Week 31

Week 31 is coming to a close now, and it was an eventful week for mom.

The baby is growing pretty quickly.  She’s as active as ever, and not only does she kick and punch, but when she slides her feet or hands along the walls of the uterus, my wife said it feels “kimoi” or a weird sick feeling.  She’s getting heavier as fat fills out her skin, and she’s about to go into a big growth spurt.

As I said, mom feels “kimoi” sometimes, and she does feel sick quite often.  This past week, she had a pretty strong dizzy spell that caused her eyesight to start blacking out.  Low blood pressure is most likely to blame, but she said it seems to run in her family.  She still can’t eat much at one sitting, so needs to spread out the food over the day.  She’s always hurting and feeling sick with the baby growing and her abdomen stretching, pressing into her stomach, and her pelvis preparing for birth.

Full term is only 5 weeks away!

Week 30

It’s only 6 weeks now until full term.  Today was the last day of week 30, and it included an ultrasound.  What was different this time was that my wife’s mother was present during the ultrasound.

The baby’s doing great.  She’s back to the correct head down position, which is very important for the birth.  She’s now 1651 grams.  The doctor said that she’s slightly above average in weight, so she seems more like she’s at the end of 31 weeks.  Her head is slightly below average size due to me.  While her head isn’t actually small, the Caucasian head is longer and narrower than an Asian person’s head.  Her heart is strong and healthy and her spine is straight.  We got some great views of her face during the ultrasound, but the picture wasn’t taken at that time.  Her eyesight is developing, though not so great yet.  As always, she’s very active, and making it very uncomfortable for her mother.

As for the mom, she’s feeling bad sometimes.  She feels sick occasionally, and she often feels pain in the lower part of her abdomen.  The doctor says this is normal, and should feel better if she takes a rest.  Walking uphill is getting more and more difficult now.

So, here’s what you’ve been waiting for, the pictures!

On the left is the full face, while on the right is the chin, mouth and nose.

She likes to hide behind her arm, which is on the right. On the left is the umbilical cord.

The next visit to the clinic is in 2 weeks, but without ultrasound.

Week 28

It’s been quite the first week of the third trimester.  We visited the clinic for a checkup, and got some news that was a bit surprising, though shouldn’t be anything to worry about.  Two weeks ago, the baby was already in the correct position for birth.  However, she flipped around and is head up again.  But the doctor said there’s still time and she’ll probably be back to head down before birth.

So, what’s happening in the baby’s life?  She should now be blinking her eyes and seeing what little light she can see through her mom.  She also has eyelashes.  Her brain is developing quickly, and she’s now gaining more body fat.  It’s birth preparation time.  She should be close to 1 kg and 37.5 cm long.  As usual, she’s incredibly active and very easy to feel moving.

Now that she’s out of the second trimester, my wife is feeling quite uncomfortable and getting a sick feeling often.  The baby’s pressing against her stomach a lot, so can’t eat so much, then she feels sick, and 2 or 3 hours, she’s hungry again.  The baby’s movements are also getting uncomfortable.

Coming soon is a flu shot!  The doctor strongly suggested it, and also suggested I get one, too.  That means I have to find a clinic to get one at.

On other topics, as we’re getting much closer to the birth, we have to think about some baby clothes, bed, and more.  We’re planning to rent a crib and baby carriage.  Much cheaper than buying them.

Week 26

Week 26 has been quite exciting, actually.  The visit to the clinic resulted in the best picture we have of our baby, as well as some very good news.

So, how is the baby doing?  She’s healthy, normal size, and not one problem at all.  We were able to see her mouth moving, like chewing.  At this point in her development, her ears are improving a lot, allowing her to possibly listen to our conversations.  Her lungs are also practicing breathing.  Amniotic fluid is going in and out of her lungs as they get ready for birth.  Best of all, her position inside the uterus is head down.  She’s in the correct position for birth.  She’s now 873 grams, quickly approaching 1 kg.  We got some pictures of her face, including an amazing 4D ultrasound picture.

These regular ultrasound pictures show her face. On the left is her full face, while on the right is her chin, lips and nose.

 

This is the clearest picture we have of her face so far. Incredibly clear!

Mom is going through some discomfort as the second trimester nears the end.  She can’t seem to eat as much, since the baby is pushing against her stomach.  She’s feeling a bit sick at times, too.  The baby is very active still, punching and kicking a lot.

The final 3 months are going to seem long, I think.  Discomfort is increasing, as well as boredom from being home all the time.  But that’ll all change after birth.  From this week, there will be clinic visits every 2 weeks, but ultrasound only once a month.