At my last OB appointment, the doctor wrote on the prescription for the 19-week anatomy scan (which will be May 13) that I am due 10/10.

My first thought was to wonder if my chart had been switched with someone else’s. Then I realized that she was taking the last early measurement of the baby, which helps calculate the due date before the 8th week (when the size of babies are most consistent with their age) if the date of the last menstrual period is not known.

For the record, if we go by the date of my last period, my due date is 10/4.

If we go by my 7th week ultrasound measurements, my due date is 10/10. But this can’t be totally accurate, since at Week 6 I was measuring to be due 10/7…and during my NT scan the baby was measuring larger than average, which may mean an earlier date.

Since less than 5% of women actually deliver on their due dates — and most doctors go by the date of the last menstrual period — I’ve decided to just cut out the confusion and stick with 10/4. I know most first-time moms go over their due dates anyway (but at the same time, I may go into labor a full 3-4 weeks early like a few of my friends did), so I’ll just continue telling people, “I’m due end of September to early October.”

Now, on to my much-belated Weeek 14 update!

Dear Baby,

Your limbs are coordinated enough to be making some complicated motions, many of which we have witnessed on ultrasounds. However, starting this week, you are moving on to facial expressions: squint, frown, and grimace!

(I can’t wait until you are able to start smiling and laughing, but these are apparently more “advanced” emotional responses.)

You are now urinating directly into the amniotic fluid, which you will continue to do until you are born, but at the same time breathing that same fluid as your liver, kidneys, and spleen continue to develop.

Have you noticed some changes to your skin lately? It’s because you’re starting to develop lanugo, an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, all over your body for warmth.

Your mother is feeling better than ever, but at the same time just plain feeling FAT. I’m at that in-between stage where I definitely have a belly (my waist size has already gone up by 6 inches!) but I still don’t look pregnant. Before I had been sucking in my tummy in public but lately I’ve found myself sticking it out so people realize I’m growing a human inside, not getting fat.

My weight has certainly plateaued — at this week’s appointment I hadn’t gained a pound since the last appoint which was 4 weeks ago — and I’m very happy about that. My belly has certainly grown since then, so I’m thinking that my weight has re-distributed throughout my body. My goal is to not gain too much weight in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters since I already gained enough in the 1st. I continue to take long walks with your furry big brother Comang and trying my best not to overeat.

The only bad thing about this week’s appointment was that the doctor didn’t print out an ultrasound picture for us to take home…how rude!

In one week I will go in for a test called the alpha-fetoprotein screening (AFP) which tests my blood for additional abnormalities (especially open neural tube defects such as spina bifida) that the NT scan may not have picked up on.

Our next official OB appointment is May 3, when I will meet the third and final doctor in our OB practice. I have heard he’s a very nice and pleasant man, so I’m going to ask if we can find out “the big question” — will you pee standing up or sitting down? I will be 18 weeks along then, so it’s definitely possible that we may find out!

If not then, our big anatomy scan at the hospital is scheduled for May 13 and we will almost definitely find out then. I can’t wait to know, baby! My heart tells me it’s a boy, but my mother thinks it’s a girl. Only time will tell…