State of the Baby - 17 Weeks

Today we had another doctor's appointment, and though the actual visit with the doctor was brief, our time spent there was not (an hour waiting in various rooms). Oh, well - we got a great pay-off when we got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! It was nice and strong at 152 beats per minute. The amusing part is that according to the nurse, our baby is a "mover"; it kept changing positions and made it difficult to get a heart reading. Hopefully, it will be cooperative at the next visit (August 29) so we can find out if it is a boy or girl!

And now, here is our weekly baby progression from babycenter.com (as always, the gender assignment below is purely speculative):

Your baby weighs about 5 ounces now, and he's around 5 inches long — about the size of a large onion. He can move his joints, and his skeleton — until now rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden to bone. His sense of hearing is also developing. The umbilical cord, his lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker.