25 Weeks!

I am 25 weeks pregnant today, 15 more weeks to go (eek)! It's definitely starting to get a little more real. I had a dream last night where I went into a very fast & painless labor. Somehow the baby (who was a boy in the dream) was 5 pounds, even though I was only as far along as I am now. Weird pregnancy dreams! Thankfully, the baby can survive outside the womb in only a couple of weeks (crazy!), so that won't be something I'm paranoid about.

Which also means that 3rd trimester is not too far off either. Eeek! In honor of that milestone, I've definitely started feeling more tired (even though I'm sleeping pretty well) and I think I'm starting to have some braxton-hicks contractions. I described them to a new mommy friend of mine and she said that's what they sounded like. Nothing too painful, but it was definitely an intro into what I'm going to be going through in a few months!

Anyway, this week, the baby is about 13 1/2 inches long and weighs 2 pounds. It's about the size of a rutabega (ya, I had to look that one up), and it's getting some realllly good, strong kicks in. Here are some development milestones for the week:
- Eyes are now open and retinas are developed. As a result, the baby can react to light
- The hair finally has color (wonder what it will be!)
- The baby's equilibrium is established
- The baby can react/respond to noise

Here are this week's belly pictures:

The belly is getting bigger!

Close-up on the 25 week baby belly