16 Weeks Down, 24 To Go!

Yesterday (Saturday), I hit the 17-week mark in my pregnancy. Week 16 was fairly memorable for a couple of different reasons. First, I felt the baby kick for the first time! That's right, on Wednesday morning (August 4th), I felt a tiny kick in my lower abdomen. It was different than the other feelings I've had, so I put my hand over the area where I felt it...hoping that I would feel it again. Sure enough, I felt that sweet little tiny kick again. It was amazing.

The other memorable part of this week was our doctor's appointment on Friday. Matt and I got to hear our baby's heartbeat again! At my last appointment, the nurse told me that we'd be listening to the heartbeat at every appointment until my delivery. So, Matt came prepared to this one by bringing the recording device that he uses for work interviews. The doctor quickly found the heartbeat and said that it sounded great. I have to admit, it did sound GREAT. I'd even go so far to say incredible. Thanks to the recording device, we can listen to that precious sound whenever we want. : )

So, now we've begun Week 17 and have around 24 more to go (including this one). Here are some highlights of what's going on with the baby this week:

• The skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone.
• He or she weighs around 5 ounces and is around 5 inches long from the head to the bottom. That's about the size of a large onion.

Although I've been able to tell for weeks that my belly has grown, people continue to tell me that I'm not showing that much. This week, however, I do feel that my belly has popped out and become more visible. I'll be posting photos soon so that you can judge for yourselves.