Wednesday, June 24, 2009

24 Weeks with a Place to Sleep

Alert the police - my fingerprints and footprints are forming this week. It wont be long before I have these things all over clean windows, glass top tables, and well-treated surfaces. I can also tell when my now foot-long+ body (similar now to a corn on the cob!) is upside down or right side up, thanks to a fully-developed inner ear. My mom is also starting to notice my sleep cycle - up kicking around by about 9am, again at around 1pm, then REALLY active from around 8pm till she goes to bed. In fact, I think I kept her up the other night with some excessive kicking and moving. She must have been uncomfortable because she didn't fall asleep that night until around 1am.

Dad decided this last weekend was a good weekend to paint the nursery. The color they chose is called "Key Lime Pie". They both spent the afternoon on Saturday painting it. Without my black crib and furniture in there, it may be a bit bright but I feel pretty confident those things will tone it down considerably. Fortunately, the furniture just arrived today so now all they need to do is assemble and arrange it. I will soon have a beautiful place to sleep!



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Booty-Shaking: 23 Weeks

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing my sense of movement is so well developed now. I can definitely feel mom moving and dancing. She went to a wedding last weekend and introduced me to “Shout”, “The Electric Slide” and “The Cha-Cha Slide”. It made her a little nervous on Sunday when I wasn’t moving as much in the afternoon, but I was tired from all the dancing she did the night before!

This week, I weigh just over a pound and am comparable now to a large mango. Mom and dad can tell I am getting bigger all the time because all my kicking and moving is increasingly frequent and obvious. Blood vessels in my lungs are developing this week and preparing me to be able to breath outside of this comfortable home. Sounds are also becoming more and more clear to me and frequent loud noises (the vacuum, the sound of a boat engine, the music in the car) are becoming pretty familiar. Hopefully they won’t be a big surprise to me when I come in October! I have a feeling I will be spending time around a vacuum, in a car, and next spring/summer, on a boat!

Mom went to the doctor this week for a check-up and everything looks good for both mom and me. My heartbeat was between 145 and 150, which is where it has been for the last few months. I made sure to get in a few good, strong kicks when the doctor was trying to measure it. Mom’s blood pressure is good and her weight gain was only slight. No mention from the doctor about being careful this time!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Mmmmm... 22 Weeks

Taste buds have started to form this week! Though I haven't yet been able to actually taste anything, I grow more and more excited all the time to experience this sugar thing my dad seems to enjoy so much. This week, my brain and nerve endings have started to process the sensation of touch - so be careful with all that poking and rubbing you do to my mom's belly. The other thing happening this week is that I am developing tooth buds beneath my gums. I am hopeful they turn out like either mom or dad's teeth since neither one of them ever needed braces. I imagine they hope for the same thing.

We appear to be moving away from fruit comparisons as at 22 weeks, I am being compared to a spaghetti squash at about 1 pound. At this point, I look more or less like a miniature newborn with lips, eyelids, and eyebrows. Although my eyes have formed, my irises still do not have pigment (though I think there is a good chance they will turn out to be brown like my dad's - those seem to be dominant in his family).

Mom and dad are having a garage sale this weekend in an effort to sell some household items and make more room for me. My nursery is almost completely empty with the exception of a pile of baby items they have begun to collect. Since my crib bedding was just delivered this week, I think mom and dad will soon be able to pick wall colors (they've already started looking and have a healthy stack of samples to go through).

I continue to move around as often as I can in here. It's funny because no matter how many times I kick my mom, she still giggles. She seems to really enjoy this pregnancy thing!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Week 21 - Ultimate Fighting

This week, I am comparable to a carrot, with a length at approximately 10 ½ inches long (head to toes). I have formed eyelids and eyebrows (that have the potential to develop into the “McMillen Eyebrows”… uh-oh!). At this point, I am beginning to absorb small amounts of sugar through the amniotic fluid I can now swallow. Yummmm… The other development this week is that my bone marrow is doing the job of making blood cells which, until now, had been done by my liver and spleen.

Aside from all the growing I am doing this week, I am also beginning to train to be the next Ultimate Fighter. I spend a lot of time kicking and moving about, serving as a reminder to my mom that I am doing just fine in here. It was this week, too, that she started to feel (and see) some of my movements from the outside of her belly. In fact, the first time I did it, she gasped! She grabbed dad’s hand right away and put it on the same place I kicked hers. She asked me to do it again so I did. At first, dad thought mom was faking it but then realized there was no way she could duplicate the same movement on her own. I think he was surprised and excited. I plan to continue to train, so for those of who enjoy touching mom’s belly, it should provide some entertainment for you!
I think mom and dad have found my nursery bedding, though they haven’t ordered it yet. Once that is done, they will finally be able to start deciding on wall colors and decorations. They better hurry up – I plan on using that room in about 4 months!