now that's a fine noggin.

we snuck into school with our #1 accomplice lauren and got a good peek at wee with the reject ultrasound machine. we could only take a picture of the screen with our camera so image quality is less than stellar but there's no mistaking that wee has a fine skull.

what we saw:
*one fabulous wee baby head
*hands/feet/ribcage/spine/heart
*blinking
*hiccups
*mouth movements

all in all that is one cramped baby and i'm sure it is looking forward to a good stretch.

also:
...look at this.every kid needs a giraffe chalkboard ......i love it.

what should we name it?

the flat spot.

Week Twenty-Five

• The structures of the spine begin to form -- joints, ligaments and rings. These will protect the all important spinal cord which serves as the information transmitter for your child's body.
• Blood vessels of the lungs develop.
• Your baby's nostrils begin to open. There is a study out of Belfast that suggests babies at this stage have the capability of scent preferences!
• The nerves around the mouth and lip area are showing more sensitivity now. When baby is rooting for food later on, these will be valuable!
• His swallowing reflexes are developing.
• Dexterity is improving. Your baby can make a fist and would clasp objects placed in palm.
• Your child has now obtained an approximate length of 13.6 inches (34.6cm) and weighs 1.46 pound (660gm).

Week Twenty-Six

• Your baby may weigh about two pounds now (average is 1.7 pound, 760gm) and is 14 inches (35.6cm) in length
• To support the fetus's growing body, the spine is getting stronger and more supple. Though no longer than the span of the average adult hand, it is now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings, and some 1,000 ligaments.
• Air sacs in the lungs form now.
• Lungs begin to secrete a greasy substance called surfactant. Without surfactant the fetal lungs would stick together and couldn't expand after the baby is born.
• Although they've been sealed shut for the last few months, your baby's eyes are opening and beginning to blink this week. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes (which may change color in the first 6 months of life) and some will be born with brown or dark eyes.
• Retinas begin to form.
• Brain wave activity for hearing and sight begins to be detectable.
• Fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working.
• The nerve pathways in her ears are developing, which means her response to sounds is growing more consistent.
  

wee has definitely been on the move lately and the other night would not be still. i don't know what was going on in there. it is a weird feeling to lay there and feel something moving around in your belly which led me to think of 'alien' and i thought it must have been written by a woman but no, i googled it and it is not (my english teacher would have a field day with that last sentence). anyway, a weird feeling but i loved it.

the belly:
*first, let me say that i am looking the part. my belly is getting big and while it changes in appearance depending on how wee is at that moment, one thing that does not change is the flat spot. most pregnant women have that cute round belly with the outie belly button. i have a flat spot. sigh.
i have always wanted an outie ever since i saw my first one in elementary school and this pregnancy was my big chance. but no, i have the grand canyon for a belly button and i don't think the pregnancy belly button pop is in the cards for me. cute round belly? no. exaggerated beer gut? yes.
i blame my parents because i must blame someone.

i am still happy because there's a wee baby in there.

random stuff:

*this week i have averaged about three hours of sleep a night. it's great fun

*tonight i dreamed that i had a puppy instead of wee baby. it was a girl....papillon. i went to swaddle it and it turned into monkey (our cute kitten that turned into a tank with attitude) who does not liked to be touched anywhere other than her head so she kept biting me. once swaddled (i am persistent) it turned back into the puppy. i was excited about the new baby until i realized it was, in fact, a puppy. at this point i was just kind of like "oh man, i really wanted a regular baby". then i woke up.

*i have been tested for gestational diabetes. i am still waiting on test results but this is conveniently coinciding with the return of my sweet tooth. uh oh.

*did anybody notice that are less than 100 days left? i did.

sleepy time.

wee's got new digs... here's some pictures





and that mobile is shazam! so far i've resisted the urge to curl up in this fine crib but i don't know how strong my will really is. i should be monitored.

what! monkey face rug? oh yes. it was necessary.


i got this nifty thing from my mama. it is a big 'c' and it is super comfortable. i still get woken up by this and THIS! but things are looking up in the pillow department. thanks mom!

latest doc visit stats:
wee heartrate: 153 bpm
april poundage:13 lbs since it all began

********************************
Week Twenty-Four

• Bring on the bulk! Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.
• His body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.
• Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his distaste.
• Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of his hands has improved as he sucks his thumb.
• Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.
• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
• This week your baby is officially considered viable.
• Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!

check out that lanugo. wee baby probably has a bit of excessive lanugo going on if herschel is any indication. that combined with the heartburn i've been experiencing...not just a wives tale?

23 weeks

wee's bed arrived and departed from ellenwood georgia yesterday. there is not much to do in ellenwood georgia... i googled it. that is what i do between the hours of 2 & 6 a.m when wee decides i should be up. i would like to go back to sleep. wee is a sneaky baby.

anyway. that means the bed should be here soon and i (herschel) will have fun putting it together!

Twenty-three weeks

• Proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since he hasn't begun to form body fat.
• Bones located in the middle ear harden.
• Your baby is able to hear. (Dads, did you know: low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice?)
• The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
• The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
• If born now, your baby has a 15% chance of survival, his odds going up with each passing day. . woohoo!
  
• The average baby at this stage weighs 1.1 pound (501gm) and is 11.38 inches (28.9cm) long.

wee bed.

we ordered wee's bed! it has left sacramento and is hopefully heading eastward...
i am excited. i am tracking it.

almost a pound.

Week Twenty-Two(that's five and a half months friends.)

• Your baby weighs close to a pound at this point!
• When you talk, read, or sing, expect her to hear you. Studies have found that newborns will suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero. (don't call my baby a thumbsucker)
• The eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment.
• Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
• Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
• Be prepared for all those "Why" questions coming! Your baby's brain has entered a stage of rapid growth, especially in what's called the germinal matrix. This structure deep in the middle of the brain serves as a kind of factory for brain cells and disappears shortly before birth. But the brain's amazing expansion program continues until around the five birth day.
• With some help from mom, baby's liver is starting to break down bilirubin, a substance produced by red blood cells.
• If your baby is male his testes begin their descent t o the scrotum.
• Primitive sperm have formed and he is producing testosterone.
• Length is 10.94 inches (27.8cm); weight is nearly 1 pound (430gm)

**********************

here are some of the latest wee treasures:


from bubbie and zadie chambers.....talking puppies, books, music that herschel and i will have to get used to and..... a wee swing! good for fat pants days/weekends


from berry and marc:

for after-swimming, after-bath, after-championship prize fighting matches...

from team leggett: a spiderman bib b/c you know the wee must love spidey.(my weasely chicken-pox creature is now the official model for wee baby things.)

from lauren: our first diapers! plus the best rattle clacker in the south and other baby necessi-tays.

from a friend-of-a-friend:

leftovers from their umpteen million baby showers. thanks!



because sometimes we can't resist buying things...
mouser footie pajamas...

my favorite.

and herschel's favorite... the lion.

and, the smallest shirt known to mankind.... i had to buy because they are unnaturally small. here is a dvd for comparison (or dee vah dee as jansen would say)

and then i just had to put it on the weasel but i swear i don't sit at home dressing him up.

thanks everybody!

sassy little fetus.

tada! it's wee's first sippy cup. of course, right now, wee is only interested in drinking amniotic fluid -- which has no place in a sippy cup-- but one day that wee is going to want some juice or leche.

in other news:
*wee baby has been moving more and more. the movements are getting stronger and more frequent. today weebaby was loving of montreal in the car on the way home.

*herschel picked out the perfect rabbit for wee...

*i went to school a few days ago to meet lauren's little bird friend and i got to peek at wee with the ultrasound. i saw the best knees and shins i've ever seen and they were kicking like nobody's business.

doctor's visit update:
wee:
heartbeat: 143 bpm

me:
weight gain: +8 pounds since this whole thing started. i hate clothes.

Week Nineteen

• Your baby has the same awake and sleep patterns of a newborn. He has a favorite position for sleep and recognizable active and rest periods.
• Throughout baby's body, nerves are being coated with a fatty substance called myelin, which insulates the nerves so that impulses can flow smoothly.
• Scalp hair becomes apparent this week. It has sprouted and continues to grow.
• The milk teeth buds have already developed and over the next few days the buds for the permanent teeth will begin to form behind the milk teeth.
• If baby is female the uterus starts to develop. If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place.
• If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable (but are distinctly different from the umbilical cord on ultrasound, herschel)
  
• Your baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and his or her kidneys are making urine.
• Your little one's size is around 6.02 inches (15.3cm) and 8.47 ounces (240gm)

Week Twenty

• You're half way there! happy april.
• The rapid growth stage is about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival.
• The baby's heart grows stronger. Find a quiet place, lay flat on your back. Locate your own heartbeat by finding your pulse. Next lay your hand on your belly. You may be able to distinguish the two heartbeats!
• His legs are reaching their relative size. With the increase muscle develop occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon!
• Immunities are being transferred from you to your baby now. These immune cells will protect her from viruses you've already had for up to six months after birth!
• The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections.
• Your baby may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, she can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds that baby becomes accustomed to during her development stages often are calming after birth.
• If your baby is a girl, her uterus is starting to develop. She has approximately six million eggs in her ovaries. About one million will remain at birth.
• Baby is about 6.46 inches (16.4cm) and weighs around 10.58 ounces (300g).
• 20 week fetus...reminds you of something?

Week Twenty-One

• White blood cells are under production. Leukocytes (or white blood cells) form our body's defense sytems. They help fight infections and diseases.
• Your little one's skin has changed from translucent to become more opaque.
• Your infant's tongue is fully formed. If you were able to peek you might catch your son or daughter practicing giving you a raspberry!
• If your baby is a girl, her womb and vagina are formed. Unlike males, females have a limited supply of eggs in their lifetime. At this point your daughter will have 6 million eggs. This amount decreases to approximately one million by birth.
• Baby swallows more this week. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. This is good practice for his digestive system!
• Wake and sleep periods become more consistent. Some research suggests that baby sets her internal clock to match the outside world's even before birth! Your eating and sleeping habits as well levels of light and noise serve as her signals.
• Length is now measured crown to heel.
• Baby measures about 10.51 inches (26.7cm) and weighs nearly 12.7 ounces (360g).