Hallelujah!

I'm in my 2nd trimester! Whooooo! I feel like I've waited a long time to get here. I'm 14 weeks this week, however, once I hit 12 weeks, I started feeling alive again. No more sickness and no more feeling like I have to take emergency naps (although I've kept my palate in tact in my car just in case). My cravings are Cuties oranges (I eat at least 3 or 4 a day) and green beans...mmmmm...

This week's big developments: The baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck it's thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, it's facial muscles are getting a workout as it's tiny features form one expression after another. The kidneys are producing urine, which the baby releases into the amniotic fluid around it — a process the baby will keep up until birth. He or she can grasp, too, and if I had an ultrasound now, I may even catch the baby sucking it's thumb.
In other news: The baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, it measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. The body's growing faster than the head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of it's body. (The baby's legs still have some lengthening to do...and boooy will they lengthen coming from his father) It's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. The baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though I can't feel the tiny punches and kicks yet, little lemon's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Next appointment is April 13th. I think I'm developing a little baby bump! I'll post pictures when I update from the next Dr's appointment.