7 Weeks

I wrote this last week, but forgot to post it here!

Dear Baby G,

This week I went to the doctor for the first time. Your daddy, me, and my mom all got to see your heartbeat and hear it also. It was fast and strong, so keep up the good work! You looked teeny tiny on the screen, but knowing your heart was beating was wonderful news! We got a picture of you to take home, too. We have been showing it to lots of people.

I told the kids in my classes at school about you yesterday. A lot of them are excited too! You just already have so many people who are anxiously waiting for you. You will be surrounded with love no matter if it is from your family or those who are close enough to be your family. We can't wait until our next appointment to see you and hear your heartbeat again!

How your baby's growing:
The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin.

Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.