17th Week

I'm an Onion this week!  Making my way through the produce department one fruit and vegetable at a time.

Belly fluttering is increasing but still can't be felt on the outside.  It's a feeling that is really hard to describe.  Almost like a teeny tiny kitten softly kneading you from the inside, or like a goldfish swimming about and occasionally bumping into the wall.  It makes me smile.

I was reading another study this week that suggests if you eat a varied diet of vegetables during pregnancy and breastfeeding (like cabbage/broccoli/beans etc), then your child is more apt to acquire a taste for them and be less "fussy".  "Flavours from the mother's diet are transmitted through amniotic fluid and mother's milk. A baby learns to like a food's taste when the mother eats that food on a regular basis,"  Apparently babies are born with a dislike for bitter tastes which stems back to early evolution. Bitter tastes are usually caused by alkaloids - poisons developed by plants to protect themselves against being eaten. Over time humans developed innate reactions against such tastes and it is these responses that prompt babies to reject certain foods.  Bring on the Brussel Sprouts and Lima beans!! (Oh wait, I rejected Lima beans a long time ago!!)

One more week till 2nd ObGyn appointment and hopefully another chance to hear BB heartbeat with the Doppler. Despite my best efforts and way too much time with a stethoscope pressed against my belly, I still cannot hear his/her little ticker at home.yet!  At this appointment, I hope to learn the results of my IPS testing, and whether or not I will need to consider an Amnio. The IPS testing only gives you a probability (%) based on the scan, blood results, family history and age. I don't really want an Amnio...I'd rather just take what comes in the end and enjoy the journey to get there.

We've started thinking about Baby names.  What a job!  I never thought it would be so hard!  The pressure of giving your child a name that he will carry through his life is very stressful!  We want unique but not so much so that the poor child needs to spell it to everyone they ever meet.  Nor do we want people to say "What were your parents thinking?!?" We also don't want to go too trendy otherwise when the teacher calls out Ethan..he'll be one of 10 hands that shoot up in the air. Then there is the consideration of what potentially rhymes with the chosen name so as not to give arsenal to playground bullies!  Sigh.  At least when we find out the gender, it will narrow our search!!

What's happening with baby this week? "By week 17, your baby weighs about 5 ounces and is 5 inches long, crown to rump. His head is starting to look more proportional to his body, and he can hold his head more erect. His skeleton, which at first was a rubbery consistency, is starting to harden to bone, and he can move his joints quite well. Pads are beginning to form on his little fingertips and toes, and he is not far off from developing fingerprints.  Although his eyelids are still fused together, his eyes have moved from the side of his head to the front, and are facing forward now. His sense of hearing is now developing, and he is consumed with listening to the sounds of your heartbeat.

Bring on week 18...almost half way there!!