18 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

18 weeks! La Bean is getting more pronounced each day. She's awake now as I sit and type. This week has been a tiring one for some reason for me. Ryan went back to work on Tuesday and Riley and I both missed not having home with us.

By now, Riley knows the sound of the front door opening and he knows that it always means Dad. Whenever he hears it, he stops whatever he's doing and starts racing for the front door. On Friday, he and I were on the floor when he heard the door. He looked at me, let out a huge delighted squeal and carried that squeal all the way to Ryan's arms. We just laughed and as Ryan swung Riley up into the air, his little peals of laughter joined ours. He sure does love Dad!

We all got up this morning and participated in the Memory Walk for Alzheimer's. I've done this walk before. It really is a good cause and I'm glad we went. My pregnancy hormones were in overdrive this morning and I started crying halfway through the walk. I recovered quickly. It's been about 10 years since I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's but I miss her still and I know that'll never change. I wish so much that Ryan would have got to meet her. She would have spoiled him rotten with all her wonderful Southern cooking and by waiting on him hand and foot. She loved spoiling everyone who crossed her path. I wish she could have met her great-grandbabies, too. But I know her love and her memory live on.

La Bean is very active tonight! Hopefully she'll settle down soon so I can go to bed. I'm pretty tired. Tuesday is my doctor's appointment. I'm very excited about it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll schedule an ultrasound. Thanks so much to Stephanie for recommending him to me!

We went to see Stephanie, Reed and Gus today. Reed's birthday was Friday so we dropped off his birthday present to him. Gus and Riley played and played on the floor together. They are so funny. But Riley can be so rough! I hope he settles down before La Bean arrives. It is so much fun to watch the boys together though. At 7 and 8 1/2 months, the two don't really have any idea what sharing is, but they'll learn one day. With La Bean just 22 weeks away, he may have to learn faster than he wants!