18 Weeks and counting!

Its amazing how fast things are going!! Im getting a nice bump (its crazy how fast your belly sticks out when you're on your 4th pregnancy!!!). Some days I just feel fat, other days I feel pregnant lol. I feel the baby move more and more and often try to remind him/her that he/she needs to stop kicking my bladder! Im really looking forward to being able to feel the baby move from the outside so that A and D can feel it themselves.  
We had our midwife appointment last week and heard the heartbeat again which I know A really enjoys hearing. After, we enjoyed a nice dinner out, the 4 of us...the first time Miles has been able to hang out with D since first meeting them way back in October!


So...this week the baby is approximately 5.5inches/ 14.2 centimetres long from crown to rump (about the size of a bell pepper) and she weighs about 7 ounces/ 190 grams. Her chest moves up and down to mimic breathing but she's not taking in air, only amniotic fluid. Around this time, the baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that the baby can hear now. She will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds and will become startled if she hears a loud sound. The fingernails are formed, taste buds are present and the gender is evident!

So next week we have the "big" ultrasound!!! Very excited!!! They want to know the gender and thats super exciting!! I think its a girl and apparently so does everyone else....which then make A think it must be a boy lol.  Funny though, over the weekend, my mom, kids and I went to RenFest and mom saw a psychic who said somthing about "Maybe this will be a boy...or a very fierce girl!" So...we will see I guess on the 10th!!!