Week 32

It’s been another week, and this one came with a surprise.  Not a pleasant surprise, though.  The baby has flipped again, and is now head up.  This is a bit of a concern because the baby should be settling into the birth position by now.  If she doesn’t flip back over to the head down position, then a Caesarean section is likely.  This is something we don’t want, as that is a major surgery that can have an effect on the health of my wife and a second child.  Recovery is a lot longer than a vaginal birth.

Anyway, other than the position of the baby, she’s very healthy.  She’s now 1895 grams, only 600 grams away from minimum healthy birth weight.  She’s a bit chubby, too.  Her legs are also a bit long, so it makes me wonder if we’ll have a tall daughter.  Her toenails, fingernails and hair are all there now.  She’s been filling out her loose skin, so she should look like a normal baby now.  In fact, she could be born at any time now, and be healthy.

Mom is still feeling pain from the baby’s kicks, as well as the rapid growth of the baby.  Due to the baby’s new position, the doctor advised my wife to sleep on her right side now, instead of her left.  She’s had many sleepless nights lately due to the baby moving.

We’ve now bought everything required for a hospital survival kit (actually, it’s just the things my wife needs for a week at the clinic) for when she goes into labour.  As it’s getting so close to the birth, we have to be fully prepared.  We’ve made plenty of decisions recently, like where the baby will sleep (in the living room) and where my wife’s mother will sleep (in the bedroom with us, but on a rental bed).  We also decided on using cloth diapers, which can be washed, and will save us money in the long run.  The doctor has no information about when he thinks the baby will be born.  It’s going to be a surprise.  Because of the baby’s position, we have another appointment with the clinic next week, just to check if she’s flipped over again.  Hopefully, she’ll be back to the head down position.

Here are the ultrasound pictures.  They weren’t supposed to be done this week, but due to the baby’s incorrect position, the doctor had to take a look.

The top shows her full face at 32 weeks, 6 days. At the bottom is her nose (very clearly), lips and chin.

This 4D image shows her face. Not as clear as the one from 6 weeks ago.

Week 16

This is the first of the weekly baby development updates.  This week, we don’t have a check-up with the hospital about the baby, so this information is what the baby should be like at the moment.  We are now at week 16!

At this moment, the baby is still quite small, possibly around 11cm long from head to bottom.  The head is developing quite nicely, more erect, the ears are in the correct position.  The scalp pattern is developing now, too.  No hair yet, though.  Toenails are starting to grow and the heart is pumping lots of blood through its body.

The womb is now half way between the pelvic bone and the bellybutton, so a baby bump starts to appear at this time.  From what I can tell, morning sickness is mostly gone, but still comes back sometimes.  Also, lots of itchiness due to hormones.

What can we expect soon?  Well, we should be able to feel the baby moving and kicking within the next couple of weeks.  Also, the baby is about to start a growth spurt, doubling in weight and growing in size a lot faster over the next few weeks.