# 2, week 9

From babycenter.com:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

# 2, week 8

I thought it might be fun to do a weekly update on the development of # 2...and since it's my blog and I can do whatever I want, that's what's happening. This information is courtesy of babycenter.com.

How your baby's growing:
New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

When I was getting ready this morning, Jacob came in the bathroom and started "petting" my stomach. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm petting you." I told him, "You know that's where the baby is, right? Your little brother or little sister." He looked surprised and said, "My sister?" I don't know what he's going to do if we're having a boy...and NO, I have not put any notions in his head about a sister. I think it's because my brother and his wife had their second child in October, so his cousin, Ada, has a baby sister. He thinks he needs one too! Silly boy!

Potty-training

Jacob is three and we've had some potty training success on and off since he was two. Finally, this past week, we just went cold turkey with him...big-boy underwear. I'm happy to report that he's doing GREAT! He has worn big-boy underwear to school each day and has come home wearing the SAME clothes, which means...NO ACCIDENTS! He's doing pretty well at home too! He's even standing up! It's so GREAT! We're still struggling a little with going # 2, but everyone says that is harder. I'm pleased with our success with "peeping" as he calls it. We promised him a "red, crane train" so we're going to Target after school to see if we can purchase one. If not, I told him he could get another train...one way or the other, we're coming home with a train! I also brought him some "Scooby Dooby" fruit snacks as a treat for when I pick him up. He is such a wonderful, little boy! When we got to school on Tuesday morning, he told me, "thanks for driving me to school, mommy." He was so sincere about it. No, I don't normally make him walk to school and I am the one that takes him each day, so I'm not sure what prompted the gratitude, but it was very sweet and special.

# 2

Jacob's going to be a big brother! We are having our second child! We found out on January 27th that I was pregnant. We waited until we had our first doctor's appointment before we "spilled the beans" to everyone. During our ultrasound, we got to see AND hear the baby's heartbeat! That was so exciting and unexpected. We didn't get to hear Jacob's heartbeat until our 12 week appointment. My due date is September 29th and I'm measuring three days ahead. My doctor told me I would have to have a c-section again and she would schedule it the week before my due date, so between the 19th & 22nd. It's funny because Jacob was born on my brother, Brent's, birthday and my parent's anniversary and baby # 2 has a strong possibility of being born on Jeff's brother, Todd's, birthday, September 20th! Apparently, we can't have a child that has their own birthday!

I have "all-day sickness" but am managing. It is bad but hasn't been as bad as it was with Jacob so that is a blessing. Hopefully this time around it will only be the first trimester instead of the entire pregnancy! Also, my doctor told me that I only have a 10% chance of developing preeclampsia this pregnancy. That's a lot lower than I thought it would be. Turns out my chances for my first pregnancy were only 15%. I feel healthier than before so maybe it will all work out.

Keep us in your prayers, please.