18/19 Weeks

This is a BIG week! We find out on Thursday if this little peanut is going to be a princess or a quarterback! It's like the week of Christmas. Luckily, we have plenty of other things, like work, to keep us distracted. This will be my last post that I refer to the baby as a "it" or "the baby".

Lacy is still doing good, she seems to be peeing more, which I thought was impossible. She has also been having nose bleeds, which are perfectly normal according to our books. Those books have been lifesavers. We have "What To Expect When Your Expecting", "Your Pregnancy Week By Week", and I am sure if there was a book called "Your Pregnancy Minute by Minute" we would own it.

The baby is busy flexing his/her arms and legs — movements that we'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. The blood vessels are visible through his/her thin skin, and the ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from the head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the nerves, a process that will continue for a year after birth. If we are having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If we are having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from us during an ultrasound. Let's hope not.

The baby's sensory development is exploding! The brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that he/she may be able to hear our voices now.
The peanut weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a tomato. So I guess he/she isn't really a peanut anymore. The arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the body now. The kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his/her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on the skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

There are plenty of wives tales and myths that claim to predict the sex of the baby. As myths become debunked, they go away. One myth in particular is a good example---18th-century French noblemen would remove their left testicle to have a boy. Not surprisingly, this method has ceased to be used as a way to ensure a baby's sex. I still have my left testicle, so GIRL it is.

Morning sickness is a common symptom of pregnancy, but if you have severe morning sickness--the kind that lasts your whole pregnancy and puts you in danger of not getting enough nutrition--you may be carrying a girl.... so they say. If this were true, we would be having a boy. Morning sickness has rarely been an issue at all. The rare occasion where sickness and nausea sneaks up has been in the evening, not even in the morning, ha. Verdict - BOY

Maybe it's because girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but legend says that those who crave sweet foods are more likely to have a girl baby than a boy baby. If you crave salty foods, on the other hand, you may want to deck out the nursery in blue. Lacy is definitely a salty food person. Her weakness is seasoned french fries. She has craved sweets more of late, but she hasn't given in to those cravings.... yet. Vedict - BOY

Legend has it that if the baby's heart rate is sluggish and stays primarily below 140 beats per minute, it's a boy. If the heartbeat races well over 140, you have a little girl a cookin'. The heart rate has been over 140 from the beginning. Verdict - GIRL

Another legend says to pay attention to the hubby's waistline. According to some, if dad gains weight during your pregnancy you should paint the nursery blue as it will soon house a baby boy. If dad stays svelte, pick up some pink paint. If this were true, we should start buying dresses and hairbows. Verdict - GIRL

An old wives' tale contends that moms who are pregnant with girls are picky about their food, while moms brewing boys are less picky. Lacy has bever been picky and still isn't. Verdict - BOY

Final score is 3 for the BOYS and 3 for the GIRLS. So none of this helps, these legends and wives tales contradict themselves based on Lacy's symptoms and my waisteline. We'll use our "gut" as a tiebreaker.
Lacy and I both have a feeling this peanut, I mean tomato, is a girl. Dr. Victor Shamas, of the University of Arizona, conducted research that shows that mothers are accurate 70 percent of the time, based on intuition alone. So after overtime, the GIRLS win 4-3. We'll hopefully know for sure on Thursday.