Tuesday, July 21, 2009

5!

Oh lord, am I ready to have this baby!! I feel pretty good, overall, but I am just ready to be done. I want to sleep on my back without worrying if I am cutting off oxygen to the baby, I want to be able to cross my legs when I sit, and bend over without feeling like I might not be able to sit back up! I want to stop having ankles the size of Mars and I am sick of feeling useless! 5 more weeks, 5 more weeks, that is all I keep telling myself….but at the same time, 5 weeks seems like such a long flippin time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have an OB appointment today at 3:40. I am hoping that the doctor will remember I am supposed to get a quickie ultrasound to make sure Bella has flipped, which at this point I would bet $ that she has, and I will also be getting the Group B Strep Test, because you can't deliver vaginally if you test positive. While they are doing the strep test, they will check and see if I started to dilate yet! 2 more weeks until the baby is considered full term, and she can come at any point! I can't wait!!!!!!!!

Here is what is going on this week:

How your baby's growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Your Baby:
Your baby continues to put on weight at about ½ pound each week. This layer of fat will help your baby regulate her body temperature after leaving your climate-controlled womb. In fact, your baby will be 15 percent fat at birth (and you ... well that's another story). Even in the womb, your baby can listen, feel, touch and see. The only thing separating him from living in the outside world is a little thing called the birth canal. Other highlights this week:Her gums are firm with ridges that look somewhat like teeth, though her actual pearly whites won't start breaking through until she's between three months and a year old.Your baby has definite patterns of sleep and wakefulness—opening her eyes while awake and closing them while sleeping. Your baby will become alert and turn her head toward light and sound just as a newborn would—except when you put on that Celine Dion CD. Then the baby puts her hands up, turns away and gurgles, "Oh no you didn't!" Your baby is now around 18½ inches long and nearly 6 pounds—just about as big as a breadbox!
Your Life:
You may feel silly driving around these last couple of weeks with a baby car seat and no baby, but in case she decides to show up early, you'll be glad you have it, since your hospital won't let you leave without one.


Week Thirty Five: Reflexes are coordinated

Baby is about 47cm crown to heel and weighs almost 2.7 Kg.
The body is growing round due to developing fat layers.
Your baby's reflexes are coordinated.
Lungs are almost fully developed.
About 90% of babies born this week survive.
Most babies gain about half pound per week in the last month of pregnancy. Fat stores accumulate in the legs and arms. These layers of fat will help them regulate their body temperature. Baby still doesn't have enough fat deposits beneath its skin to keep warm outside your womb. If born now the baby would probably be put in an incubator, about 90% of babies born this week survive.Lungs are almost fully developed. Your baby's reflexes are coordinated, they turn their head, grasp firmly, and respond to sounds, light and touch. You should still feel movement every day. He or she is about 5 and a half pounds and growing fast, it is getting short of space in the womb.Your uterus has become more cramped, your baby's kicks and other movements less forceful. You may want to check on your baby's movements from time to time and do a kick count.Baby may push up against your ribs and make you a little breathless. Soon your baby's position changes to prepare itself for labor and delivery. The baby drops down in your pelvis and you will be able to breathe easily again.

BellaReese has not dropped yet, and I would truly appreciate it if she did!! She is constantly getting tucked under my ribs and sitting down is getting harder and harder because she gets stuck where she shouldn't be. Doesn't she realize life will be easier on her too, if she just drops already?!?!?

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