102 Days to Go!

So, I'm not getting any award for keeping up w/this blog, am I? ;) My deepest apologizes. I am WAY behind! This will be a looooong post, as I try to play "catch up" from where I last left off...

20 weeks

Hair has become visible on Adelyn's head and lanugo hair now completely covers her body, although it's more concentrated around her head, neck & face. Her eyebrows have also begun to show. No matter how dark her hair will become, her hair is now completely unpigmented.

Her brain has begun to grow rapidly. This rapid growth will continue until she is 5 years old. At this point, the skull plates that cover the forehead, temples, and top and back of the skull are present and made of cartilage.

Right now, Addie looks like a miniature newborn. Her face looks peaceful w/closed eyes (but still making blinking movements), nostrils (which until now have been plugged, but are starting to open), and a nicely formed mouth. Every once in awhile, her thumb or finger will slip into her mouth & she practices sucking. Taste buds are formed in abundance on Adelyn's tongue and inside her cheeks. The buds for her permanent teeth are starting to come in high in the gums behind the buds for the baby teeth.

20 weeks

Now that her nostrils have begun to open, she will make periodic muscular breathing movements as her body prepares to draw air into the lungs at birth. These breathing movements stimulate lung development and can be detected by ultrasound.

The bones of the middle ear (the 3 smallest bones in the human body: the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup) are beginning to harden to make sound conduction possible. The sound info transmitted to Addie's brain won't trigger an interpretation (ex. someone speaking, a dog is barking) because she has had no experience w/the outside world. Only sound intensity seems to register since unexpectedly loud sounds trigger an automatic startle reflex. She can blink or "jump" when she hears a loud noise. Sounds heard daily by Addie include the beating of Mommy's heart, the sound of Mommy's voice, the sound of air filling Mommy's lungs & begin exhaled, and the growling noises made by Mommy's stomach and intestines.

Her spine, ribs, and long bones of the arms and legs have hardened into bone. Her spine will ultimately be made up of 33 rings, 150 joints and 1,000 ligaments, all of which are used to support her body weight. All of those structures have begun to form.

In addition, her lungs are secreting surfactant - a substance that permits them to inflate. However, her respiratory system is still quite immature. Much more development must take place before the lungs can trap and transfer oxygen to her bloodstream and can release carbon dioxide when she exhales. Her lungs have started to develop blood vessels, though. After birth, these vessels will allow blood to flow through the lungs to intercept oxygen and circulate it to Addie's tissues. Within the next day or so, air sacs (alveoli) will begin to develop in her lungs. Alveoli continue to form for about 9 more years.

Adelyn's uterus has completely formed and the vagina, hymen, and labia are developing.

20 weeks

Addie's legs have approached their final relative proportions. Between now & her expected date of delivery, her feet will almost double in size, from about 1.8" to 3.3". Gradually, her fingernails and toenails lengthen. They are growing from the nail beds and are beginning to cover the nail itself.

20 weeks

Her skin is not only wrinkled (it will smooth out as she starts to gain more fat), but is also transparent because it's so thin. Thus, at this time, if we could see Adelyn, her bones, organs, and blood vessels would be visible, as they lie just beneath the skin. The smallest blood vessels of the body - the capillaries - are beginning to develop under the baby's skin. As blood fills these new vessels, they give her skin a red or pinkish appearance, because the blood in the capillaries is visible.

She is now about the size of a Barbie doll and measures 7.5" in length. She weighs about a 1.5 lbs. At this point, baby Adelyn is very lean. Only about 3.5% of her body weight is due to fat. This proportion is constantly changing, as the fat accumulated becomes food & energy reserves to draw on after birth.

Amy's uterus has reached her belly button.

21 weeks

Even though Amy's been eating really well, she is still experiencing periodic heartburn & intestinal gas. These problems can be expected as her muscles relax under the influence of the pregnancy hormones.

22 weeks

Amy's started entering the phase of pregnancy where it's harder for her to sleep. Adelyn tends to rest during the day while Amy's up moving around, but as soon as she lays down to sleep, Addie thinks it's gymnastics time. :)

Adelyn's kicks are becoming stronger & Amy has been in the Dr's office a lot this week, complaining of pain. We're still trying to figure out exactly what is causing the pain, but pre-term labor has pretty much been ruled out (test indicating if labor will happen in the next 2 weeks came back negative, uterus is still closed on the outside). All of this pain & Braxton Hicks contractions have been making Mommy extra tired! Pain could be related to the growing/stretching uterus, Adelyn kicking w/o a barrier (the placenta is posterior), endometriosis scar tissue, etc.

Amy is still down 2 lbs from what she was when she first got pregnant. Dr's aren't concerned, since we just had an ultrasound & Addie is measuring exactly where she should be!

25 weeks (current)

25 weeks (current)

So far, Amy has been maintaining her Gestational Diabetes with just diet & exercise. We're hoping insulin will not be needed for many reasons, but one big reason is that we are considering a waterbirth. Should insulin be needed, Amy will be disqualified for such a birth.