Week 16

Coming in at about the size of an avocado this week, Peanut is poised for a major growth spurt. His almost 5 inches and 4 ounces will soon be a thing of the past as he prepares to double his weight fairly rapidly. His legs are more developed this week and his eyes have moved closer to their final position at the front of his head. Toenails are beginning to form and hair will be sprouting from his tiny scalp soon. His tiny heart is working hard to keep up with his rapid growth, pumping nearly 25 quarts of blood each day!

Things are definitely happening more rapidly with this pregnancy than they did with our first. The round ligaments and abdominal muscles that were so sore as Abby grew inside of me are stretching much more quickly this time around, and all that rapid stretching out is making for a lot more muscle pain this week. My belly, which up until now has been noticeable only to Justin and I, is trying hard to make its debut, and fast! It feels as if I went from not showing at all to very pregnant almost overnight!

We continue to praise God for the miracle of the continued growth of this little one inside of me. This pregnancy started out with a lot of unknowns and a lot of fears, and I was awed again this week as I thought back over the healing miracle God did in my uterus. It's just another evidence of His grace in our lives that He's continuing to keep this little one safe and secure, for there's certainly nothing we could have done (and the doctors confirmed that fact!) to bring healing to the blood clots that were worrying us before. Thank you for joining with us in thanking this great God of ours for caring for this tiny life that He's knitting together in my womb!