Dear Pooh Bear: Week 15

Dear Pooh Bear, I am so sorry that I missed writing about your 14th week, but you were with your Daddy and I on our vacation in Sarasota Florida! That’s right, you may not have known it, but you’ve already traveled so far in your little lifetime. I know you can’t really hear us yet, and your eyes are still closed, but I am sure you felt the change in temperature! Your mommy was very hot in Florida, but as you know I made sure to keep you nice and cool by floating in the pool, or sitting under the umbrella. During week 15 your mommy will be turning 30 years old! That’s right! We get to celebrate my birthday this week!

I am so excited to feel your little flutters inside my belly. Hopefully you will let me feel them sooner than later. My books told me that it may start at week 16, so we aren’t there yet, but I still lay there at night hoping to feel you a bit early. Your daddy and I made sure to take pictures of my belly while away so someday you can look back on pictures and see what you looked like inside mommy’s belly. I think people are sort of getting to see more and more that I am showing on a day to day basis. It’s still a little iffy though…sometimes I just look like I have a beer gut. Your daddy says that I want to wear a sign that says “I’m not fat I’m pregnant”. Maybe that is the case???

I find myself wanting to tell anyone who will listen that you are in my belly dear Pooh Bear. Although I’ve seen pictures of you, and know you are in there sometimes it still doesn’t feel real. It’s amazing that in a few short months you will be introducing yourself to us in full force. For now I take the milestones day by day. Or maybe month by month since I am truly looking forward to finding out if you are a boy or a girl on July 19th. Then I can truly start to picture you, and plan.

Your mommy has done a really good job at not really going crazy. (your daddy may say otherwise) I haven’t even begun looking at registry items, or really made any future plans. I am trying to enjoy this day by day…and I think I am succeeding. I think it helps that I am preoccupied working on you Aunt Kelly’s wedding. All in all I find myself smiling daily when I think about you.

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She’s busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she’s likely to move away from the beam. There’s not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby’s a boy or a girl! (Don’t be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby’s sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby’s position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to “hide the goods.”

Sometimes when I think about you growing inside my belly I find myself in awe. A life is growing inside me, and each day, minute, hour and second a new piece is developing. It truly is a gift from God to be able to experience it, and I am truly blessed. Keep growing in there little Pooh Bear. Maybe someday soon you’ll give your mommy a little shout out to give me a little preview of the movement to come. I’m waiting patiently.