Week 38

Tuesday marks the beginning of the 38th week, so here you are:

• If she is the "average baby," she weights 6.8 pounds (3083gm)and is 19.6 inches (49.8cm) long.
• Have you noticed she hiccups a lot? Because there is no air around her, those breathing exercises cause amniotic fluid to get into her windpipe. The result? Hiccups!
• Your child's intestines are accumulating lots of meconium. Meconium takes on the role of being your baby's first bowel movement -- removing the waste that has accumulated.
• She may have a full head of hair now -- an inch or more long! Don't be surprised if it's an unexpected color. Some blond couples have dark haired babies; some dark haired couples have red-haired babies; some couples have babies with only peach fuzz! It may just persuade you to take a closer look at your family tree!
• Circumference of head and abdomen are about the same size for your baby. No wonder it's so hard to get a t-shirt over a newborn's head!

Addie is still plenty active, and Ame has been having more and more contractions (Braxton Hicks and otherwise) to get her body ready for the baby coming out. Don't let the wording of that sentence fool you; the contractions aren't voluntary or anything. They're happening to Ame, not something she's doing, but she seems to be handling it well. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much to report on at the moment, so until next time...

First Annual Addie Look-A-Like Contest

While we were in San Francisco this summer, Ame bought some stuff to make Addie's baby book and got a pretty good head start while we were there. This baby book then sat on an end table in our living room until last night, when Ame pulled it out to work on it some more. For inspiration she retrieved her own baby book, and upon finding a baby picture of herself decided to get out Addie's 3D ultrasound pictures and 'compare notes', as it were, coming to the conclusion that the baby looks like her. Honestly, not a bad deal if you ask me.

We read Addie a story called Gertrude McFuzz last night (found in Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, which is essentially Dr. Seuss' take on Aesop's Fables), which she seemed to enjoy, as was evidenced by the small bit of dancing that she did. Then, as I was lying in bed last night playing with (read: poking) her, she moved more than I'd ever felt her move. It felt like she was seriously just throwing her entire body against one side of Ame's belly, almost as if she were telling us that she was ready to come out. Only a few more weeks, Addie, only a few more weeks.

After my post last night, Ame reminded me that Monday is the end of 36 weeks, and the 37th week begins on Tuesday. So, with that in mind, the following is what will be happening with Addie next week, whereas the previous post was about what she did this week. Again, from Pregnancy.org:

• This week, the average size is about 6.3 pounds (2859gm) now and 19.1 inches (48.6cm) length.
• She is official full term now but can still benefit from extra days in the womb.
• Your baby continues to practice breathing movements. Isn't it amazing how she can breathe "under water?"
• Grasp is firm now. It won't be long until you'll feel that strong little fist confidently grasping your finger (or tightly clenching your hair)!
• A few weeks ago, your baby would move her eyes toward light. Now she turns towards light outside the uterus.
• As the uterine wall stretches and thins allowing more light to permeate, she develops definite daily activity cycles. You will want to be sure to establish good patterns yourself at this time, thus encouraging them in your child. Ever heard of a baby getting her days/nights mixed up? Now's the time to try to avoid that!

I wonder if it may be too late for that last point. Her waking and sleeping cycle now is essentially the same that it will be when she is a newborn, which seemingly indicates some rather sleepless nights for Mommy and Daddy in the near future. I guess we better sleep now while we still can. And with that in mind, it may be time for that Sunday afternoon nap.

Week 36

Technically I'm a few days early, because we're not quite at 36, but here's what's happening in the week ahead. The information from the Baby Center website for this week was more or less "She's getting fatter," so I took the liberty to post the information found on the Pregnancy.org website instead. Here you are:

Your baby is almost ready and most likely, so are you! The only organ still to mature is the lungs. While certainly you are both growing anxious to meet, remember that each day (up to 42 weeks), that your little one stays within your womb will multiply her chances to breathe on her own.

If she hasn't already, this week your baby may drop into the birth canal. While breathing for mom becomes easier, walking may be the exact opposite! If she's not your first baby, this "lightening" may not occur until right before labor.

Fat is dimpling your baby's elbows and knees, and forming creases in the neck and wrists.

Her skin is growing smooth and, shall we say it, "baby" soft.

Her gums are very rigid. It won't be many months before you'll see her teeth.

She has a fully developed pair of kidneys and her liver has begun processing some waste products.

Your child's average size is now 18.66 inches (47.4cm) and 5.78 pounds (2622 g). Between now and birth she will gain about an ounce a da

Not much has changed on this side, it seems. Addie's not been quite as active lately because she's running out of room, which is becoming more and more evident by the look of Ame's belly. Ame has also begun having minor contractions (which really isn't a recent development), which is apparently sort of like a warm-up lap for her uterus. She seems to find these contractions amusing, because her belly becomes just about rock hard, but I have my doubts that she'll be quite as amused by the real labor contractions. They may be something of a rude wake-up call.

We're still maintaining the habit of reading to the baby. Dr. Seuss seems to be a good fit, and since Addie has no clue what we're even talking about, I'd imagine that the rhythm of those books is more interesting than just some silly kid story, like The Frog Principal. I don't think that she finds a story about a principal who gets turned into a frog nearly as entertaining as the rhythm of, say, Yertle the Turtle. Really, I suspect that Addie would be just as content if we were to merely speak jibberish to the tune of Dr. Seuss.

One amusing part of pregnancy that we haven't mentioned yet is fetal hiccups. Though it hasn't happened too terribly often, Addie has had her fair share of hiccups cases. I came home from work a couple of days ago to a not-so-amused Ame, who had been enduring Addie's hiccup fit for the past 20 minutes or so. I honestly found them quite entertaining, as I could put my hand on her belly and feel the steady bump-bump-bump (spaced a second or two apart), but I confess that a large part of my entertainment came from the fact that, if I so wished, I could just remove my hand to make the hiccups go away, something which Ame can't exactly do. I tried to help by telling Addie to hold her breath for 30 seconds. Ame then reminded me that the baby can't breathe, at which point I advised her to hold her amniotic fluid instead. When that didn't work, I attempted to scare the baby by poking from all different angles, something perhaps best described as a belly-quake, but this didn't work either. Still no luck, and I was out of ideas (save for one that my mom used on me once: lighting a match, putting it out in a glass of water, and then drinking the glass of water [minus the match, of course], which actually worked), so I pretty much just had to resign myself to "Tough luck, kid" and "I'm glad I'm not you."

I suppose that's all we really have for right now. Until next time...

The belly arrives!

Finally, we have some new belly pictures for you. There's not really any commentary to add, so here you go:

12 November 2006


Ame's belly button has been on the verge of popping completely out for the last few weeks, as you can see in the second picture, but has yet to do so. I try to coax Addie to kick in just the right spot to pop it out, but so far this hasn't worked. I suppose we'll just have to give it time.

(You may have noticed that you can no longer view all of the posts on one page, so if you want to view one of the earlier posts, you'll have to click on the link for the particular month under the "Archives" on the left side of the page.)

Week 35

Another little paragraph stolen (err, borrowed) from Baby Center, this one concerning the 35th week:

Your baby's getting big. She weighs a tad over 5 pounds and is just over 18 inches long. Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

And baby isn't the only one putting on weight. Ame has, in fact, taken to wearing my t-shirts around the house. I suppose I should just consider it my little contribution to the whole pregnancy thing. She has also asked me to stop putting on the floor things that she may want in the near future; apparently the floor is a lot futher away to a pregnant woman than it is to me.

35 weeks almost doesn't sound like that far along, since we still have a whole month to go, but in a mere two weeks Addie will be officially full term, which is just a scientific way of saying "she's been in there long enough." Ame, however, is having doubts that the baby will ever actually be born, contemplating instead the possibility of being permantently pregnant. Though we haven't had an official discussion on this topic, I can say with relative confidence that this is not a route that either of us really want to take.

I picked up a few more Dr. Seuss books from the library this evening, so Addie should have occassion to dance along to the cadence for the next couple of evenings. I was going to pick up Green Eggs and Ham, but someone got there before me, and I was stuck with three relative unknowns. Still, the rhythm of the books ought to keep her plenty active, or at least as active as she can be in her cozy little home.

I suppose that's all for now. I'm going to stop suggesting that you check back for another belly picture or two, leaving you with this instead: I'll put it up when I put it up. Until next time...

An apple a day...

If the old adage is true, the doctor won't be coming anywhere near the Hunter household any time soon. Ame has been in the habit of consuming, on average, about one apple per day. So far, however, this has been the only abnormal (if we even want to call it that) eating habit of hers. No midnight trips to the grocery store for pickles and ice cream or anything like that. And I really can't say that I'm disappointed.

The baby has also developed a habit of her own, namely digging her feet up under Ame's ribcage. Ame doesn't seem to like this. I'm thinking that, perhaps, this is Addie's protestation to the above-average apple consumption.

Other than that there's not a whole lot going on. It's hard to believe that there's actually going to be another human in our apartment in a few weeks. And I think that we have a good amount of cleaning to do, lest we run the risk of putting the baby somewhere and not finding her for a few days. Of course, that won't be the first time that's happened, but I don't think Addie would find it quite as amusing as misplacing, say, the utilities bill.

That's all for now. Keep checking back for those new belly pics. I promise they'll be up soon.

The newest update ever!

I know some (maybe most?) of you check this every day and I apologize that we don't post more. Maybe after the baby gets here there will be more to post. There aren't too many exciting things happening at this point. We are counting down the weeks will the baby gets here -- although if she follows the tradition in my family she could be up to a month late. I am getting bigger and more uncomfortable, which is definitely making me look forward to her getting here more! I feel like I spend most of my time eating or sleeping--and if I'm not doing on or the other of those activities, I would really like to be!

Everyone is getting less sleep at night (which I am sure is good practice for after Addie gets here). I am sleeping less because I'm uncomfortable, have to run to the bathroom and because I am having contractions and Wes is sleeping less because I'm uncomfortable, have to run to the bathroom and I am having contractions. the baby isn't sleeping at night because she seems to enjoy all of the activity! At least once she gets here I can give her to Wes and let him try to get her to sleep part of the time--right now I get to deal with all of it, so I'm looking forward to the chance to let him share in the fun.

Wes has started his new job and seems to be enjoying it. He is surprised at how quickly time passes, which is a good thing since it seems like it would drag on when you are just sitting there talking to people on the phone for 7 hours! He gets to talk to people all over the country (the business or location he is calling shows up on his computer) so he comes home and tells me about people's funny accents. We are really enjoying the consistent hours of Wes's job--he's home by 4 so we can spend the whole evening together on a regular basis.

I'm still doing prenatal yoga, and my instructor has talked to me about doing some training and maybe teaching a class once a week for the Mennonite and Amish women in the area--something I would really like to do. I have six more weeks of classes and am having a hard time concentrating on getting the work done. It just don't seem like much of a priority anymore with the baby coming (don't worry dad, I'm still making A's). It tends to be a bit distracting during a lecture to have the baby kicking me and wiggling around--its much more fun to play with her than to take notes!

That's all for now. We'll post some more belly pictures soon.