Visiting my best friends

On Wednesday I drove three hours to Bloomington, IL, to meet one of my best friends, Desiree, who lives in Charleston. I wish my best friends lived closer! My other best friend, Jen, who is also pregnant, lives in near Chicago. She's about 10 weeks ahead of me, due in late August. We used to live almost next door to each other in neighboring subdivisions. And now we're so far apart. I'm hoping to visit her sometime soon too.

It was great to see Desiree. The last time I saw her was Christmas time. We had a fabulous lunch at Olive Garden and then hung out at a mall across the street from the restaurant. We had milkshakes from this foodcourt place there that weren't very good.

One of the highlights of the day was that Desiree brought Doug and I our first baby gift! She gave us a hooded towel and washcloth set, a set of 5 onesies and a set of 3 burping cloths, all in yellow and green of course since we don't know yet if its a boy or a girl. Thank you Desiree!

My belly is starting to grow every day, though it is still not obvious from the outside over my clothes. It isn't even that obvious without clothes. But I can feel it. If I put on a pair of pants I haven't worn in awhile they fit differently. In fact, this morning my belly felt like it had grown overnight!

I'm feeling more round ligament pains in regular movement as well as sleeping. I hope running stays comfortable because I'm not ready to give that up yet. I gained a pound this week, which could have been because of having too much dessert this week, but I also think its because baby is growing. I'm hoping to make it to the doctor next week having gained only 1 or 2 pounds instead of the 9 I gained between my first and second appointments.

Here's whats going on this week, according to http://www.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."