What's Wee Up To This Month? Installment Five

Month Five -- Weeks 17-20

Size -- Wee transitions from fruit-sized to vegetable-sized and then back to fruit-sized this month as (s)he goes from pear to avocado to baking potato to watermelon slice.

Development -- Wee's cartilage will harden to bone this month (which is why Wee encourages me to eat so much cheese!). Of course, eating all that cheese will also be useful as Wee starts collecting some fat -- that's my baby!! Gonna be a fat, fat baby. By the end of the month, the bones and nerve endings in Wee's ears will be developed enough for Wee to hear my voice and heartbeat, which means Wee will be able to hear your voices, too, but that's no reason to bend down and address my stomach when you have something to say since I can't promise that my kickboxing training won't make itself known. Another reason not to get too close to my stomach with your face is that Wee might try to kick you him/herself, but I won't feel Wee's kicks for another few weeks. Also, Wee grows some vocal cords this month but won't be making any use of them until there's some air available. Wee's brain might be the busiest part of Wee this month as it develops millions of motor neurons.

Appearance -- Wee will be growing finger/toenails this month and already has a fully formed nose (hopefully Wee is not a prenatal nose-picker). If you do disregard my advice from above and choose to bend down and talk to my belly, I will instruct Wee to raise his/her eyebrows in disapproval since (s)he will be able to do that soon. Overall, Wee probably looks pretty well rested this month since (s)he is sleeping 18 hours per day. Again -- that's my baby!!

Stay tuned! This month we'll find out if Wee is a He Wee or a She Wee -- ultrasound on December 21.

Rachel's belly at 16 weeks

Maternity Pants

Well, the come-and-go belly ended last week when I realized that more coming than going was taking place and that I had button imprints on my stomach no matter what pants I was wearing. I got my first few pairs of maternity pants last night and am loving the pair I have on today. A girl I work with had her second baby earlier this year, and she said to go for the maternity pants as soon as your regular pants stop feeling good. She said she waited a while and suffered through her regular pants with the first baby but switched over to maternity pants much sooner with the second baby (since she already had them) and was so much more comfortable. Odd that I look more pregnant with pants that fit than I did with pants that didn't fit, but thus ends the constant debate about whether to unfasten the button or keep it hooked.

One funny story about the shopping... Chris and I just went to Target to see how maternity clothes even work (turns out, at Target anyway, that they're still numbered the way non-maternity pants are so they sort-of fit your butt and legs and then just add elastic to the waistband). Some of the pants I tried on still had buttons/zippers in the front and then elastic on the sides, and some were nothing but elastic -- just 6 inches of stretchiness at the top of my pants, plus some faux zipper covers so it's not so obvious that I have no real zipper. They're awesome, and Chris is a little worried that I'll never go back to regular pants even after the baby is born and I'm normal sized again. :) When I was trying my pants on, there was a lady in there trying on jeans. After we passed each other a few times (her on her way to the 3-sided mirror, me on my way to get Chris' input), she finally asked my opinion on her jeans. She wanted to know if they were too small, so I weighed in and helped her decide. I was back out modeling for Chris (who laughed the first time I came out and showed him my waistband, but then stopped when he saw that the fitting room attendant lady was about to smack him for laughing at the woman carrying his child -- don't worry -- it didn't hurt my feelings because they really are funny looking) when the jeans lady walked out with her choice. I happened to be showing off some maternity jeans (which I got -- oh, yeah!) and she said, "Those are cute!" Chris and I both thought that she was about to ask where I found them (to which I would have replied, "Not anywhere in the section where you were shopping"), but then she changed her mind and went with her original choice.

So now I have pants that I don't want to unbutton when I sit down. I tried a few shirts, too, but it's too early for them -- just focusing on shirts that are long enough to cover all my elastic for now.