24 Weeks

Fetal development in pregnancy week 24:fetus in sixth month This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

Yes, I have started to wear maternity clothes.  Mainly just bottoms as my tummy is not round enough for the tops just yet, but very soon I imagine.  I know we really need to take more pictures and post.  It is on the agenda for this weekend.  Hopefully I can get pictures up of the belly and the bathroom and study we just painted!

Week 23

Fetal development in pregnancy week 23:fetus in sixth month At this point you’ve pretty much adjusted to the fact you’ve got a moving little gymnast inside of you, but now they’re going to kick up the party a notch because they can hear and react to sounds from the outside world. Sounds from your alarm clock, a thunder roll, or that darned car honking at you across the intersection can actually jar their little ears enough to elicit a kick or violent bout of squirming. Of course this also means that their little ears are picking up the sounds of your voice and those near you. So go ahead, sing a lullaby to your little angel—if they start kicking, it’s likely they just want you to stop… or maybe it was a kick of approval? You decide. Your baby's tiny taste buds are still growing and their bones are continuing to ossify (harden), their tiny veins are visible through their translucent yet wrinkly skin. (Think of it this way: they’ve been swimming in the equivalent of a long hot bath for the past 23 weeks, so you can’t blame them for being a little prune-like.) 

It's time to take some more pictures, I am really looking pregnant these days.  I will work on that this weekend!

Week 21

 

Fetal development in pregnancy week 21:fetus in fifth month Your beautiful little miracle-gro baby will be putting on a full ounce and a half this week (and weighing up to 16.5 ounces), but that’s just the beginning! Within the next five weeks, they’ll really be packin’ it on! For now, we’re pleased to report the addition of rapid eye movement (REM) a key component to any healthy baby’s sleep schedule. While in the dermatology department: their thin soft skin is very red, rather translucent, and a bit wrinkled. Not to worry, it’s not a premature aging disease. It's just their clever little body setting them up with extra space that will smooth out once your little one starts packing on the baby-fat. That won’t be for a few more weeks, though. So for the time being, your munchkin is still a little lean mean growing machine! The beginnings of what is commonly called “brown fat” is just starting to fill in to help your baby retain some body heat, which is crucial as they’re not yet capable of regulating their own body temperature.

My belly has started to stick out a bit more in the last few days as the baby has moved up.  This has been great because the last few days I have been able to sleep through the night or just have 1 potty break instead of 4-5!  I guess the baby has decided sitting on my bladder is not the most comfortable...Thank You baby!  I ordered 5 newborn Kushies http://www.kushiesonline.com/Ultra-Newborn-Single-Diaper-p/u070.htm (as the bum genius will be too big for a newborn) and finally got them in yesterday.  I ordered them used although the person only used one and washed the other once (her baby was born too big for them) so I got 5 diapers for $20, which is a good price for cloth diapers.  They are so tiny, cute, and soft.  Jason and I are planning to register at Baby's R Us this weekend so that should be fun AND we have finally found baby bedding that we like! 

20 Weeks...Half Way!

 
 

baby!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 20:fetus in fifth month This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicates bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!

And how's mom doing? Not that we need to tell you, but your baby may sometimes seem like a kick-boxer in training with no appreciation for your exhausted-pregnant-momma sleep needs. Still, before you start yelling at them to calm it down in there, remind yourself that your busy baby really have no idea if you’re rolling out of bed or cozying up to your partner for a good nights rest. Unfortunately for your sleep schedule, your little independent thinker will continue to operate on their own time table throughout the rest of the pregnancy. And you thought rebellious behavior only started around puberty!

Jason and I had our first Bradley (Natural Child Birth) class this past Monday.  The classes are 2 hours a week for 12 weeks.  The first one was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to next Monday.  Some of the exercises they ask you to do are a bit lame, but they are basing it for someone who isn't exercising at all and trying to get them to start. 

Furniture

On Saturday Jason and I headed out with the Hartl's at 7:00am to hit up garage sales.  The Harl's found a crib and Jason and I found a sewing machine, a garage organizer, and a snugli.  After the garage sale we headed to the nude furniture sale to see if they had a dresser that I liked for the baby room.  On the way there we came across Texas Furniture Company which was going out of business and we bought what  you see below:
...it was a great deal, but we did set out for baby furniture and we ended up with a new master bedroom set for ourselves, but this is the first piece(s) of furniture we have bought to date and it is so nice to have one room without a hodge podge of furniture!  Now I will refinish the dresser I currently have and that will be the baby's!

KICKING

During our staff meeting today I felt the baby kick several times!  I think I have felt the baby poke and some movement before, but this was the first time when I felt a good kick!  I want the baby to wake up and kick me some more!

Week 19

 

Fetal development in pregnancy week 19:fetus in fifth month Your amazing little baby is now around 10 inches in length! If this seems a bit shocking, you’ll be relieved to know they’ve not actually grown over 3 inches, but that their little legs are now straight enough to be measured. This is when doctors begin measuring fetal growth from head to toe, (no longer “crown to rump” or CR). Lanugo (little hairs) covers their whole body now, trapping that charming cheese-like vernix caseosa (see week 18) to the surface to the skin. This week your lil’ fetus will start on an appetizing diet of amniotic fluid which they are now capable of swallowing, digesting, and passing the fluid as far as their tiny “large” intestines. Fortunately for you, this nice little lump of baby-poop won’t be coming out while they’re still in your womb. Some time shortly after they’re born, this fun lump will become the first in a long line of baby poops. (What finally comes out— commonly known as “meconium” to the science world, will be black and sticky, and you’ll be very glad it happens only once!)

And how's mom doing? Unlike generations of women before you who were taught pregnancy was practically an ailment (10% of women DID die in childbirth back then), we now have scientific evidence that exercise is a good thing when you’re pregnant. In fact, most physicians recommend continuing or starting a pregnancy-friendly proper exercise can do a lot towards increasing your overall flexibility (at a time where your body wants to stiffen up) thereby somewhat reducing the pain and tension during labor exercise regimen. Walking, running, swimming, weight training and yoga (see week 20) are all good for your heart and overall physical stamina during this physically challenging time. Last but not least, exercise can keep you from gaining unnecessary amounts of weight (which you’ll have to fight off later after birth if you don’t do it now). Obviously, you’re going to want to avoid sports where you are at risk of falling or being hit in the stomach. Basically, stay away from sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer, and skiing. Instead, opt for the pool, weight room, and/or yoga class. We’re not saying you should stress yourself out trying to be a world-class athlete, but if you’re eating right and getting enough sleep, exercise during this health-critical phase of your life, will keep your collective energy levels higher and increase your feeling of well-being, as well as ensuring that you and your baby are in top physical and mental condition.

I have been slacking in the exercise department so I guess this is my remind to get my butt back to the gym.