We’re kind of picking up speed now–15 weeks! OK, so I realize I still have 23 to 27 weeks to go, but hey, progress is progress.

At church on Sunday, I told two ladies that I was due in December. They looked at my tummy and were like, “You’re pregnant? In your second trimester? Geez! By now, I was in maternity clothes!”

Yeah. I’m still not showing to the average passerby, but Shane and I can tell something’s up.

I have a mini-bump, if you could even call it that, but it’s low and hides under my waistband. It’s still really early, and my mom said she didn’t really show with me until she was in her fifth month.

Maybe I’ll be one of those lucky ones and carry small and compactly throughout. Or, maybe I’ll just explode and be the size of a barn.

From BabyCenter.com:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She’s busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she’s likely to move away from the beam.

There’s not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby’s a boy or a girl! (Don’t be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby’s sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby’s position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to “hide the goods.”)

Thinking up names for our baby has been difficult. I’ve read (yes read…not skimmed) three baby name books so far! I’ve visted countless web sites. For awhile, I was hoping by some miracle the kid would be born wearing a nametag. Knowing my luck, it would read something like “??????”. And what in the world would I do with that?

There are a few names that I sorta like, but they would sound terrible with our last name.

Here’s our naming criteria:

::Name cannot begin or end with “A”

::Preferably, name will end with a consonant

::Name must be easy to spell

::Name cannot be in the top 20 most popular baby names according to the Social Security Administration

::Cannot have a “acks” or “ecks” sound in the name. Example: No Jackson, Maxwell, Alex. Sounds too sing-songy with last name.

::Not too unique, since our last name is. But not too common either.

::Names cannot be nouns (other than simply a name) and cannot be verbs

::Must go well with our last name

::Cannot look or sound like “Shane” or “Kacie”

::NOT gender-neutral

::We like classic, sort of “old-fashioned” style names

Want to leave suggestions?

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.