Update on Baby Horak - 17 Weeks Pregnant

Our baby is about five inches long and more than three and a half ounces  — the size of your open hand. Body fat (baby's, that is) is beginning to form and will continue to accumulate through the end of my pregnancy.  By the time our baby is born, body fat will make up about two-thirds of his or her weight. 

Our baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — the lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. 

Our baby is really listening up by now. In fact, loud noises — the dog barking, the doorbell ringing — will actually startle our baby (and also get him or her used to such noises; for instance, fetuses who regularly hear a dog barking will become babies who sleep right through Fido's outbursts...so maybe we can start teaching our baby now to sleep through Daddy & Macy's howling sessions!).  ;)  Our baby's eyes (which have fortunately finished their migration  to the front of his or her head) are making small side-to-side movements and can even perceive some light, though the eyelids are still sealed.  And since practice makes perfect, our baby is sharpening his or her sucking and swallowing skills in preparation for that first meal. In fact, most of the survival reflexes that our baby will have at birth are being perfected in utero right now.

I'm feeling so good and starting to get used to my growing tummy.  Although, trying to figure out how to dress that growing tummy every day is beginning to be a challenge.  :P  I haven't broken out in the maternity garb yet, just feeling thankful for my collection of cardigans and long shirts/camis!  ;)

Here's an updated picture of my pregnant self.  :)