26 Weeks

26 weeks!  Our little girl now weighs two whole pounds and is about 14 inches long!

In other big news, her eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, are starting to open!  Obviously, there is nothing good to see in there, but she might respond to bright lights near my belly with increased pulse or movement.  She is able to react to loud noises outside the womb as well because her brain has become more developed and sophisticated with an increase in brain waves (I know this part is true, because we went to a movie on Thursday and she simply THRASHED around the whole time.  I felt bruised when we finally got out of the loud theater!).

The baby's nostrils have also begun to open, and she is making periodic muscular breathing movements to prepare for drawing air into her lungs after birth.  Within the next two days, the air sacs will also begin to develop in her lungs.  Also, over the next couple of days, her fingernails will be visible!

Her movements are strong and frequent, as she is practicing movements she will need outside the womb.  Apparently, she is even "pedaling" her feet against my belly (this made a lot of sense when I read it!  So THAT'S what's she doing when I thought I could feel both of her feet at once!).

I am feeling bigger and bigger, and the baby's kicks are getting harder and harder!!  I can't believe how big of a wallop she packs when she only weighs two pounds.  She also found some new, not-so-pleasant places to kick me this week.  

However, her kicks are now strong enough that Jeremy can easily feel them!!!!  Last night at 9:50, he felt a bunch in a row, including one that was on the opposite end of my belly -- she kicked so hard at the top of my belly that he felt it at the bottom!  It was so great.  His face lit up like he had just won the lottery.  Then, ten minutes later, he was actually around to see her "super-activity" time and saw my stomach bouncing around while she kicked like crazy.  It was a big night!

Some not-as-awesome news from yesterday -- the name Jeremy really wanted for the baby that I definitely wasn't in love with but thought I could learn to like?  I finally admitted to Jeremy that I was never going to be happy with it.  So we got the baby name book back out and started over from scratch.  The good news is, I think we are down to about three or four, so I think we will be fine.  I feel really badly about dashing Jeremy's hopes like that, but the name just didn't sit right with me.  I just knew it wasn't her name.

Today, we went to Detroit for the Race for the Cure.  About 30 of Jeremy's family came out and about 25 of those walked or ran the 5K.  I, however, brought a snack and sat on the ground in Detroit and waited at the finish line to cheer them on.  Apparently I looked like this:

Classic.  Jeremy thought it was worth capturing for posterity.  

The baby kicked really hard when we cheered for the runners!  She loves saving boobies too! :)

16 Weeks and Lots of Updates

I don't know why, but sixteen weeks seems "big" to me, like a substantial marker in the land of pregnancy.  I have no facts to back up why I feel this way, but that's true for a lot of things in life.

This week the baby is probably about 5 inches long and weighs around three ounces.  The fun things growing this week are on the theme of "tiny":  toenails (!!), eyebrows and eyelashes (!!!), and all of the tiny bones in the ears -- so the baby can hear and recognize my lovely voice.  I'll have to remember to talk and sing to him/her more often.  Actually, last night Jeremy had a little conversation with the baby.  I have been having some sharp pains that come and go (the doctor says I am fine), and I got one while I was talking to Jeremy.  He asked, "baby?" and I nodded, so he got real close to my belly and said "Hey, baby, can you please stop hurting your mom?  She is working really hard to grow you, so stop that nonsense in there."  Then he kissed my belly and I melted into a tiny pool on the floor.  What a guy!


Overall, however, I am doing MUCH better than those first three dramatic months.  I don't feel "amazing," but I feel solidly "good," almost normal, and that is leaps and bounds away from all the feelings of death I was feeling only a few short weeks ago.  I guess I understand now how women say you will forget all the bad parts really quickly and get pregnant again, even if pregnancy is horrible.  So, there IS a chance this baby won't be an only child! 


In other breaking news, the "to know or not to know" debate is really gaining steam.  For those of you who don't already know, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to know what we are having.  I want to plan and shop and decorate the nursery, and I want the baby to have SOME clothes that are not green or yellow.  Jeremy wants it to be a surprise, even though he knows surprises are at the top of my hate list.  At any rate, we both realize that the other has good reasons for feeling the way he/she does.  So ... I guess it is not really heating up so much as it is at a standstill.  Oh well.


One thing that we do seem to be in agreement with is keeping the baby's name a secret until he/she is born.  Or, rather, it is really important to me and Jeremy is willing to play along.  


AND we have a boy's name that we both really like and we are 99% sure we will use if the baby is a boy, which is VERY exciting for us, since this is the first name we have agreed on in the six years we have been discussing baby names!  Victory!  We have a name that we both like for a girl, but I have one small hang-up with it.  Jeremy's homework is to make that go away, and I will be on board for the girl's name too.  So, even if we don't learn the sex, at least I will know that the names are all ready to go and I won't have to panic when I go into labor! 


Well, that was a long post, but fun for me.  I keep trying to post more so I can use this to look back on in years to come and remember all these little things.