14w1day (Welcome to the Second Trimester!)

From Babycenter:

How your baby's growing:

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, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

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.

How your life's changing:

Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning, your breasts may be feeling less tender, and your queasiness may have completely abated by now. If not, hang on — chances are good it will soon be behind you (although an unlucky few will still feel nauseated months from now).

The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby, and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead.

From Alphamom:

Your Baby:

• Is about the size of your fist, unless you have giant man-hands or something, so maybe I should just compare it to a peach instead.
• Has a strong, whoosh-whooshy heartbeat that can usually be found pretty easily now with a doppler. It’s much faster than yours (between 120 – 160 bpm), and sounds vaguely like a washing machine.
• Has probably started sucking its thumb.

You:

• Should be noticing a definite decrease in some of the more crap symptoms from the first trimester, although fatigue and nausea do tend to stick around a little longer for some women.
• Probably aren’t as bothered by breast tenderness anymore, although your boobs will continue to grow in size in the weeks and months ahead. Reassess your bra size periodically and make sure you aren’t mashing the girls into something you’ve outgrown.
• If this is your first pregnancy, you may FINALLY feel like you’re starting to “show” with a little belly pooch.
• If this is your second (or third or fourth or etc.) pregnancy, you’ve probably been in maternity clothes or been rubber-banding your pants for a few weeks already, so pffft.

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Me: Magic Nachos strikes again! The boys wanted Moe's for dinner last night, so off we went. I still really don't have an appetite yet, but I am not one to turn down queso in any form, nausea be damned. Felt typically very full the rest of the evening, but then this morning..... I.did.not.throw.up.once..... Success! It has become part of my morning routine, this whole dry-heaving in the shower business, but not today! Never would I have thought that one could become accustomed to throwing up every single day for months on end, but then all of a sudden it's just routine. Luckily it's mostly restricted itself to the mornings, or when I am home (knock on wood). Early on I truly feared what would happen if I got suddenly ill at work. The ladies' room is at least a minute dash down the hall, and if I couldn't make that, well the cubicles I am surrounded with are so quiet you can hear conversations from 100 feet away. Not the best cover for a gal trying to be discrete for a few months.

Like I mentioned previously, I went ahead and told my team at work the Big News. Today I went ahead and posted one of the U/S from Week 11 on the outside of my cubicle. I figure that's a way to announce to everyone else that I work with, so no one has to speculate. If someone sees the printout and wants to barge into my cubicle with Congratulations and Silly Questions, I'll all for it.

And today I made the Big Announcement on the biggest platform of all: Facebook. I hemmed and hawed over some cute and witty way to announce, but I just went with the old jar of Prego standby and my due date. It's kind of an old joke, but several commentors said they thought it was cute. So now every0ne knows!

I ordered a pair of maternity knackis and a maternity dress on clearance from Target and they finally arrived the other day. Had to order them online, as the selection at the nearest store flat out sucks. Sorry, hate to be disparaging, but it really does. The dress will probably be more appropriate for the later months, though I could wear it now if I wanted to (it has pockets!). The pants however, I may start writing love letters to. They fit perfectly, look good, were reasonably priced (kinda, depends on whom you are talking to) and are so comfortable. From what I've read, alot of pregnant women eschew the idea of maternity clothes and hold off and try all the little tricks to stretch their regular clothes as long as possible. But I'm thinking, if the symptoms are kicking your arse as it is, why not do everything possible to try to be a little bit more comfortable? If it involves lots of stretchy material over my abdomen, sign me up! Time to order moar!