12 Weeks Today ~

Here is the next update on the baby for the week.

Even though your little Einstein’s body is still growing quite rapidly and is about 2 inches long right now, the overall super-speedy growth of their amazing brain continues to leave the head proportionately larger than the body— and is actually slightly more than one third of their total body mass! The head and neck are still straightening at this point as can be seen by their little chin lifting off of the chest. Your baby is also actively rehearsing “breathing” by using amniotic fluid to prepare the lungs for future air respiration. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and they'll even squirm, though you still won't be able to feel their movement for several weeks.
The big news: your little pooper is now officially going to need diapers! Although a majority of the waste produced is transferred to the mother’s system for discharge (to avoid lingering in the amniotic sac), some urine is released to the amniotic fluid and your baby will actually breathe it in before passing it on to your for discharge. Not to worry, urine--in this particular form is actually harmless to your child.

I have been starting to feel better. The nausea is starting to subside, I just have to eat as soon as I start to get hungry because then I will become nauseous. All is good. We are continuing to work on the house, we have to get other things done before we can start on the baby's room because everything in there has to go somewhere else.

11 Weeks Today ~

Just to give you an update on what the baby is doing this week.

They will be gaining a substantial amount of weight this week, and have already achieved fruit-size-status comparable to a plum. Your little scientist is already starting to explore their body, focusing most intently on touching their head, and especially their face and mouth. The mouth in particular will provide them with hours of entertainment. This happens not only because your baby is gaining coordination, and is therefore able to move a hand on command, but also because their palms have gained sensation and can actually “feel” what it touches.They're also developing their swallow refllex this week. And lastly, your baby's smelling and other olfactory senses begin developing this week, which when combined with the maturing taste buds, will provide your baby with their first experiences of taste and smell.

Telling Everyone

As all of you know or should know by now, Jared and I are expecting our first baby on December 7, 2007

We are both very excited. We found out on March 23 and had our first ultrasound on April 20 (to determine our due date). We got to see our little peanut for the first time and it's little heart was just beating away at 150bpm. They said that was normal and good.

On Mother's Day we told our parents. They are really excited. We gave the "Grandmas" little photo albums that say, "Grandma's Show-and-Tell" on them. They were a little thrown off at first, but when we told them it was for our new baby, they couldn't be happier. Jared's two little sisters (14 & 12) are excited to become Aunts for the first time.

Monday, May 14, we went to our appointment and were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. What an amazing thing. I think that made it even more real for us that there is a little person in there. I can't believe how much you can already start to love someone that you haven't even met yet. The heartbeat was at 178bpm, the doctor said it will be a little higher now and then come back down as we get closer to delivery.

Everything is going well. I still have some nausea after I eat, but that should be over soon. I am still pretty tired. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon I really need a nap and then it's usually around 8 or 8:30 at night when I fall asleep on the couch. I'm ready for all of that to be over too. I should be getting areprieve from that here pretty soon, at least for a couple of months.