10 Week Relaxation

Ben and I celebrated the 10 week milestone at the beach doing absolutely nothing, but relaxing.  We have had the busiest fall in years and this was the first weekend we had not one thing planned.  It was so nice to get away for a quiet weekend away before the holidays.  The weekend was spent watching ABC Family movies, football, eating dinner at T-Bonz and breakfast at Golden Griddle Pancake House.  We did manage to get in a few stops at the outlets for a couple of Christmas gifts, plus the cutest Santa outfit for Baby Stafford for next year.  It’s so fun to think everything we are doing now we will be doing next year with our baby.  Ben and I spent the majority of the weekend fantasying over the Holidays next year with our little munchkin’ and how much fun it will be. 

This past week I have felt the worse so far this pregnancy.  Morning sickness has been an all-day affair and I have completely lost my appetite.  I have lost a few pounds, but nothing to be worried about.  I’m still wearing my regular clothes, although I can tell they are getting quite snug around the waist.

Our baby has now completed the most critical portion of its development and is a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his or her body rapidly grow and mature.  The baby is  swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including the kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout my pregnancy.

In other developments: Our baby has tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on its tender skin.  Our little one’s limbs can bend now. His or her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and the feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Our baby's forehead temporarily bulges with the developing brain and sits very high on the head, which measures half the length of the body. From crown to rump, the baby about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, our baby will again double in size— to nearly 3 inches.