should be fine...

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Ryoji's comment "DETTEIRU!!!!" (it's sticking out!!!)

Definitely getting a baby bump, though it's still mostly bloating and such? The weight gain is starting too... after losing 4 pounds in the 1st month and then staying around there (up and down half a pound through 13 weeks), I put on 2.5 pounds this past week! WOAH! what?? hmmmm not sure what's up with that, but I guess I have to get used to getting freaked out by the scale now?

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. She's forming vocal cords and teeth. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a peach or medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

This is the last week of your first trimester, and your risk of miscarriage is now much lower than earlier in pregnancy. Next week marks the beginning of your second trimester, a time of relative comfort for many women who see early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue subside.

So, I had the Nuchal Translucency Scan this morning (to check for signs of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 21, and heart defects). Long story short - all looks good!! For those of you who have more time and interest to read on, I'll get into details of the visit!

I usually have to pee something fierce by the time I get off my 1-hour train ride to work every morning. I guess the 1.5 glasses of water I have in the morning have finally filtered through by then. The hospital is a couple blocks from work, and I got there about half an hour early for my 8:30am appointment. I knew they wouldn't take me early, so I made a judgement call and let myself cheat by going pee just a bit (literally I made myself count to 5!). This is because they told me again and again on the phone, come with a FULL BLADDER (apparently a full bladder lifts the uterus into a better visual field for the ultrasound). Well, I continued drinking water as I checked in at the "fetal monitoring unit" (I actually passed the closed corridor labeled "birthing center", wondering if I'll be in their in about 6 months!!) and proceeded to the waiting room, full of pregnant moms of all stages. At this point, I'm starting to enter the painful stage of having to pee. As the clock ticks on and we pass 8:30am, I realize I could be waiting a while. And I could NOT make it more than a few more minutes, and could NOT stroking that ultrasound wand right on top of my bladder. So, I went to the registration desk to ask where the bathroom was, and she was like "YOU CANNOT GO TO THE BATHROOM!" and I was like "I HAVE TO!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I promise I'll just go A LITTLE". And I did. Man, I was so disciplined!! A couple minutes later they called me in and they gelled up my tummy (the gel was warm, so nice!). The room was dark and I was on a comfy lounge chair with a huge 42" TV in front of us. All of a sudden, there's my baby on the screen next to a huge black void. Immediately the tech goes "Oh my god. That's your bladder! Girl, go pee!!!!" SERIOUSLY!?!?! I asked her how much I could pee, and she said don't worry, just get comfortable! So, I went to the bathroom and let out about half, still scared that if I went too much they wouldn't get a good view. So back I went, and got gelled up again, and she goes "Your bladder is huge, you didn't go much did you" hahahaha. Anyway, I wasn't in pain anymore, so we continued.

The baby wasn't in an extremely cooperative position at first, and she kinda shoved that transductor in there a bit to try to get the baby to move. Then she started doing all the measurements with a click of a mouse here and there, so cool the technology these days!! The fluid in the neck measurement was 2.1mm, and under 3mm is a good sign. Of course they'll combine this with the results of my blood work (there's usually extra levels of some sort of hormone or protein in a mom pregnant with a Down's or other genetically abnormal baby), but fingers crossed it should be fine.

She went on to measure the CRL (crown to rump length) which was 7.49cm  (3 inches) - so tiny!!) - showing that the baby's size is at 13 weeks 4 days (even though based on the previous ultrasound as well as our ovulation predictor the baby is really only 12 weeks 5 days). But, apparently, baby's grow at different rates and up to a week difference is completely normal at this stage.

I asked about the placement of the placenta, because of the worry of previa (if the placenta is covering the cervix and doesn't move, you can't delivery vaginally), and she said it's good, placed anterior. Had to google this one. Apparently usually the placenta is posterior, meaning towards my spine. But mine is anterior, meaning on the belly side. My googling research said it often moves, which is strange. But anyway, there's no worries if it stays where it is. Only difference would be more difficult to feel early baby movements, and they'd have to be extra careful when getting in there on an amniocentesis or c-section, neither procedure I'm counting on having anyway. And as for the tilted uterus reported at my last scan, apparently it has righted itself and is sitting properly now. Hooray! She also measured each ovary, but didn't say anything about good or bad.

Today I had my first visit with the midwives at Dr. Moritz's office. They did make me wait a good 35 minutes, but wasn't nearly as bad and the hour and a half I wanted for Moritz last time! And it's so true about the level of attention and just general vibe you get from them! She took me to a consultation room and spent at least 20 minutes talking to me and going over my personal and family history, and DETAILED information about eating right, exercising, things to expect, birthing classes to take, etc etc. While this was all great to hear, it was nothing new for me, and I wish she had skipped it all since I was here on my lunch break and was going way over my given hour due to the wait before she even saw me.

Then she took me to the examination gown and had me strip down and put on the gown. This surprised me since Moritz let me keep on my clothes, did no exam, and just exposed some skin for the sonogram. This time I was checked out top to bottom inside (OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!) out. She was quite thorough and while certain parts were extreeeeeeeeemely unpleasant, they did lend to very nice things to hear. Such as that the size and shape of my pelvis and cervix and all that good stuff is about as ideal as it comes for birthing! Well alright alright, with my lucky physical attributes combined with Ryoji's small stature, this baby should just shoot on out of there at the end of baking with a good sneeze! ^_^

Then, the best part. The part I had been worried about after reading on blogs about "missed miscarriages" (where the baby dies and you don't realize til the next doctor's visit when they can't find a heartbeat). She got out her little hand held doppler and as I started to tell her about my worries she cuts me off and says, "There's the heartbeat!" SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH never sounded so good in my life. I nearly cried! It was so exciting, even though we heard it at the 8 week appointment a month ago, it was just as exciting this time!! Just to hear it and know everything is going well!! It was beating away at 164 beats per minute. I wish Ryoji had been there >_<

Well, that's that! Friday is my NT Scan, when I get to SEE the baby again!! I'm soooooooo excited for that, but also pretty nervous. That plot line on Private Practice where the lady's baby had no brain, ughhhh, that freaks me out. K

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime or plum) and weighs half an ounce.

You’re reaching the home stretch of the first trimester (we know, finally!) at 12 weeks which means your hormones are likely to tone things down a bit -- which might make you feel a little less emotional! And it will probably help the symptoms subside a bit, too. One warning though: your morning sickness and fatigue might get replaced by headaches and dizziness. Your uterus has grown to the point where your healthcare provider can now feel the top of it (the fundus) low in your abdomen, just above your pubic bone.

here's another website's...actually probably pretty accurate!

This is the prediction one of those photo-morphing websites gave us for what our baby will look like! hahahaha interesting...

So, mom freaked me out during her visit when she pointed out that one of the ingredients (triclosan) in my toothpaste is believed to be a carcinogen. Have heard on pregnancy podcasts alot about what you can and can't eat or take (medicines) while pregnant, but they're generally the big ones that everyone knows about. But there's a whole nother GINORMOUS list of chemicals and ingredients that pregnant women, well actually, ALL PEOPLE, should probably avoid. While these are generally not 100% proven, they are believed to cause cancer, disrupt normal hormone levels and body systems, etc. I realize I could have done this baby a whole lot better by switching my products 11 weeks ago (as the key body and organ development are just about finished by now), better late than never huh?So, here's the list of ingredients I'm trying to stay away from (little by little... so far I've switched our sun block, my face lotion, and my deodorant... next I really want to find a safer dish washing detergent, and possibly shampoo & laundry detergent maybe)

BPA / Bisphenol A (#7 reclycling products)
Triclosan  (toothpaste, anti-bacterial products)
Phtalates
DEA / diethanolamine (in shampoo)
Benzoil Peroxide
Salicilic Acid / Beta hydroxy acid / BHA
Parabens (listed under the following names)
    methylparaben
     ethylparaben
     isobutylparaben
     propylparaben
     hydroxybenzoic acid
     hydroxybenzoate
1, 4 Dioxane
Retinoids (listed under the following names):
     Differin (adapelene)
    Retin-A, Renova (tretinoin)
    Retinoic acid
    Retinol
    Retinyl linoleate
    Retinyl palmitate
    Tazorac and avage (Tazarotene)
Sunscreen ingredients to avoid:
     Retinyl palmitate
     Oxybenzone (safer alternative = avobenzone)

I also realize it is really really important to switch over to organic on the "dirty dozen" (apple, celery, strawberies, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, kale) items, on which list are most of the fruits I eat on a daily basis!! I found a great (tiny) organic natural store near us, but they don't have a large selection of anything, and no produce I think. There's a Whole Foods about a 10 minute walk from my office, but not like I really wanna go there and carry everything home, but I guess you do what you gotta do!!

My reviews so far:
JASON nightly (facial) moisturizer - I'm using it day and night, and it STINKS, I mean, ick. I guess when you have all ingredients like nuts and stuff, and no artificial perfume, it would tend to stink. But it seems to do an OK job, definitely not oily at all, which I like, but I'm not sure if it would cut it in the winter.

Crystal roll on deodorant - worked GREAT last night and today, which is all I've used it so far. It'll be interesting to see how it does this summer. I used a crystal deo back in high school, but that one was the actual crystal you had to wet and rub under your arms. This one is like the salts are in a liquid and then it's a regular deo roller that you use. Unfortunately, the salts tend to make the roller get stuck, or at least it was stuck when I first used it. Could get annoying...

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig or lime, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

Just two more weeks left in trimester one! Don't worry if nausea has made it impossible for you to eat a wide variety of healthy foods or if you haven't put on much weight yet (most women gain just 2 to 5 pounds during the first trimester). Your appetite will likely return soon, and you'll start to gain about a pound a week.