Week 38 Baby Updates!

Only 9 days to go to c-section time!! We're very excited!!

Your baby probably weighs just over 7 pounds (3250g) by now and measures about 14.4 inches (36cm) from crown to rump and has a total length of about 21.5 inches (48cm).

Your baby's lungs are the last part to develop before birth. Once the lungs are developed, your baby is ready for life outside the womb.

By now your baby has almost run out of space to move in your uterus.

Your baby has shed most of his lanugo, though he may still have some on his shoulders and in the creases of his body.

His toenails reach the end of his toes.

The umbilical cord, which still is supplying your baby with nutrition as he gains more weight, may be knotted or wrapped around him.

Some of your antibodies have crossed the placental barrier and give your baby's immune system a boost to get him started until his is fully functioning.

Your baby could be born any day now!

Week 37 Updates!

Well, we are OFFICIALLY considered full term now... If Christian comes anytime between now and his due date, he is no longer considered "pre-term"!! I am definitely feeling the effects of being full term---I'm tired and sore pretty much all the time! :) haha Hopefully this little guy will be showing up before too much longer! In any case, it's December FINALLY, and we're in the homestretch now! :) Here's a pic from several weeks ago:

Your Baby This Coming Week
On average, at this time, a baby weighs about 6.8 pounds (3100g) and measures about 14 inches (35cm) from crown to rump and 21 inches (47cm) total in length.
Your baby is still growing and gaining weight. Your baby may gain as much as 1 ounce (28g) a day at this point.

37w0d-37w6d - It’s the calm before the storm. Changes in your baby's weight have leveled off with only a few ounces of fat added this week. At this point your baby should weigh in at around 7 lbs and 20 inches (with boys somewhat heavier and longer than girls). Happily, as far as internal organs go, they are now developed enough to function in the outside world although the oh-so-important immune system is still developing and will continue to do so after birth. With a large boost of antibodies provided by breast milk when nursing begins. Fighting infection and staying healthy should be well within their physical capacity when your little fighter is born.

Week 35 Baby Updates!

Only 35 days to go if we make it to the due date! We're hoping we go early! :)

Your baby weighs about 6 lbs (2750g) and measures about 20.7 inches (46cm) in length. Crown to rump measurement is about 13.5 inches (34cm).

Your baby now feels lower in your pelvis.

Your baby continues to grow, kick, and move about.

Your baby's face has filled out and the cheeks now look plump and full. Fat baby cheeks are caused by fat deposits, but also by powerful sucking muscles which your baby has been honing by sucking his thumb.

Your baby's skull is firm, but it is not hard as it needs to give a little when it is passing through the birth canal.

Your baby's head is probably down by now, but about three percent of babies present in a breech (bottom down) position. Your doctor may try to turn your baby around if it is in a breech position by putting pressure on your abdomen. This is called external cephalic version (ECV) and is effective in about 50% of cases. If your baby is in a breech position, ask your doctor about what your options are for the birth. You may or may not require a cesarean delivery.

Week 33 Baby Updates

here's the rest of the update: I was told at my last appointment that I was "measuring large". What that means exactly, we don't know for sure. We are going to get an ultrasound to determine Christian's weight, my fluid measurement, etc tomorrow at 5pm. hopefully after that we will know a little more about when this little boy might make an appearance! I'll keep everyone updated. For now, we will stay on course with the 33 week updates:


Your baby weighs almost 5 lbs (2250 g) and is 12.8 inches (32cm) from crown to rump and about 19.8 inches (44cm) long.

If your baby were born now, he would be considered "pre-term" rather than premature. This distinction is based on fetal maturity, particularly the maturity of the fetal lungs. A pre-term baby, unlike a premature baby, is likely to have well-developed lungs and is less likely to need intensive care.

Your baby is surrounded by a red glow when sunlight shines on your belly and may be aware of this as he is able to differentiate between light and dark.

Your baby's hair is getting thicker, though it may be a different color when he is older.

He is currently shedding his lanugo, the fine downy hair that previously covered his body.

More vernix, the waxy coating that protects your baby's skin while submerged in amniotic fluid, is building up.

Your baby's adrenal glands are producing more steroid hormone, the androgen-like hormone that indirectly aids your milk production. Your baby is currently producing ten times more of this hormone than a normal adult and the adrenal glands are currently the same size as those of an adolescent. They will shrink after birth.

Your baby is laying down bone. To do this, he will draw calcium from you.

Your baby has taste buds and it has been suggested that he can taste and develop tastes for flavors found in the amniotic fluid, particularly flavors that you eat on a regular basis.

Week 32 Baby Updates!

I'm getting really tired lately, so I know the homestretch has officially started. I can't wait to meet this little guy, and it seems like the next month or two can't go quickly enough!

Your baby now weighs about 4.4 lbs (2000g) and measures about 12 inches (30cm) from crown to rump and about 19.4 inches (43cm) in total.

Now that your baby is running out of room in your womb, you can probably see your belly moving as your baby kicks.

Your baby may dream as he sleeps and when awake he may be alert, listening, feeling and even seeing dim shapes.

Though your baby is still inside the womb, he is learning all the time as billions of neurons are making connections.

Your baby is probably in his birth position by now.

Your baby's lungs may be sufficiently developed by now, though if he were born now, he would probably still need an incubator to stay warm.

Week 31 Baby Updates!

It's been a little while since I've updated--life has been crazy!! We've hit the 31 week mark, and I'm definitely feeling it! I'm much more sore and tired these days and breathing has become a little more difficult task to complete!

Here are Christian's "specs" for the week:

Your baby's total length is 18.9 inches (42cm) and he is perfectly formed! He measures about 11.6 inches (29cm) from crown to rump. All he has to do is fill out more.

Your baby weighs almost 4 pounds (1800g). If he were to be born now, he would still need to be incubated as he has insufficient fat stores to keep it warm.

Your baby can distinguish between light and dark.

Your baby can hear the outside world quite well now, and can also hear the sounds of your heartbeat, your digestion and the blood rushing in the umbilical cord. The pitch of women's voices are in the range babies are most able to hear over all the internal background noise.

Your baby is already familiar with your voice and will be able to recognize it after birth.

Week 28--Baby Updates!!

Your baby now weighs about 2.7 lbs (1.2kg), measures about 10.4 inches (26cm) from crown to rump, and is around 16.7 inches (42cm) long. He is plumper and rounder, and his head and body are beginning to be in proportion.

Your baby now uses all of his senses. He can see, taste, recognize touch and the sound of your voice.

During the last trimester, your baby will receive antibodies from you through your placenta that will provide immunity from many diseases.

Your baby's adrenal glands are producing androgen-like substances. Androgens are normally male sex hormones, but in late pregnancy, when they reach the placenta they are turned into estrogen which in turn stimulates the production of prolactin in your body. Prolactin is the hormone needed for milk production.

And another update: Christian had to have another ultrasound done because he's been so squirmy they couldn't see his heart well. He was squirmy again, and his legs were still up in front of him in full frank breech mode, so they are sending us to get a Fetal Echo done on Oct. 8th at 2:00pm. Pray this little boy cooperates!! :)

Welcome to the THIRD TRIMESTER!!!!

Week 27 updates.....

Your baby weighs about 2.5 lbs (1.1kg) and is about 10 inches (25cm) from crown to rump and 15 inches (38 cm) long from head to toe.

At this time, the baby has tastebuds which allow it to distinguish between sweet, sour and bitter tastes.

Brain tissue and brain development increases at this time as your baby grows the folds and grooves needed for a developed brain.

Eyebrows and eyelashes are probably present and the hair on your baby's head is growing longer.

Your baby's body is filling out, getting a bit fatter as fat deposition continues, but it is still somewhat red and wrinkled.

Your baby is big enough for his presentation to be determined. That is, your caregiver can probably tell how your baby is oriented in your uterus. He may be breech (bottom down) or head first. If your baby is in a breech position now, there is no need to worry as there is still plenty of room and time for your baby to change positions.

Your baby can feel pain and respond to it in the same way as a full term baby.

Week 26 Updates!!!

We are officially under the 100 day mark!!! Yay for double digits!

Your baby weighs more than 2 lbs (1000g), measures 9.6 inches from crown to rump (24cm) and its total length is about 15.3 inches (34cm). If your baby were born now, he would have about an 85% chance of surviving. Nonetheless, your baby still needs another 13 weeks of in utero development to be considered full term.

Your baby's eyes, no longer fused shut, are now open.

Your baby's skin still has a very wrinkled appearance, but it is protected and nourished by the covering of vernix, a waxy coating that keeps the skin supple.

Your baby looks almost like a full term baby, but is still much thinner and smaller than he will be at birth.

Week 25 Updates!

Your baby weighs just under 2 pounds (850g) and could possibly survive if delivered now. Your baby measures approximately 9.2 inches (23cm) from crown to rump.

He is growing fast and gaining weight now. His skin is less transparent and is becoming opaque as fat builds up.

Your baby's heart is beating 120 to 160 beats per minute, as you have already heard at several doctor or midwife visits.

Until now, your baby's eyes have been sealed shut, but he reopens them this week. The eyes are almost fully formed and the retinas contain all the layers they will have when your baby is born. Your baby's eyes are blue right now, no matter the ethnic origin or eye-color of you and your partner since eyes do not acquire their final color until months after birth.

Your baby is lean right now, but is getting fatter all the time as fat is being deposited. Your baby's skin is getting thicker and paler and is becoming less red and wrinkled as more fat is deposited.

Your baby has eyebrows, eyelashes and fingernails, though all are short and need to grow more.

On another note, I failed the 1 hour Gestational Diabetes test, so now I go back on Thursday for the 3 hour version! :( Oh well.... I'll let you know the results.

Week 24 Updates!

We're VIABLE!!!

Your baby now weighs around 1.5 lbs (700g), and measures about 8.8 inches (22cm) from crown to rump, but this varies from baby to baby.

Your doctor should be able to hear your baby's heartbeat, using a stethoscope or Doppler ultrasound device. If your partner puts his ear right on your belly in the right position, he might even be able to hear it unaided if there is no background noise.

Your baby sleeps and wakes in a more regular pattern now. You may notice that your baby is particularly active when you are resting.

The center of your baby's bones are beginning to harden.

Your baby can make a fist now and may already have a preference for the right or left hand.

With modern medical technology, your baby would have a chance to survive if it were born now.

Week 23 Updates!

Your baby is now about 8.4 inches from crown to rump (21cm) and weighs about 1.2 pounds (530g).

Your baby's face and body now look more like a full-term baby. He now looks close to how he will look at birth.

The eyes, though they are still closed, are now close together on the front of the face and the ears are in their final position. Eyelashes are fairly well-developed and hair is growing on your baby's head.

Your baby's movements are becoming more restricted now as he fills up the uterus more. Cartwheels and somersaults inside the amniotic sac are no longer possible, but he can still hold the umbilical cord and touch and feel around himself. Though your baby is already living in tight quarters in the amniotic sac, he will soon have even less room to move around.

His vital organs are now quite mature. However, since the lungs are not yet fully formed, your baby would have breathing problems if born prematurely at this stage.

Your baby is becoming increasingly conscious of the world outside and may feel startled when you are startled.

Your baby may alternate between having very active and very calm periods.

Your baby may have facial expressions such as frowning, squinting and pursing of the lips.

Christian's Bedding!

Here's some quick shots of the bedding we picked out last weekend! Nathan actually picked it out--I thought he did pretty well!!

Week 22 updates!!

Your baby now weighs almost 1 lb (450g) and measures about 8 inches (20cm) from crown to rump.

He is becoming plumper as his fat is being laid down at a high rate, but his skin is still wrinkled and reddish. The wrinkled and loose appearance of his skin is due to the faster production of his skin than the fat that fills it out. The reddish appearance of his skin is due to the deposition of pigment as his skin loses its translucent appearance.

Your baby can kick and punch vigorously by now, but he may also be gently feeling the umbilical cord and rubbing his hands and face against the inside membrane of the amniotic sac that holds him.

He is still swallowing amniotic fluid (which provides an important nutritional supplement to the nutrition he gets from you via the placenta). The swallowing of the amniotic fluid may cause your baby to get the hiccups and you may even be able to feel this as his body jumps inside yours.

The lanugo hair on your baby's body may turn darker at this time.

The coolest update from this week: I SAW my belly move when Christian kicked me on Saturday morning!! :)

For some reason the post below would not edit my content correctly, so it didn't show this statement:

And the coolest update for the week---Nathan got to feel Christian kick for the first time last night!!!

Week 21 Updates!!!

Your baby measures about 7.6 inches (19cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 12.25 ounces (350g).

Eyebrows have developed.

His digestive system now functions in a rudimentary manner. Your baby can suck and swallow and may even suck his thumb.

Your baby's senses are developing, especially his sense of touch. He can feel his face and stroke his arms and legs.

And the coolest update for the week----Nathan got to feel Christian kick for the first time last night!!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Our 20 week ultrasound went great! We got to see our little one squirming around all over the place. It took a bit of prodding, but he finally revealed himself.... our little boy, Christian Daniel!

He's beautiful and VERY active!! He'll be here sometime around Christmas! (He must know I'm talking about him. He's kicking me right now! haha)

We can't wait to meet this little guy!!!

20 week baby stats! :)

Well, with 1 more day until the BIG ultrasound, here are the stats for this little one at 20 weeks!!

Your baby weighs about 10.5 ounces (300g) and measures about 7.2 inches (18cm) from crown to rump. He still moves about freely in amniotic fluid.

Your baby may respond to external sounds, such as the music you are listening to or your voice.
Your baby has developed some red blood cells already. The white blood cells that your baby needs to fight infections are being manufactured.

He is developing taste buds on his tongue.

His digestive system is sufficiently advanced to absorb water and sugar from the amniotic fluid that he swallows and pass it to his large bowel.

Your baby has lanugo hair on his forehead and upper lip and his eyebrows are thickening.

Vernix (the waxy substance that covers and protects your baby's skin) accumulates on your baby's eyebrows.

Your baby's eyes are still sealed shut.

Your baby continues to grow and develop and his kicking is getting stronger now.

4 days to go!

Only 4 days until we find out whether this baby is a boy or a girl! I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself! :) I even made a paper chain to hang in my cubicle at work to help count down the days. I also started a poll outside my cubicle to see who would guess "boy" and who would guess "girl". So far, the boy guesses are edging out the girl guesses!! we'll soon see who's right!

The other big countdown we're waiting on is finding out the results from Nathan's Air Force Board. He's supposed to receive a call from his recruiter on the 10th, so we are anxiously awaiting the results!!! There are lots of changes happening next week... please pray for us that we will be faithful to be patient in our waiting and that we will be accepting of the results for the Board--whatever the outcome!

In the meantime, have a great day, and we will update soon!!

19 week stats!

Your Baby This Coming Week
(fyi...these updates will switch back and forth between "he" and "she" from week to week.)

Your baby weighs about 9 ounces (260g) and measures about 5.6 to 6.4 inches (14 to 16cm) from crown to rump.

Her skin is thickening and developing multiple layers- the epidermis and the dermis, the deeper layer where it will form fat. Your baby is now also developing a waxy protective coating for her skin called vernix caseosa. The vernix protects your baby's skin which is continuously submersed in amniotic fluid. Vernix, which is particularly thick around the eyebrows is held in place by tiny downy hairs called lanugo.

Your baby can now grip with her fists. Toenails and scalp hair are growing.

At this point, it may be possible to determine the baby's sex by ultrasound, if the baby cooperates.

You can hear the baby's heartbeat with a Doppler ultrasound device or a stethoscope.

New to this....here it goes!

Well, at the insistance of several friends, I am going to start this blog for our precious little one. We invite you to share with us our experience as we walk through these next few months of waiting for this wonderful new life that God has blessed us with.

A little background... We found out at the beginning of March that we were pregnant, only to discover the devasting news just a few days later that I was miscarrying. I can tell you right now that I have never felt pain like that! Not physically so much as emotionally and spiritually. The blessing in everything, though is that it never really occurred to me to be mad at God. And I took comfort in knowing that He held the little one that I would have to wait to see.

Well needless to say, we didn't plan on trying right away again. I had been using the basal body temperature method of charting cycles, but the doctor recommended that I put the thermometer away for the cycle after miscarrying. So, I did. Well, low and behold, six weeks later still no sign of the "Aunt Flo", so on a whim I bought a pregnancy test from the Dollar Tree. (who knew they sold those there?) Well, the test came up VERY positive, and I was a little nervous to say the least.

We had the pregnancy confirmed through an ultrasound that measured the baby at 6 weeks old. And our due date was officially placed at Christmas Day! What an unexpected gift after such pain of loss! Nathan and I could not have been happier!

I am now 19 weeks along, and we have 8 days until our BIG 20 week ultrasound that will determine the gender! I can't wait to be able to call this little one a he or a she, and not "it".

We hope you enjoy this journey with us! More updates to come!