The baby now weighs about 3.75 pounds and is about 17 inches from head to toe. Although the lungs won't be fully developed until just before birth, our little one is inhaling amniotic fluid to excercise it's lungs, and practice breathing. At this point, some babies havea head of hair already, others have only a few wisps. Thick hair at birth doesn't necessarily mean thick hair later in life.
If it's a boy, his testicles should be descending from his abdomen to his scrotum. Sometimes however, one or both testicles won't move into position until after birth. Two thirds of all baby boys with undescended testicles at birth find the condition has self corrected by their first birthday.
I've got my OB appt today - everything is fine, we've just moved into the every 2 weeks stage. My next appointment will likely be March 10, then the 24th... then once a week after that!
I find I'm having a harder time sleeping than ever! I'm waking up over and over, and I'm unable to get comfortable again to fall back asleep - so I watch the clock tick by until it's a reasonable time to get up. I find that using the belly wedge helped last night, maybe it's just my heavy belly that hurts a bit, and thats keeping me up...
Rob's been feeling the baby move a lot more now - he claims the baby's getting stronger, I'm telling him it's more about bigger! There's not a whole lot of room left in there! I won't lie, I'm getting to the point I never thought I'd get to... I'm ready to get the baby out, now. I always thought I'd be that rare person that loved being pregnant so much, that it wouldn't matter how long I was pregnant. I was wrong! I love being pregnant, but I'm totally ready - so, baby, if you can read my mind... I'm hoping you're not thinking about going late!!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
31 Weeks
The baby's arms, legs and body continue to fill out and they are finally proportional in size to the baby's head. At this point, the baby's weight is about 3.3 pounds, and it's finally beginning to look more liek a newborn, measuring about 16 inches from head to toe.
At this point, I may notice that the baby isn't moving around as much as before, but this isn't cause to worry - the baby is just running out of room in my uterus. As long as I can feel the squirming now and again, the baby is doing just fine. There's still plenty of growing to do, we can expect to have the baby gain at least 2 more pounds before delivery!
The baby's organs are continuing to mature, passing water through the bladder - good practice for after it's born! Brain scans have even shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month 8.
Rob and I got the crib put together, so the nursery looks beautiful! Now it's just the little finishing touches, like some shelves for books, and pictures - all in good time :) We've even settled on names - we're NOT sharing them, we want them to be a surprise. So, in case anyone is wondering, for now - until birth... it's "little foot", aptly named because I'm always pushing little feet out from my ribs!
At this point, I may notice that the baby isn't moving around as much as before, but this isn't cause to worry - the baby is just running out of room in my uterus. As long as I can feel the squirming now and again, the baby is doing just fine. There's still plenty of growing to do, we can expect to have the baby gain at least 2 more pounds before delivery!
The baby's organs are continuing to mature, passing water through the bladder - good practice for after it's born! Brain scans have even shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month 8.
Rob and I got the crib put together, so the nursery looks beautiful! Now it's just the little finishing touches, like some shelves for books, and pictures - all in good time :) We've even settled on names - we're NOT sharing them, we want them to be a surprise. So, in case anyone is wondering, for now - until birth... it's "little foot", aptly named because I'm always pushing little feet out from my ribs!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
30 Weeks
The baby's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. While the baby will soon slow up growing in length, it will continue to gain weight until it's born. The baby now measures about 15.7 inches from head to toe now.
The baby continues to open and close it's eyes, seeing whats going on in utero, distinguishing between light and dark. In addition to turning towards a light shone on my belly, it may now reach out toward it. Some researchers believe that baring your stomach to to light stimulates visual development, but don't expect your little one to have 20/20 vision when it's born! Newborns can only see a distance of about 8-12 inches. Completing the picture, the baby now has eyebrows and eyelashes.
A litre of amniotic fluid now surrounds the baby, but that volume will decrease as the baby gets bigger. If you start to feel a little breathless, it's just your uterus pushing against your diaphragm!
So, we're almost there, I guess... 10 more weeks! We picked up the stroller, car seat, crib and dresser - everything looks fantastic! Rob and I spent most of the night last night putting the crib together, and once we were done, the room looked fantastic! The bright green is dulled down a lot, once the dark furniture is in there! Now we just have to decide on the positioning of the furniture, and I can start washing the little onesies and blankets!
Aside from that, we're both getting excited, it's getting more and more real, the bigger my belly gets...
The baby continues to open and close it's eyes, seeing whats going on in utero, distinguishing between light and dark. In addition to turning towards a light shone on my belly, it may now reach out toward it. Some researchers believe that baring your stomach to to light stimulates visual development, but don't expect your little one to have 20/20 vision when it's born! Newborns can only see a distance of about 8-12 inches. Completing the picture, the baby now has eyebrows and eyelashes.
A litre of amniotic fluid now surrounds the baby, but that volume will decrease as the baby gets bigger. If you start to feel a little breathless, it's just your uterus pushing against your diaphragm!
So, we're almost there, I guess... 10 more weeks! We picked up the stroller, car seat, crib and dresser - everything looks fantastic! Rob and I spent most of the night last night putting the crib together, and once we were done, the room looked fantastic! The bright green is dulled down a lot, once the dark furniture is in there! Now we just have to decide on the positioning of the furniture, and I can start washing the little onesies and blankets!
Aside from that, we're both getting excited, it's getting more and more real, the bigger my belly gets...
Thursday, February 05, 2009
The sweetest thing...
Yesterday while I was at my 2hr glucose test, I noticed that when the baby rolled, so did my belly! I watched it lift and fall as the baby stretched out - it was amazing! Afterwards, I met up with my dad for lunch, as I was starving... I'm no good at this whole fasting thing! While we were at lunch, HE noticed the belly roll... so the baby has finally gotten big enough to stretch out my belly.
I was very excited, I thought finally Rob will be able to see it!
So, at home after dinner we both raced upstairs and I sat on the bed very still... waiting for the baby to move... nothing. We waited for about 10 minutes if not longer, and then I gave up and said we'll try again when the baby is awake.
Later on that night, as we were getting into bed, the baby was moving just a bit... hardly noticeable. Rob turned off the bedside light and put his hand on my belly. He never does this, says it's uncomfortable...
*kick*
Rob asked if the baby just kicked, I thought he wouldn't have noticed...
*kick*
Woah... did it kick again??
Rob's face lit up, and he had tears in his eyes as he said he felt it... he said he felt the baby reach out and poke him, as if to say "Hi daddy, I'm here..."
My favourite moment, thus far.
I was very excited, I thought finally Rob will be able to see it!
So, at home after dinner we both raced upstairs and I sat on the bed very still... waiting for the baby to move... nothing. We waited for about 10 minutes if not longer, and then I gave up and said we'll try again when the baby is awake.
Later on that night, as we were getting into bed, the baby was moving just a bit... hardly noticeable. Rob turned off the bedside light and put his hand on my belly. He never does this, says it's uncomfortable...
*kick*
Rob asked if the baby just kicked, I thought he wouldn't have noticed...
*kick*
Woah... did it kick again??
Rob's face lit up, and he had tears in his eyes as he said he felt it... he said he felt the baby reach out and poke him, as if to say "Hi daddy, I'm here..."
My favourite moment, thus far.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
29 Weeks
The baby now weighs about 2.5 pounds, and is measuring about 15 inches from head to toe. The sex organs are starting to mature, for a boy, his testicles are starting to descend from near the kidneys en route to the scrotum. The baby's head is getting bigger, and the brain growth is very rapid at this point. Nearly all babies will react to sound by 30 weeks. During the third trimester, the baby's nutritional needs will peak. Protein, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, Iron and Calcium are all very important - about 200mg of calcium is deposited to the baby's skeleton every day! The baby's skeleton is hardening more and more every day, as the brain, muscles and lungs are continuing to mature.
So, tomorrow I go for part 2 of the glucose test. My results we a tad high for the one hour test, which apparently quite common, so I need to go again. This time, I'll fast for 10-16 hours before the test, they'll then take my blood for a baseline. Once this is done, I'll drink the awful orange sugar drink and wait. They'll then take my blood again after an hour, and again after 2 hours. This will show the rate at which my body processes the sugar.
Gestational Diabetes occurs when my body can't process the glucose I'm ingesting. It's not because of diet, although a change in diet is used to help control it - it's caused by the hormones the placenta is secreting. If my body doesn't produce enough insulin for the glucose I'm ingesting, then the glucose can be absorbed through the placenta by the baby. This can cause macrosomia - which is other terms is just a big baby. But a big baby presents it's own risks when delivering - shoulder dystocia being one (when the baby's shoulders are pulled when trying to get out.)
So, I'm trying not to get myself worked up - I'll know before my appt next week what the results are, hopefully...
So, tomorrow I go for part 2 of the glucose test. My results we a tad high for the one hour test, which apparently quite common, so I need to go again. This time, I'll fast for 10-16 hours before the test, they'll then take my blood for a baseline. Once this is done, I'll drink the awful orange sugar drink and wait. They'll then take my blood again after an hour, and again after 2 hours. This will show the rate at which my body processes the sugar.
Gestational Diabetes occurs when my body can't process the glucose I'm ingesting. It's not because of diet, although a change in diet is used to help control it - it's caused by the hormones the placenta is secreting. If my body doesn't produce enough insulin for the glucose I'm ingesting, then the glucose can be absorbed through the placenta by the baby. This can cause macrosomia - which is other terms is just a big baby. But a big baby presents it's own risks when delivering - shoulder dystocia being one (when the baby's shoulders are pulled when trying to get out.)
So, I'm trying not to get myself worked up - I'll know before my appt next week what the results are, hopefully...
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