17 Weeks

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.
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Sweat, huh? I'm sure baby was sweating along with me the first 2 days of school. 92 degrees is not the optimum learning temperature. Luckily, it looks like those nasty, hot days are behind us and it's actually starting to feel a bit like fall out there!! YAY! I LOVE FALL!!! The colors, the trees, the pumpkins, the caramel apples, the sweaters, my bday, etc. Love it!

I had my 16 week appoitment this week. We couldn't get a very good read on the heartbeat - way to TOTALLY freak me out!! She could hear it 4 different times, but then would lose it - and she said she heard it moving a lot. Awesome, me and my ADHD baby! I still haven't really felt the baby yet. Although I'm not really sure what it is that I'm supposed to feel. I've read and heard that it's like little flutters, little tickles, etc. The other night, I thought for sure that I felt SOMETHING - but now I'm not so sure. Ugh! The word has also been passed along to the hospital to call me to schedule the ultrasound!! Could me in as little as 2 weeks, or as much as 4. As soon as I have a date, I'm sure I'll be just shouting it from the rooftop!

Let's see... school started this week. So far, my class seems MUCH less challenging than last year. I feel bad for the fourth grade teacher. :( Sorry!! Right now, I'm at 21 kiddos - which seems like a breeze compared to my 27 of last year. I'm really trying to stay on top of things this year. I'm so used to just being able to come in on weekends to get work done, or stay late any night I want. I really want to try to squeeze as much planning into my prep time that I can, so that I can try to get as much done during the day that I can. I want to be able to just go home at night without a ton of papers or other work. I thought that if I could start out real organized and stay that way - it will be a habit by February! Although, I'm saying that right now, while I'm at school, which is where I have been for the past 6 hours (and yes, it's Sunday).

Um, in other baby-related news: stretch marks have made a definite appearance on my lower belly. Being a "size large girl" most of my life, stretch marks are really nothing new, however, these are different. Way more red, way more of them. Eek! I'm not really concerned since I don't believe that itty-bitty bikini bottoms or low-rise jeans and belly shirts will ever be a part of my wardrobe (or ever have been, for that matter), but it's still a little alarming to look at! Truthfully, I didn't really think that I would get them. My skin has expanded and tightened numerous times over the last 15 years or so, depending on the diet that I was on. I thought it would just strech back out, without much fanfare. Apparently not. I am, for the most part, still wearing my normal clothes. I have a few maternity tops that I've worn a couple times, but only because I wanted to try them out, not because I really needed to wear them.

Have a great week, everyone! :)