Devin's Journal

Baby Center says...

"Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches and almost 1 pound. Hi skin will continue to appear wrinkled until he gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his head and body is now visible. His lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath his gum line. His eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and his pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily."

His kicks, punches, and twirls are becoming quite pronounced. This is fine by me as feeling my baby move is one of my favorite things about pregnancy.

For the past week or so I've been experiencing a new second trimester pregnancy symptom that was unexpected because I didn't have it when I was pregnant with Dax. My blood pressure is low. Real low. The other night it was 94 over 54. According to the Fabulous Marion, it is not really something to be concerned about, but it is uncomfortable when it happens because it makes me feel really tired and dizzy.

What I *did* have when in my second trimester with Dax were nosebleeds, dandruff, and headaches. So far (knock on wood) I've had none of those this time around. Not such a bad trade, I guess.

The finally scheduled my next ultrasound so we'll have some updated ultrasound pics posted here sometime after the 8th.

Posted by michelle at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Babycenter says...

"Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night."

I most certainly DO feel him move. His most active times are after I eat. That may come in handy when it is time to keep count of his kicks.

Anyone remember how puffy I was about the calf, ankle, and foot area during my pregnancy with Dax? No? Well, I can easily remind you by showing you how puffy I am now. Whee. My blood pressure is fine, though (this morning it was 110 over 59) so I'm not too concerned about it. Wee bit uncomfortable though.

I have an appointment with Marion on Tuesday so I'll update more then.

Posted by michelle at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Week 20? WEEK 20????

How did that happen?

Ok. Baby Center says our little one has sprouted bo about 6.5 inches and weighs about 10.5 ounces. It also says that the top of my uterus is level with my belly button (check) and that I may have gained about 10 pounds (nope...just two so far).

Now that I'm not worrying about amnio results I'm noticing the baby moving a lot more. Tonight I was resting my hand on my belly and I think I could actually feel it from the outside. The baby should be kicking his daddy in the back at night soon, just like big brother did.

My next appointment isn't until the 25th and we'll have one more ultrasound shortly after that.

Posted by michelle at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The amnio results are in and everything is fine. Pardon me while I go breath a huuuuge sigh of relief.

Posted by michelle at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

If you are checking in to see if I got my amnio results yet the answer is no. Apparently "hopefully within fourteen days" is the new "seven to ten days". Silly me.

I've decided that this is a test. For the next...oh, three days or so....this mommy will be conducting a test of the Emergency Momcast System. In not-so-voluntary cooperation with the wise medical professionals who require a certain length of time to conduct their own tests I have devised this sytem in which I bounce between completely freaking out or feeling quite fine because everything is sure to be A-OK. There is no actual emergency at this time.

In the meantime my dear friend Siobhan, who has already been through this grueling process and came out unscathed, reassured me that my nervousness is totally normal. She also reminded me that her AFP results were even worse than mine and her daughter is perfectly fine. We then bonded by spewing curses about the BLEEPING AFP test and how it BLEEPING BLEEEEEEPS!

Posted by michelle at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Baby Center has this to say:

"Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch."

We are a week shy of the halfway mark. It seems this pregnancy is flying by. Except for the past 10 days or so, of course, as I still have not gotten any amnio results back. But who's obsessing? Not me! (Really, for your safety, you should just agree with me on this.)

This is what the little guy looked like during the amnio last week.

I think he looks like he's blowing bubbles in this one.

This one is sorta creepy and caused Dax to proclaim, "I don't like THAT baby brother."

He doesn't look like a gumwad anymore so I guess I better come up with a better nickname.

Posted by michelle at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This week's update is brought to you by Baby Center and the letters S and P (for sweet potato, of course).

"Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato), and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born."

Our little sweet potato's growth is right on track. We know this because we had the ultrasound on Friday. We also know the gender of our little sweet potato.

Do you want to know, too?

Ok. I'll tell you. I was going to post pictures from the ultrasound so you could see for yourself but Cat hasn't scanned them in yet so you'll just have to wait for that part.

The fine family tradition continues and we are having another boy! That's FIVE grandsons for Dax's Nana and Poppa. What can I say? We're just not a girl family. And this is alllll good with me because, even though I've been saying that either one would be nice, I've apparently been harboring a deep desire to have another boy. In other words, I'm thrilled!

Dax is also thrilled. He's been telling me all along that the baby was a boy and I should have listened. This morning, he patted my belly and said, "Hello brother." Then I told him my belly was going to be getting REALLY big as the baby grows and he asked me if my bum was going to get bigger, too. Nice.

Those of you keeping track at home may be wondering why we had the ultrasound early. Well, that was the far less exciting part about last week. See, despite being warned against it, I went ahead and had the AFP test done. This is a test in which they measure certain things in the mom's blood that can indicate if there is a potential problem with the baby. It screens for things like Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18 and Spina Bifada. There's a high rate of false positives for this test, especially as you get older. My test results were not what they expected to see so they whisked me right in to take a closer look.

Because of the test results, I went ahead and had the amnio done. It was no big deal at all. But now we have awhile to wait to hear FOR SURE how the sweet potato is doing. Everything looked fine, however, in the ultrasound so I'm trying not to fret about it too much.

By the way, we'll be getting a printout of our son's chromosomes. Because I'm a touch geeky, I think this is pretty cool. They told me they won't be able to look at his actual GENES, though, so I'm really bummed that there won't be a description of what he'll look like and maybe a little sketch, not unlike you see in courtroom dramas. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

Posted by michelle at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)