I keep wanting to
call it the next decade, although it isn’t really. It’s just the next block of ten. At this point, we have completed three blocks
of ten, and have only one block remaining.
We could almost be counting down instead of up. Except we can’t count down from your birth
date, since you have yet to announce it.
So, we just keep counting up.
But it does feel
sort of like a tenth birthday, or twentieth, or thirtieth, where a new round
number enters the picture, and a new digit begins the number, and you feel old
and young at the same time. All grown up
and yet so far to go.
But thirty weeks is
definitely entering the downhill slope.
We will go another “decade” most likely, and nearly as likely, days or
weeks past the next decade. Research has
revealed that the guy who decided on the 40-week gestational bell curve
actually ran his numbers wrong, and the peak of the bell curve is 41 weeks two
days. One more reason why we’re letting
you come when you’re ready. One more
reason why I will do my very best not to be anxious as the weeks and days come
and go and yet we wait for you.
But we’re not there
yet, so the waiting is easier.
Because of certain
prayers and dreams we’ve had, your Daddy and I both have an inclination as to
your gender. It’s a little secret we
keep between ourselves. Because in the
end, we are so joyful to welcome you into our arms, whether you arrive boy or
girl.
I closed my eyes on
the bus today to rest, and pictured the end of our labor, when you will emerge
and your Daddy and I will hold you tightly for the very first time. The image was black and white for some
reason. We were both in the birth tub,
facing each other. I was squatting
deeply, as we learned in our class, hanging onto your Daddy, then reaching down
to feel with my fingertips your tiny head emerging into the water. First your head, then your body, slipping
from water to water, then into the middle of our embrace. We laugh.
We cry. We give thanks. We forget
to see what hides between your legs because we can’t stop laughing and crying,
and making sure you breathe.
These images are
what I hold onto when I wonder about the pain, when I think about what to tell
myself when I am facing the hardest part of your journey. I want to think back to these images, to remember
the tears that slipped down my cheeks when I imagined meeting you, and hang
onto the vision of you in my arms, letting it help my body and your body bring
you into the world.
As I think again
about this image of birth, suddenly I laugh.
Your Daddy, ever the one to keep things light and laughter-filled, may
not react in such a dramatic manner as I have pictured. In fact, I can imagine you emerging… He
smiles when he sees you, then in an unwavering voice, declares, “Her name is
LaRonda,” or “His name is Donavancino.”
Then everyone laughs, relief in the air and belly laughs spreading
throughout the room as our tension is released.
Except you. You will scream,
which will make us happy, and your Daddy will promise that is not your real
name and tell you it’s okay, Goofy, you don’t have to cry.
This week your
Daddy and I attended our first Bradley birthing class. There are eleven classes, which we will
complete in ten weeks. We are one of
nine couples taking the class. We are
the furthest along in our pregnancy, with several others days behind us, but
that has no bearing on when our babies will decide to arrive! My parents also took Bradley birthing classes
when they were pregnant with me!
This week we heard
about the history of the Bradley method.
Then we learned and practiced several exercises and relaxation
techniques we will use for the next months until you arrive, to help get my
body ready. Your Daddy is going to be a
great birth coach. He is so gentle and
loving with me, and I think we will work together beautifully. We now have exercises we’re supposed to do
every night before bed, which we have added to our nightly routine of talking
and playing with you.
Thirty 30 weeks pregnant
Thirty 30 Weeks Pregnant
Sonograms at this
stage, especially three dimensional ones, distinctly reveal baby’s
features. You can see if they have a
broad, wide nose, or a tiny button nose.
If they have full lips or thin lips.
If they like to hold their hand next to their face, or if they like to
play with their umbilical cord. It is so
amazing.
I asked our midwife
about some of the spasm-type movements I’ve felt from you, and she mentioned
that sometimes babies play with their own umbilical cords. They may grasp tightly enough to cut off
circulation to their own bodies, then jerk or spasm when their little brain says
“Need. More. Oxygen. Now!”, forcing their grip to release and their body to
twitch or jerk in response to the temporary cut-off and release.
According to
averages, you are now sixteen inches long and weigh three pounds! You will gain about half a pound per week
from now through birth. Ideally, I hope
you weigh at least eight pounds, as then you will be healthy and strong! Your feet are about two and a half inches
long, and your head is about three and a half inches in diameter.
As your head
continues growing, your brain develops in sync with the newfound space
surrounding it. Until now, the surface
of your brain was smooth. Beginning this
week, it is acquiring grooves and indentations.
This wrinkling creates additional surface area, allowing more brain
tissue to accumulate.
Your skin is
getting smoother and less wrinkly, as your white body fat increases. The early lanugo (downy fine hair) that used
to cover your skin, will begin to disappear, as the insulation it provided is
exchanged for fat insulation. Your body
can control its own temperature now, although once you are born, it will take
about twenty four hours for you to regulate your body temperature in the new
out-of-water environment.
Your bone marrow is
now responsible for red blood production.
Previously, various tissue and your spleen were performing this job, but
this task has now permanently transitioned to the bone marrow. Calcium, phosphorus, and iron are now stored
in your blood and body cells.
More frequent REM
sleep indicates that you may be able to dream!
Your Daddy has dreamed about you a lot this week, so I wonder if you can
dream about us.
Your eyes can
produce tears! You may spend a lot of
time with your eyes open, but your eyesight is not very keen, and won’t be even
after birth. By the time of birth, you
can only see about eighteen inches in front of your face. As you grow in the outside world, your vision
will gradually sharpen.
Your development
that has previously been concentrated on adding new body parts, is shifting to
development focused primarily on weight gain.
Your sudden demand for MORE FOOD has been keeping me busy trying to make
sure I have snacks with me at all times, and I consume enough good nutrients
throughout the day for both of us. I
have been hungry more frequently, even between what I would consider
substantial meals, so I’ve started snacking lightly between meals. My weight gain slowed down in the last couple
weeks more than I would like, so I’m guessing you are ramping up your caloric
demands. I am working to change my
eating a bit, to feed us more, to keep up with appropriate weight gain for both
of us.
We watched a TED video last night that talked about when human learning begins. Turns out it doesn’t begin in school, or even
at birth. It begins shortly after
conception, and is especially pronounced during a baby’s third trimester
in-utero. Studies have proven that
adults’ bodies and minds were physically altered by events that occurred to
their mother while she was pregnant with them.
The video was fascinating, and reminded me how beautiful it is to be
joyfully expecting you. So grateful to
live in a country and family where I have enough to eat, so your body does not
learn starvation even before birth. So
thankful to live in a marriage and family and circle of friends where I can
have a pregnancy filled with peace and laughter, so your body does not develop
genetic markers for trauma and suffering.
What gifts we have. I feel so blessed.
Yesterday at
church, the aunt of one of our close friends was visiting from Panama. She put her hands on my skin outside where
you are and hugged me. Then she looked
deeply into my eyes, and deeply at your house, and said slowly, “This will be a
child who is made for greatness.”
You are descended
from many generations of greatness.
Farmers, missionaries, presidents, pastors, and more. This is the beauty of blessing that passes
through generations of those who fear the Lord.
I pray this is captured by you and your generation, that the legacy of
the Lord’s greatness in our family will be continued by you, your children,
your grandchildren, their grandchildren.
It is the only hope for our world.
“Oh, that their
hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it
might go well with them and their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29)
“Keep His decrees and
commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your
children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God
gives you for all time.” (Deuteronomy
4:40)
“So that you, your
children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as
you live by keeping all His decrees and commands that I give you, and so that
you may enjoy long life.” (Deuteronomy 6:2)
“This day I call the
heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life
and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children
may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
“So on that day Moses
swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance
and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God
wholeheartedly.’ “ (Joshua 14:9)
And should you ever stray
from Him, or find yourself far away in confusion, wondering how it came to be
that the Lord cannot seem to be found, it is never too late to return.
“If you return to the
LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by
their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious
and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to
Him.” (2 Chronicles 30:9)
