17 weeks

Here is what is going on with our baby this week according to babycenter.com;

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.  Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts.  You may also notice your eyes becoming drier. Using over-the-counter lubricating drops may help. If your contact lenses become uncomfortable, try wearing them for shorter stretches of time. If you still have discomfort, switch to glasses until after you give birth.  Many women report that their dream life shifts into high gear during pregnancy. Interestingly, during the second and third trimesters, you spend less sleep time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the cycle in which most dreams occur. Why, then, all those frequent and vivid dream memories?  It's probably at least in part because you may be interrupting a dream-filled cycle when you wake up to pee, cope with heartburn, leg cramps, restless legs, or a backache, or to shift to a more comfortable position. Waking up during REM sleep makes you more likely to remember your dreams.  It may also be in part that dreams seem so vivid during pregnancy because for most women pregnancy is a time of such heightened emotions — from joy to apprehension and everything in between — but no one really knows for sure.

As for me... I'm still feeling great!  I've had some cramps here and there, but nothing major, or that lasts over a few minutes, they are probably just the result of my body stretching and growing.  I'm hungry almost all of the time, and rarely seem to feel full, but I've been trying to eat lots of little meals rather than trying to get full in one sitting.  I've felt a few little rumblings in my tummy that I think may have been the baby moving, but I'm still not 100% sure about that.  My doctor says that is normal, and eventually I will know what it and isn't the baby moving around.  My belly hasn't grown too much in the last week, but it has gotten a lot firmer all over.  It's nice to feel like my bump is actually a baby and not just extra squish.  I could still eat sushi all day, every day and I'm still loving eating lots of salads... mostly cabbage based this week.  I'm not craving nearly as much heavy food as I was before, but frozen yogurt, sausages, and pizza all sound amazing.  I'm getting up at least 1-2 times per night to use the restroom, but nothing too bad yet.  I have been having lots of vivid and crazy dreams recently, so it's good to see from babycenter.com that that is normal.  I've had a lot of spells of "baby brain" where I just do silly things and feel dumb... for example, I made chicken curry (which I make about once a month, and have been making the same way for years) and I forgot to saute the onions before I made the sauce, and when I realized it and decided to do them in a different pan and then add them in I chopped them instead of slicing them like I always do.  This is small and silly, but I've been doing things like this all of them time!

Shannon