Another Baby Marin Is Coming!: 15 Weeks! And it's SURPRISE week!

Hi baby! Your Daddy and I are having an absolute BLAST in San Francisco over the past three days. We have definitely made the most of our time here...wow...we've been busy! I'll post some pictures below...right after I tell you a little bit about what's going on with you this week!

You now measure about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weigh in at about 2 1/2 ounces - you are the size of an apple! You are busy moving amniotic fluid through your nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in your lungs begin to develop. Your legs are growing longer than your arms now, and you can move all of your joints and limbs. Your bones continue to harden and retain calcium very rapidly. At this point in my pregnancy with you, the placenta will begin to take on the job of hormone production to sustain you, which was the job of my ovaries up to this point. Your eyelids are now firmly shut, and will stay closed until the third trimester. And although that's the case, you can still sense light. If I would shine a flashlight on my tummy, for instance, you're likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for you to taste at this point, but you are forming taste buds.

I am definitely feeling more and more pregnant all the time. Even though to others I probably just look chunky in the middle. =) I can't wait until you are all curled up in a big ball inside my belly for the whole world to see! Even though we have been on a mini-vacation tihs week, my blood sugars have been pretty good...especially with all the walking we have been doing here in San Fran! I had one night (after I splurged on a chocolate shake at night and shouldn't have!) where I had a 200 level blood sugar from 2-6am....so hopefully you didn't get affected by that too much, especially since I have been darn good at all other times.

And, like the title says, we have a big surprise this week! Can't wait to tell you! But not yet...I'll write you again on Thursday or Friday and fill you in on the big scoop! =)

So...a little about San Fran and what we have done so far. We figured out the cable cars and public transportation - I think we are pretty proud of ourselves for this! We can get ourselves to the San Francisco Airport, Wharf or the Golden Gate bridge, no problem! =) The cable cars are fun to ride on - and there are hills like you wouldn't believe in this city! We had to walk up some major hills WITH our luggage the day we got here (we're too cheap for cabs!). Luckily, the way back to the airport is now downhill...so that will be a big help tomorrow! We have already checked out all of the Fisherman's Wharf and ate dinner there the first night, as well as picking some yummy chocolate up at Ghirardelli Square. We also did a "Ride the Duck" tour yesterday morning, where 2/3 of the tour is on land (so we got to see all the fun spots around town without walking the hills - yay!) and then the other part, the tour bus turns into a boat, so we got to go out into the ocean and see the city from that angle instead, which included the Bay Bridge. It was so very cold - I hope you were kept warm! We also did an Alcatraz tour yesterday afternoon, which your Daddy especially loved and took a lot of pictures with his nice camera. We checked on Pier 39 and ate some fresh strawberries (that tasted like they had been rolled in sugar or something!) and fresh cherries from a market there. They were so good! Oh, and today we went to Chinatown, which is pretty close to our hotel and ate some FABULOUS Chinese food and got the girls some cool gifts, we did a little shopping in Union Square, and then used our crazy cool public transportation skills to take the buses to the Golden Gate Bridge. That was soooo cool - we walked out on the bridge about a third of the way (so cold and windy!) and then back. Your Daddy isn't a fan of heights - but he was all for walking it - although it was a little freaky once you got out more towards the center of it! We had a great day because there was little fog (and I guess June is "fog month", so we lucked out). Gosh, I guess that's about it. We have been so busy - and our bodies are TIRED from all the walking and activities...but it's been a great three days!

I'll leave you with a few pictures that your we took. Love you baby! I'll be in touch on Thursday or Friday! =)

Your Mommy and Alcatraz Island (and you can even see you (a.k.a. baby bump) there a bit too!

Entrance to Chinatown

Cable Car and the crazy San Fran roads!

Cable Car in action - so much for seat belts!

Almost to Fisherman's Wharf - great view of the ocean!

First night in San Fran - at Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge - sun down and just a little fog

This is our land/sea "tour bus" - so much fun - the driver makes it that way!

The view from the boat portion of the tour - that's the Bay Bridge

We are coming in on the boat to Alcatraz - the prison portion is the top building

Entering into the prison at Alcatraz - we weren't sure they'd let us out!

Prison cells at Alcatraz

Staff's Apartments and Barracks - your Daddy's shot from his camera

This was one of just a couple tiny wimdows in the hallways where the prisoners walked - how crazy to see this view from the prison! (This is from your Daddy's snazzy camera)