Today marks 14 weeks. By all charts, I’m for sure in my 2nd trimester now. Sheesh, only 2/3 of the way to go!

Not much has changed since last week. I’m feeling fine. Still tired.

I mentioned that I was sort of bloaty, but when I was talking with my mom, she said it might be a little bit of bloat, but more likely it’s my guts being smooshed together.

I guess when you’re housing a 3.5″ long baby, your guts have to smoosh together to make room.

Despite this gut-smooshing, a stranger on the street wouldn’t think anything of it. Heck, even Shane teases me about not looking like a preggo.

Which is fine, actually. I read a chilling news story this morning about a crazy person who killed a pregnant lady and cut her baby from her.

It’s rare, sure, but it happens often enough to make me fearful of being largely pregnant and alone in public or in private with someone who isn’t family or a trusted friend from my pre-pregnant days.

I know that most people who might offer me baby clothes or whatever have nothing but the best of intentions. But it’s those nutjobs out there who could cause such gruesome harm that make me think I should be wary of just about anyone.

It’s a shame, but it’s the world we’re living in.

*Shudder*

Anyway, on to happier things. Baby is probably flipping and doing somersaults and stuff. I can’t feel it just yet, I think. They say the first movements you feel could be interpreted as feeling flutters or gas. I definitely know what gas feels like, so hopefully I’ll be able to make the distinction!

Here’s the development this week according to BabyCenter.com:

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.