Orange You Glad?

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

Orange you glad that another week has come and gone and you are still growing stronger and bigger every day?  I know we are!

We are beginning our 17th week together.  You are starting to develop brown fat under your skin to help keep you warm at birth.  Your lungs are getting ready to take in oxygen and you are about the length of a large orange, or about 5 - 6.5 inches long.  Your skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and your umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker.  You weigh about 5 ounces now.  You are able to move your joints and  your sweat glands are developing.  Your hearing is beginning to develop and your ears are almost in their final location.  That's a lot of work for one week!

As you grow and change, I am growing and changing too.  My allergies have been a lot worse and I learned today, this can be related to pregnancy.  Since you are growing, my internal organs are moving around also, so you have room to grow.  Because of that, I have to eat several small meals a day because my stomach just won't hold that much right now.  I learned about a couple of changes the hard way - nose bleeds and sunburn.  This weekend, your Daddy and I wanted to plant some pretty summer flowers in the front yard.

All the digging and bending over caused me to have a nose bleed, another common thing to happen in pregnancy.  My skin is also much more sensitive to the sun than it has been in the past.  I did not know this, and I ended up looking like a lobster!

I now know I need to lather up in sunscreen this Summer when I venture outside.

I am not really having any cravings so-to-speak, but I did pick up one of my Grandmother's, your Great Grandmother's favorite desserts at the store tonight; Sherbet, or "Sherbert" as I called it when I was little (Shhh! Don't tell anybody, but I still call it Sherbert!).  She was my Daddy's mother and she was a wonderful lady.  She was very kind and loving and meant a lot to me.  I will have to tell you all about her one day.  I wish she were still here to celebrate you and hold you, but I have a feeling she had something to do with sending us down the very special gift of you, Sweet Baby Kay.

This is your four legged brother, Tanner.  He is sitting in your nursery in this picture looking forward to your arrival.  I think the two of you will be best buds.

Another week of loving you and helping you grow is upon us. We couldn't be happier. 

With all my love,

Mom