Go, Placenta, Go!

Welcome to week 14, the official start of my second trimester! Here's what babycenter.com has to say about week 14:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

So, I have actually started feeling less sick, which means the placenta has taken over the protection of the baby. The placenta, unlike the yolk sack that's been on guard for the past however many weeks, doesn't emit hormones to protect the baby. It's those pesky HCG hormones that make you sick in the first place. Humans are one of the few species whose bodies try to reject the growing baby, which is why the baby needs protection at all.

I also got my first maternity clothes yesterday. I bought 3 pairs of pants from Old Navy's maternity store. They are so comfy! I wish all pants had elastic waistbands. Buttons and zippers are way over-rated. We'll probably hit up the Macy's sale and Target this weekend to find some better fitting tops, but at least I don't have to walk around with my pants unbuttoned anymore!