Week 32 - 12/30/07

How your baby's growing: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. To help relieve your discomfort, try sleeping propped up with pillows and eating smaller meals more often.You may have lower-back pain as your pregnancy advances. If you do, let your caregiver know right away, particularly if you haven't had back pain before, since it can be a sign of preterm labor. Assuming it's not preterm labor that's ailing you, you can probably blame your growing uterus and hormonal changes for your aching back. Your expanding uterus shifts your center of gravity and stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, changing your posture and putting a strain on your back. Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine. This can make you feel less stable and cause pain when you walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things.

Change in decor...

So, since Target had delayed the delivery on our crib bumper until Feb (and this has already been pushed back twice...which was making me nervous) we decided to return the entire set and pick out a new one (also from Target, but with most key pieces immediately available). Attached is a photo from their web site of the new set. It is much brighter than the old set...but I think it has a really cute, cheerful vibe. Once this arrives we'll be able to pick out our paint color and get the nursery prep underway!! We made progress to that end this weekend when we relocated the office furniture into our bonus room (thanks for your help with that, Jim!)...so we're getting there!! Hope the furniture comes soon...

Week 31 - 12/23/07

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy. Visually, your baby may track moving objects with the eyes. When she blinks, the eye's iris responds to light and dark. The lungs and digestive track are nearly mature, although the last few weeks in-utero are still important for lung development.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU: At this point you may be quite eager for your pregnancy to end and your baby to be born. Aches and pains, along with feelings of anxiety, may increase at this time. Some women may become frightened by their own lack of maternal feelings. This is a common and natural emotion that many pregnant women experience. For some women, bonding won't occur until birth -- or even later. The final weeks may begin to drag.

Week 30 - 12/16/07

How your baby's growing: Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Doctor Appt Update

If you were hoping for something exciting, you'll be disappointed. The appointments these days are fairly routine and very quick (I'm not complaining...I suppose this means there's nothing wrong and all is progressing normally). So, I'm on track with weight, apparently my hemoglobin levels are "awesome" -- I think this is iron and it's something they look at because it drops in a lot of women in pregnancy...mine, however, is good...guess I'm eating enough meat :-)
Baby's heartbeat good, my growth good, my blood pressure good...
No complaints. Back in two weeks and hopefully the report will be very much the same! Feel like I'm in the home stretch now!!

I thought this was funny

Study: Why Pregnant Women Don't Topple
By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON — With all that growing weight up front, how is it that pregnant women don't lose their balance and topple over? Scientists think they've found the answer: There's are slight differences between women and men in one lower back vertebrae and a joint in the hip, which allow women to adjust their center of gravity.
This elegant evolutionary engineering is seen only in female humans and our immediate ancestors who walked on two feet, but not in chimps and apes, according to a study published in Thursday's journal Nature.
"That's a big load that's pulling you forward," said Liza Shapiro, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas and the only one of the study's three authors who has actually been pregnant. "You experience discomfort. Maybe it would be a lot worse if (the design changes) were not there."
Harvard anthropology researcher Katherine Whitcomb found two physical differences in male and female backs that until now had gone unnoticed: One lower lumbar vertebrae is wedged-shaped in women and more square in men; and a key hip joint is 14 percent larger in women than men when body size is taken into account.
The researchers did engineering tests that show how those slight changes allow women to carry the additional and growing load without toppling over — and typically without disabling back pain.
"When you think about it, women make it look so very damn easy," Whitcomb said. "They are experiencing a pretty impressive challenge. Evolution has tinkered ... to the point where they can deal with the challenge.
"It's absolutely beautiful," she said. "A little bit of tinkering can have a profound effect."
Walking on two feet separates humans from most other animals. And while anthropologists still debate the evolutionary benefit of walking on two feet, there are notable costs, such as pain for pregnant females. Animals on all fours can better handle the extra belly weight.
The back changes appear to have evolved to overcome the cost of walking on two feet, said Harvard anthropology professor Daniel Lieberman.
When the researchers looked back at fossil records of human ancestors, including the oldest spines that go back 2 million years to our predecessor, Australopithecus, they found a male without the lower-back changes and a female with them.
But what about men with stomachs the size of babies or bigger? What keeps them from toppling over?
Their back muscles are used to compensate, but that probably means more back pain, theorized Shapiro, who added: "It would be a fun study to do to look at men with beer bellies to see if they shift their loads."

Week 29 - 12/9/07

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Picture of the Mommy

Dad - since you haven't seen me with my pregnant belly, I'll post a pic. This one is about a month old but is the most recent I have. I'll have Matt take a new one of me today and I'll post that later...so you can compare the difference a month makes.

A Sweet Surprise

In the past week or so, the physical effects of pregnancy have started catching up with me a little. Having a harder time getting up from a seated position, getting leg cramps, starting to feel a little tired from time to time, more trouble getting comfortable...
I guess Matt has noticed. Last night when we got home from dinner I was hanging my coat up in the closet. I turned around and he was standing there holding a envelope with ribbons on it...I recognized it immediately. I opened it and started crying...it was a giftcard for a 1 hour prenatal massage from Natural Body Spa...my favorite day spa!! Matt for some reason associates my crying with sadness...so I had to explain that sometimes I cry when I'm happy, too!! Can't wait to be pampered and enjoy a little relaxation :-)

Bedding

You guys might be wondering what the baby's bedding looks like. It may be a little tough to figure out from this photo, but it's the best I can do (copied from Target's web site). I have all the pieces already except the bumper, which has been on backorder for months (and they keep moving the ship date back). Supposed to get that at the end of December. Just hope it gets here before the baby at this rate!!

Week 28 - 12/2/07

How your baby's growing: By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.