Week 34

As of this week, your baby has grown so large she takes up most of the available space inside the uterus, and can no longer float around your womb. Baby is now about 4.7 pounds and about 16.8 inches long.
Meanwhile, other exciting things are still going on inside the womb this week:
* Your baby's adrenal glands are growing and producing corticoid hormones that, together with prolactin from the pituitary, will stimulate lactation.
* The vernix coating on the baby's skin is getting thicker to better protect Baby's skin.
* Baby's skull bones are still quite pliable and not completely fused together at the top of her head, which will make it easy for Baby to slip down the relatively narrow birth canal.
* Baby's skin is gradually becoming less red and wrinkled as the fat beneath it fills out and stretches the skin. (verybestbaby.com)

Baby's due date is just 49 days away!!! He'll be here before we know it. Today I dug out some reading material that I had saved from my pregnancy with Lily - stuff about breastfeeding, labor and newborn care! :) And I "made" Andy watch an infant care DVD with me - something we had gotten for free from the Very Best Baby Resource Center (you can sign up online). It's so exciting. I just can't wait to meet him.

We're working on potty training with Lily but I'd say we're not really getting anywhere. She doesn't mind wearing big girl underwear but doesn't ever say when she needs to go potty. I honestly think she's a little bit afraid to actually "go" on the potty. So I really don't want to push her. It'll happen when she's ready.

The long weekend was nice. It's always a treat to have Andy home with us on weekdays! :) But it throws me off - today definitely didn't feel like a Monday. I'm not looking forward to him heading back to work tomorrow. I'd like to go to the gym. And I need to get to the grocery store. I'm having some other mommy friends and their kiddos over for lunch on Wednesday and I need a couple things for that. Andy has a softball game tomorrow night but it isn't until 9:20!!! Needless to say, Lily and I will be staying home. It's really a bummer because she loves to go to his softball games.

Better get to bed. G'night!

Ground Breaking Ceremony

On Sunday we had a ground breaking ceremony on the land right next to our church. As a congregation we stood on the chalk outline of the new sanctuary and prayed for our church. Then we turned and faced the community and prayed for the St. Cloud Area. To see plans for the new addition go to Calvary's website.

Week 33

In these last few weeks before delivery, billions of your baby's brain cells are helping her to learn about her environment. These cells help her to listen, feel, and even see. In fact, this is another important week for visual development. By now, your baby may now be able to experience her surroundings visually, since the pupils of her eye can now detect some light. Her pupils are constricting and dilating to allow her baby to see dim shapes.
Your baby now weighs about 4.4 pounds! (Babies gain a good deal of their weight in the final few weeks before birth.) She is about 16.4 inches long from head to toe.
Other developments this week include:
* Baby's head size will increase about 3/8 of an inch in circumference this week.
* Baby is now sleeping much of the time.
* Baby's lungs are continuing to mature.
* Fat will continue to be added on to Baby's body for protection and warmth.
* The testicles of most boys have by now moved into the scrotum. (verybestbaby.com)

Week 32

Baby's appearance is changing rapidly during this week. Most of the wrinkles are disappearing from your baby's face, and there may be a lot of hair on her head. In fact, as the lanugo hair on her body begins to fall off, the hair on her head is growing even faster. By week 32, some babies already have a thick head of hair, while others have only a few strands.
Baby is now about four pounds and about 15.5 inches long, an incredible increase of almost two pounds from last month.
In other developmental news this week, Baby:
* Will have completely formed fingernails and toenails.
* Will be able to turn her head from side to side.
* Has organs that continue to mature.
* Has sucking muscles that have matured, and will enable her to latch on and breastfeed once she arrives. (A good sucking pattern is also a sign of good brain and muscle development.)
* Will begin dreaming during sleep toward the end of the eighth month, according to brain scans. Due to her impressive brain development, her sleep will now include both REM and non-REM sleep stages. (REM stands for "rapid eye movement," the dreaming stage of sleep.) verybestbaby.com

Week 31

This week marks some major changes for your baby's eyes. Most notably, the iris in your baby's eyes will become pigmented. However, no matter what color eyes your baby is born with (most are born with dark blue-brown or blue-gray eyes) the color almost always changes after birth. In fact, your baby's true eye color won't appear for six to nine months after delivery, because the final eye pigmentation occurs in response to the strong light of the outside world.
By the end of this week, Baby will weigh about 3.5 pounds and will be about 14.5 inches long. From now on, your baby's weight gain will exceed her growth in length.
Each day brings new developments inside the womb:
* Baby's eyes are now usually open during waking, and are closed at naptimes.
* Baby's lungs and digestive tract are continuing to develop.
* As you near the end of the second trimester, your baby will begin to settle head-down into your pelvis. However, some babies don't make this journey until late in the last trimester, and about four percent of babies don’t make the switch, remaining in a breech position at delivery.

Just 10 weeks - 70 days - until my due date!