13 Weeks (July 20 - 26)

I'm still not showing and sometimes I wonder if I'm really pregnant, lol! This is my 3rd child for goodness' sake. They say you show a lot faster after the first time. I guess they're wrong. Anyway, for a few weeks now I have pampered myself by doing a weekly manicure/pedicure. It's really cool! I've noticed that my nausea isn't as bad anymore but I still love to sleep. This week I really loved pears, the crunchy ones. I'm glad I found a fruit I could eat now. Aiden is such a competition though, lol! He loves the pears as well. So, when he sees me eating some, he'd want his own too. He's my eating buddy, lol! I am trying to tell him there is a baby in mommy's belly and every time he sits next to me, he'd try to open my shirt and look at my tummy to check it out. Too cute! He gives me belly kisses, which are supposed to be for the baby. He's so sweet! I'm glad he's getting the idea although he really doesn't fully understand it yet.

How's my baby growing:

Your belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that you're expecting, but your baby is still tiny. In fact, he's only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably.

12 Weeks (July 13 - 19)

I spent days thinking if I should buy those outfits or not and decided for the latter. I found out that they've added more stuff at the store right now and I'm just so glad that I got more choices. I realized I wouldn't be showing till the late fall anyway, so I think I should wait a little bit longer. I just couldn't resist those beautiful colors and I picked pinks 4/5. With my previous pregnancies, I just always get blues and blacks and right now those colors don't sound so good to me. I'm a natural pink person and I always wonder why I end up buying blues before. It's one of the biggest signs I missed when I was pregnant with my 2nd child. Hubby was always wondering why I'd pick blue over pink when we both knew I wanted and hoped for a girl. Of course I still can't say that it might be girl this time around. All I know is that I am crazy about pink lately especially the softest pink around like that Yoplait commercial.

So, for this week I'm still sleepy as always but I have a lot of trouble going to sleep at night. I'm just in a crazy cycle is all. I haven't had bananas lately 'coz it's making me puke. Sometimes, I really force myself to eat one because I know I need it especially now that I noticed it's been wet when I go #2. I stopped taking my prenatal vitamins this time too because each time I take it, I get nauseated immediately. It's probably the smell and the size. Too big to swallow! So, I'll ask my doctor on my next appointment if she can change the brand or something.

How's my baby growing:

Your baby's hit the 2-inch mark (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. Her face is beginning to look more human. Her eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their final positions on the sides of her head. Your baby's intestines, which have grown so rapidly that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into her abdominal cavity about now. Her kidneys are secreting urine into her bladder. Her nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly, and synapses (neurological pathways in the brain) are forming. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and she'll even squirm if you prod your abdomen, though you still won't be able to feel her movement for several weeks.

11 Weeks (July 6 - 12)

This week I'm still getting sick as usual but I am able to get on the computer a little bit better now. For the past few days, I have been browsing through Motherhood and already picked like 5 outfits I'm ready to buy, haha! Who am I kidding here? I don't even look pregnant yet but I am so excited to buy those big clothes already? I kept asking hubby to pay for it but he seemed to be hesitant so I might just go ahead and get them myself this weekend. How about that? I'm so bad. At least that's not final though. I am going to think about it over again. I still don't have any cravings at this time but then again, I never had any on my previous pregnancies. I'm still in a constant hunt for foods that I can handle. So, that's it for now. I'll be back next week for more.

How my baby's growing:

Your fig-sized baby is now fully formed — measuring 1 1/2 inches long and weighing in at a quarter of an ounce. His skin is still transparent, allowing many of his blood vessels to show through. Some of his bones are beginning to harden, and tiny toothbuds are starting to appear under his gums. His fingers and toes have separated, and he may soon be able to open and close his fists. He's already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. These movements will increase as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional. As his diaphragm develops, your tiny tenant may also start to get the hiccups. Because he's still so small, though, you won't feel any of his workouts or intrauterine gulps until sometime between weeks 16 and 20.

10weeks (June 29 - July 5)

I had my first doctor's appointment this week. I lost 6lbs from all that nausea but I don't think it's too bad. We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was an awesome thing to hear. It made me feel that at this time I have a lesser chance of getting a miscarriage but then again, it might just be too early to tell. I'm really just hoping for the best. The baby's heartrate is 168. We brought the kids with us and AJ was thrilled to hear his baby brother's/sister's heartbeat. Aiden is still too young to know what's going on. He was crying when the doctor did my pap smear. Poor thing. I told them, I'll go alone in my next appointment but the nurses love to see them there and they want us to bring them again next month. My boys get too much attention from those girls and they love it, lol! I also got blood drawn from me, which was not so good. In my opinion, they took too much blood from me because I was actually feeling dizzy as we walked through the parking lot going home. The doctor asked me if I wanted medication for the nausea but I refused. I think I can handle a few more weeks and as much as I can, I'll do things without medication. I still don't have cravings at this time. I do think that the guy who played Smallville's Green Arrow, Justin Hartley is cute, lol! Hubby didn't like that.

How my baby's growing:

Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she now has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body rapidly grow and mature. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function (although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy). Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear.

During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will later recede to give her a more human appearance. Each day, more minute details — including tiny fingernails, toenails, and peach-fuzz hair — start to appear on her body. Her fingers are now completely separated; her arms bend at the elbow and curve slightly; her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart; her legs are lengthening; and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. She is busily swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking her legs.

If you could take a peek at your baby this week, you'd be able to clearly see the outline of her spine through her parchment-thin skin. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord.

Credits: frame by Nancy Comelab and staple by Michelle Coleman