We are spending
Christmas in Georgia
with your Daddy’s siblings, parents, nephew and nieces. This was your first ride in an airplane,
although I doubt you could tell the difference between air travel and earth
travel in your buoyant house. You were
incredibly active during the plane ride, though, so I wonder.
Yesterday was the
first Christmas we spent together as three – you, me, and your Daddy. There were already gifts waiting for you –
handmade blankets, books, photo frames.
The two of us are not the only ones eagerly expecting your arrival! By next Christmas, your official “baby’s
first Christmas”, you will already be crawling.
If I remember correctly, this is the age when you will prefer sitting
inside boxes and sucking on tissue paper instead of opening presents.
While on Christmas vacation,
I wasn’t stuck at my desk at work.
Instead, I spent the better part of my days on my feet - walking around
the neighborhood, cooking, or shopping.
As a result, you napped more during the day than usual, and became active
late at night when your Daddy and I finally retired. Your late-evening alertness was quite welcome
by your Daddy, who spent extra time playing with you and talking to you. I am convinced from your movements that you
can hear him, recognize his voice, and respond to him. He is insecure if you can or not, but that
doesn’t stop him from interacting with you each evening.
A book I’m reading
said by six months, your heartbeat is loud enough for a person to hear just by
pressing their ear against my belly. Your Daddy wanted to try it the minute I told
him. He was ecstatic to find he could
indeed hear your heart this way! So
simple – just the human ear pressed against skin. He has heard enough of your heartbeat in the
fetoscope, and also of other baby heartbeats in sonograms, to know what sound
he is listening for, and he was confident about finding and listening to it
each evening.
Our relatives were excited
to talk about you, feel you kick, and see how much you have grown inside me. Your Nana Rose, Aunt April, and cousin Lauren
all got to feel you kicking. Your
Grandad John said he wanted to videotape me laughing, because it makes my
entire belly, and your house, shake all over!
According to
averages, you are over fourteen inches long, and weigh over two pounds. Your body is getting rounder as your bones
and muscle thicken. In another month or
so, you will really plump up when you begin adding fat layers under your
skin. Currently, your body is only about
two to three percent fat. As your
muscles thicken, tone improves. This
continues to be obvious from your regular, strong movements.
The day we were
flew to Georgia,
you had been positioned feet-down inside me for the prior two or three
days. Ever since you have been big
enough for me to tell where you are laying inside me, you have primarily been
head-down, angled a bit with your head slightly to my left and your feet
slightly to my right side. I’ve often
had to sleep lying on my left side, since otherwise your kicking on my right
side is too strong and ticklish for me to handle! But for those three days, you had flipped,
and had your feet regularly kicking my bladder and cervix instead. I have to admit that got pretty
uncomfortable. In addition, it makes it
pretty hard for your Daddy to feel you move, since the most active part of you
(your feet) is not accessible to him.
The night before
our trip, every time I woke up during the night, I tried to press gently on you
with my palms, hoping you would feel pressure and turn. By four am, when your Daddy got up for work,
you had turned completely horizontal. I
was relieved, hoping you would turn the rest of the way by the time I
awoke. You did. But you turned back the way you came, ending
feet down again!
On my bus ride to
work, I tried again to gently press you, but you seemed completely content to
stay put. I prayed under my breath,
begging you to please turn around, since I was dreading being on the airplane
with you in that uncomfortable position.
Suddenly I felt you pushing and slipping inside me, and for the next
thirty minutes of my bus ride, you slowly turned around, little by little, so
your head was again down, and your feet bumping against to my upper right
side. I was so happy! Thank you for being so cooperative!
Twenty Eight 28 Weeks Pregnant
Twenty Eight 28 Weeks Pregnant
Often now I can
feel the shape of your little foot pressing out slightly on my upper right
side. You don’t even have to be kicking
for me to feel it – just the weight of your foot resting quietly presses enough
for me to feel it with my hand. While
your house still has some growing to do, this is a reminder that you will
gradually become more and more crowded until you finally outgrow your house and
enter the wide, wide world.
Hair on your head
is now clearly visible (unless you are born bald!), and your eyebrows and eyelashes
are fully formed. I can’t wait to
photograph your sweet, wispy eyelashes!
Under your gums,
your baby teeth, or “milk teeth” as they are often called, are developing. They won’t come through your gums until
several months after your birth, but you won’t need them for a while
anyway! Your food supply for the first
several months of your outside-my-body life will still come from my food and
body. At twenty eight weeks, that food,
colostrum, is already formed and waiting for you!
The branches of your
lungs are now developed and capable of breathing oxygenated air, not just the
fluid you continue inhaling now.
Your eyes can move
easily inside their sockets now, which means we could detect you entering REM
sleep. This deep sleep is detectable by
scientists because of REM (rapid eye movement), and is keenly important to
brain and body function and growth, even in grown adults. I am still trying to figure out when, or if,
you sleep, since you are supposed to have twenty to thirty minute sleep/wake cycles!
The Lord is always
watching over us because He never sleeps.
“I lift up my eyes to the
mountains — where does my help come from?
My help comes from the
LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot
slip — He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches
over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm
121:1-4)
Because of His
watchful eye, we can sleep peacefully.
In fact, He gives us sweet sleep.
“In peace I will lie down
and sleep,
for You
alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
(Psalm 4:8)
“But you, LORD, are a
shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the LORD,
and He answers me from His holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep; I
wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear though
tens of thousands assail me on every side.” (Psalm 3:3-6)
However, the Bible warns
us not to sleep our lives away lazily, throwing away time that should be used
wisely.
“Laziness brings on deep
sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.”
(Proverbs 19:15)
“Do not love sleep or you
will grow poor;
stay
awake and you will have food to spare.”
(Proverbs 20:13)
Restful sleep is a gift
(so take it now, and please take it again when you arrive earthside!).
“In vain you rise early
and stay up late, toiling for food to eat —
for He
grants sleep to those He loves.” (Psalm
127:2)
“My child, do not let
wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve
sound judgment and discretion;
they will be life for you, an ornament to
grace your neck.
Then you will go on your
way in safety,
and
your foot will not stumble.
When you lie down, you
will not be afraid;
when
you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Have no fear of sudden
disaster
or of
the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
For the LORD will be at
your side
and
will keep your foot from being snared.”
(Proverbs 3:21-26)
