"Your Pregnancy - 25 Weeks"

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

According to Christian ...

This morning, I noticed a quote from Christian up on his classroom wall:

"Miss Mandee, my mommy is having a baby - it's a girl.  She has it in her tummy and tomorrow she's gonna push it out."

He's so funny!  Come to think of it, we've never talked about the fact that the baby is going to actually COME OUT one day - we just keep teling him she's in there.   Guess he's figuerd all on his own that his sister is coming out ... "TOMORROW."

All is Well ...

I know I've been pretty quiet on this blog - just posting weekly updates I get from a pregnancy website.

The good news is the reason I've been so quiet is that there's nothing to report!  I feel great, the baby is doing well ... it has all been pretty uneventful!  And that is exactly how I like things!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and everything was good.  He measured my stomach and it was right whre it should be (despite my fear that I've gained too much weight so far - I wouldn't know, I stopped looking at the scale months ago).  

My blood pressure was great, the baby's heartbeat was great ... all was well.

I no longer look like I've just "gained a few pounts," I now look pregnant - and that is nice.  Though, becuase I'm so short, I feel like I look REALLY pregnant.  I feel like I look as pregnant as another mom at Christian's school who is due any day.   Oh, did you want to see picutres?   Um ... problaby not going to happen. :)

Biscotti is a little wiggle worm.  I read about how babies sleep 95% of the time at this stage.  If that is true, then I've got an anomaly growing within.  I'd say she's awake much more than she's asleep. 

Feeling your own baby move is really one of the most terriffic feelings ever - I love every moment of it.  I often call Jonathan over to feel her move, and recently Christian has started coming over, too, and moving Jonathan's hands and saying, "That's MY baby."

Christian has pretty much stopped insisting I'm having a baby shark and only shows a mild interest in the baby.   I'm sure he's thinking, "Yeah, yeah ... I know .. .there's a baby in mommy's tummy.  So stop telling me."  

Still ... I think the baby will be giving Christian a stuffed animal shark when he sees her for the first time.  It'll be like a consolation prize.  :)

"Your Pregnancy - 24 Weeks"

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

"Your Pregnancy - 23 Weeks"

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.



"Your Pregnancy - 22 Weeks"

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.