Happy Birthday to you, blog!

Guess what? We just passed the one-year mark on our little ole' blog. Yes, a year ago Mr. Holden was known to us as the Short Stranger, and he was about the size of an avocado. Which...is the next food after carrots that he'll be trying on his tour through solid foods!

Here's some fun facts about the blog:
-Total number of blog posts: 196
-Month with the most posts: October (no surprise there since I was due that month!)
-Months with the least entries: December,when Holden was a month year old, and April, when I had many many work projects due
-And...besides the "baby's size," and "Holden," the most popular topic has been "sleep" (or lack thereof, heh heh)

18 Weeks!

Today is 18 weeks, and the short stranger is the size of a sweet pepper! I'm having a little trouble differentiating the sizes of peppers, avocados, and turnips in my head, but apparently, peppers are larger. In any case, what's even more interesting is that my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe.

According to babycenter:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

16 Weeks!

Welcome to our belatedly begun blog about our little one due sometime around Halloween. Between the the anxiety of the first trimester and the stress of grad school at the end of the semester, we failed to get this started until now. But, better late than never!

Today, we're 16 weeks along, almost half way to the 40 week finale! The short stranger's the size of an avocado, apparently, which kind of makes me crave guacamole and margaritas. Babycenter.com tells us this: 

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Why do I think this means a growth spurt for me too?