15 weeks and a pink lady...

Every Wednesday when it turns over to a new week in the pregnancy timeline, I give Erik little updates on how big the baby has grown to (ie which size fruit) as well as some other developmental milestones that the baby has reached that week.  Sometime around week 10 or so (back around the size of a prune) Erik asked me when the baby would be the size of a Pink Lady Apple.  He said with a silly little smile on his face that he definitely wanted to know when we got to that point.  Well honey - we are there.  And this one is for you  :)

 

Why a Pink Lady Apple?  Well to say that Erik has an apple obsession would be an understatement.  I don't think a day has gone by in our 5 years together that he hasn't had an apple (or 2 or more) his favorites being Pink Lady and Honeycrisp.  Even out of season, this boy sure loves his apples! 

15 weeks + 5 days.  Erik, his lady, and his Pink Lady  :)

At 15 weeks, the baby is the size of an apple (specifically for Erik - one of the Pink Lady variety,) measuring in at 4 inches from crown to rump and weighing around 2.5 ounces.  The baby is becoming more proportional in size, as the legs now outmeasure the arms.  Also, all four limbs have functional joints.  He/she is busy moving amniotic fluid through their nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in the lungs begin to develop.  And although the eyelids are still fused shut, the baby can sense light and would likely move away from the beam if I were to shine a flashlight at my belly.  I still can't feel it yet, but the baby is getting quite a workout on the inside, moving and squirming, sucking it's thumb and probably hiccuping.  I read it's possible to feel "flutters" starting at week 16 which is only a couple of days away, but I am more likely to start feeling something closer to 18 weeks.

15 weeks + 5 days

Thankfully, I can report that I am still feeling great!  Getting a good nights sleep seems to be the answer to relieving the headache problem, so I have been working on that the best I can.  The only symptom I am having besides a slowly growing waistline, is the occasional round ligament pain that started a couple of weeks ago.  It is the worst when I have been sitting a while and get up quickly, and it pinches so hard in my belly I can't stand up straight for a few seconds, lol.  It resolves almost instantly, and I don't even ever think about it until the next time it happens and catches me off guard!  No big thing.

One of my pregnancy apps informed me that at week 15 there is only 25 left.  Yes, I understand what simple math that is (40 - 15 = 25) but to see the numbers I was like "25? what!?"  That is so much less than 40!  Ha.  In just over 4 weeks we will be halfway there.  I mentioned that little fact to Erik and he was completely shocked too.  4 weeks flies by in no time these days.  It seriously feels like last week that Erik asked me when our little prune was going to be an apple.  That was almost 6 weeks ago.  Gulp.

Over the weekend I pulled out my old "painting" shorts to work on some projects around the house.  While I could technically still button them, it was not very comfortable at all.  If I have never mentioned this before - I can't stand tight clothes, especially in my stomach area.  I have been like this my whole life.  True story - I wore those stretchy knit pants (yes, the kind with the stirrups) until the 6th grade when my Mom finally convinced me that jeans were okay.  After I put on the too-tight shorts this weekend, I suddenly remembered that I had picked up a belly band at a yard sale (for $1 I think) a few months ago.  What a lifesaver.  I thought for sure my clothes would fall down while wearing it, but it kept everything in place all day, without my shorts being too tight at all.  Genius invention!

Thank you to my sweet hubby for participating in this blog post + photo shoot, and for making it through the entire thing without actually eating that lovely apple!  ;)

This weekly pregnancy update was brought to you by organic Pink Lady Apples, which we snacked on while I typed this post tonight.  Also by my belly band, which held up my shorts for the entire photo shoot today.  And of course, by the letter B.

How bout them apples?  ;)