30 Weeks

On Wednesday Wendy will have been pregnant for 30 weeks. That's three quarters the way there. We celebrated by going to the doctor's office for her bi-weekly check-up.

While we waited I looked at her uvula, it looked fine to me. Most people don't realize that if your uvula gets too big then it could block your airway and you could die. I think that Wendy will live to see another day.

I gave her an eye test too. It looks like she can see fine through her right eye when she leaves her glasses on and if I hold the chart really close.

When the doctor came he told Wendy she was borderline for gestational diabetes. I guess this means she has to watch what she eats and evaluate what might help. Other than this all is good with the baby. We just have to wait ten more weeks.

Fall Colors

I think fall colors are a little different here, unless it's really not fall at all. I don't know it's all nomenclature anyway. It is what it is. Here is a little peek around the yard today. The Bird of Paradise is in bloom. It pretty much always is when it stays warm.

The cup leaf sage tends to not show it's colors as often but when it does they can be impressive. You can also see the red of texas sage in the back.

28 Weeks!!!

So here we are at 28 weeks. When I was in respiratory school I was taught that this was the day to look for. This is the time when surfactant starts to appear in the lungs. The lungs are far from mature but now with some luck things might work. Wendy celebrated by working with babies. Today it is a joy to change a diaper. Soon she will be a mother.

Her belly is getting bigger now. Whenever there is a surface that juts out a little then she has to stand farther back. Her belly can get in the way. I think she can still see her shoes though. It's not all that big, or is it?

When she carries the big white chart across the room she has to lift it high. That belly sure does get in the way. It better not get any bigger or we won't know what to do. Babies sure do take up a lot of room, don't they?




Sometimes babies take up so much room that you need to get bigger things. Wendy is sad that this might be true. She likes what she has, but it is very small. We will see. Maybe we will be fine. I hope the baby is little, then it will fit.

SleepyHead

Wendy is 27 weeks 2 days pregnant and her favorite pastime is sleeping. She does still work full time so it's only when she isn't working that she sleeps. But sometimes she eats. Her favorite three things are bacon, cheese, and peanut butter. It kind of sounds like a sandwich, but I'm not sure if she has tried it that way yet. It's kind of weird when you think of these things as being the major building blocks of the baby inside her.



Wendy's Schedule

10:00 Wake up. Not by an alarm or anything just when she is done sleeping.
10:30 Breakfast of Bacon, cheese and peanut butter usually washed down with milk.
11:00 Read "The Spectrum" southern Utah's news source.
11:30 First nap
2:30 Wake up for Lunch
3:00 Lunch of cheese and peanut butter probably washed down with milk
3:30 Second nap
6:30 Wake up, almost dinner time
7:00 See if there is any cheese or peanut butter, if there is have dinner. Drink a glass of milk.
7:30 Watch the Katy Couric then local news that was recorded on the DVR earlier.
8:30 Get ready for bed tomorrow starts early.


Nighty night. Sleep tight.

26 Weeks

As of Wednesday Wendy is at 26 weeks gestation. It is at this point I can start to relax a little. If the baby were to have been born before now bad things were much more likely to have happened. It's not that right now would be the greatest but I can deal with it. I think statistically the rate of survival is at 70% although from my personal observations it seems to be a lot higher. Developmental delays can still be a problem but with each passing week it gets to be less and less. My experience in the NICU has made me a bit of a neurotic but the very worst is behind. Now I'm watching for the 28 week milestone. That's when the lungs start to make surfactant and with that we'll all breath a lot better.

By this week, the baby's head-to-bum length is approximately 9.2 inches. Remember that is only from the top of her head to her bottom and does not include her leg measurements! She weighs almost 2 pounds and is beginning to put on weight. Wendy's uterus is about 2.5 inches above her bellybutton and will continue to grow approximately 1 cm each week. Because the baby has moved further up, there can sometimes be an occasional pain under the ribs.

After a month of having her fused eyelids, they will now begin to open since they are almost developed. All babies eyes are blue in the womb but they can and will change colors later. This is true for all races of people since the iris has not fully matured and will not blossom into it's final color until a few months after the baby is born. There is however a variance in the color and shade of blue from baby to baby.

The baby will continue to put on layers of fat until the day she is born. She is still pretty skinny at this point though. It is during the final weeks of pregnancy she will gain the most weight by putting on a lot of fat, and by the time she is born she should have the typical plumpness of a newborn. The skin is just now starting to mature from a thin membrane as the body builds brown fat beneath. She has fingernails and toenails which continue to grow.

Blood vessels and tiny air sacks called alveoli continue to develop within the lungs preparing for the time when oxygen will no longer come from mom's umbilical cord. The cord continues to grow and thicken as blood travels with considerable force through the body to nurture the baby. The placenta is now almost equal in size to the baby.

Peace and Quiet

It's been a good week. I've been at work every day of the last five including a trip yesterday to Salt Lake for a LifeFlight retreat. I don't know why they thought we would want to leave St George in September, it's this month and the next one that are by far the best time all year. I spent the morning today pulling weeds and I actually kind of enjoyed it. I was on my way to get the paper when it all started then I fell into some sort of impulsive gardening zombie. One weed lead to two, and that was followed by another and before I knew it the whole front yard was weed free. It felt so good to be outside for a change that it became a pleasant experience.

Then I decided to feed the birds. We only had enough sunflower seeds left to fill the feeders half full so I divided out the remainder and went inside to shower and get dressed.

It didn't take long for Meowy to discover that the birds were coming in droves so she took advantage of the open windows and watched as they flew in. I know she likes to watch through the glass but the screens let her feel even closer.

The grackles came too. We don't see them very often. They are kind of aggressive and the little birds do scurry away, but it's fun to see them for a change. It's been a nice quiet day. It's been good.

Mr Chipmunk escapes

Mr Chipmunk has been stealing sunflower seeds from our bird feeder. What he didn't count on was Mr Finch's unexpected return. See him make his acrobatic escape.

25 Weeks

The baby's head-to-bum length is about 8.8 inches. Weight has increased to around 1.5 pounds and fat is still being deposited at a high rate. Babies come in all shapes and sizes, so our baby could vary slightly from these `average` measurements. Wendy's uterus has grown quite a bit bigger this week. The top of her uterus is between her bellybutton and her sternum. It is about the size of a soccer ball now!

If our baby were delivered at this time, it would have a good chance of surviving. It is best for her to remain inside for the remainder of the pregnancy, even though great advances have been made in the care of a premature baby. Ventilators, monitors and medications all help premature babies develop and grow outside of the womb. If she were born this early, she would probably have to spend several months in the hospital and would be more susceptible to infections and other complications. Her chances of riding the short bus to school would be very high.

We can hear the baby's heartbeat with both a doppler and a stethoscope at this time, and I can even hear the heartbeat unaided if I put my ear in the right position. Sex differentiation is being completed now. She is able to do more with her fingers now and can move them to make a complete fist. As she becomes more dextrous, she will be able to touch and hold her feet. Babies also begin to prefer their left hand or right hand at this time. Wendy has noticed the baby has routines of sleep and activity. Sometimes she feels the most fetal movements while she is trying to rest, which is pretty much all of the time.

24 Weeks

Okay, it's been a while since I've posted any updates. Some of you have sent e-mails wondering if everything is all right and as a matter of fact it's all just dandy. Our 24 week date was last Wednesday. The baby has gained about a quarter of a pound since last week. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes for a pretty lean figure, but her body's filling out proportionally. Her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds may be working now. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily. She can hear more now, and sometimes she might startle at loud, sudden noises. But she's probably getting used to the regular noises she hears around the house, such as the cat meowing or the roar of a vacuum cleaner.

We bought our first piece of baby paraphernalia the other day. After exhaustive research online Wendy informed me that we needed to go to Vegas to get the crib of our dreams. It was actually pretty easy. I only had to go to three stores and we brought the crib back that afternoon. The sale price ended up being around 33 percent off. We went with the convertible model. That way as she grows then the bed will grow with her to a toddler bed then up to full size. We also got a matching quilt and bumper pad set at Pottery Barn Kids on clearance. I'm sure this is just a start but here we go. I guess we will start getting the room ready soon. We decided to use the small bedroom closest to the living room, that way we can still have a guest room when people visit.

23 Weeks

The time has arrived. If preterm labor and delivery were to occur this week, the baby could survive with medical care, but the probability is high if not certain there will be problems. Contrary to many misconceptions babies should still be inside their mothers at this point and for a while to come. Technically she doesn't even have lungs yet, there are just little buds that are hoping to develop into lungs over the next few weeks. You need lungs to live. The NICU can help but I would rather not roll those dice. If there is anything we don't want it's a preterm infant. With increasing research and knowledge in the field of fetal medicine, the long-term prognosis for preemies is improving, but with each passing week my anxiety should decrease. I sometimes wish I knew less about what is going on. Complete knowledge of all that might happen is frightening for both of us.

By now the baby weighs a little more than 1 pound and even though fat is beginning to accumulate on her body, her skin still hangs loosely, giving her a wrinkled appearance. She has a daily workout routine moving the muscles in her fingers, toes, arms, and legs. Wendy says she is more and more active every day. In fact just last night I even felt her move for the first time. It was ever so slight but I did feel it. I guess Wendy hasn't been faking it.