Tomorrow's my birthday!

At least I think it is.

My dad says anybody that wants to meet me or visit us should call, e-mail, or text message him...things will probably be sort of busy for a while, but I'm looking forward to meeting everybody!

3 days past due

I keep hearing people talk about how I'm "due" -- WTF does that mean? I'll take my own sweet time, thanks. Right now it's still reasonably comfy in here, so I see no need to leave. Plus, mom seems all anxious about whether I'll be born on Tuesday December 25, but I could care less. What's "Christmas," anyway? Whatever it is, it's clearly less important than the occasion of my emergence.

In fact, maybe they should rename it "Emergence Day." Wait, is that what a birthday is? I've never had one.

I've still got enough room in here to lie on my right or on my left side, and I switch back and forth depending on what's going on. My head's still the lowest part of me -- and I keep sinking lower. The belly is really down by the hips now, almost.

Hips are bumpy. Bump, bump, bump.

Mom's sleeping sitting upright now; I guess I still take up a fair amount of room where her stomach used to be. And I make her get up a few times a night, either because I'm uncomfortable or because I've found her bladder and am punching it again.

Mmm, and right now she's drinking a glass of red wine. Making...me...sleepy......

Coming soon to a hospital near you

We three are holding up really well. Feeling pretty ready to meet my parents and greet the outside world. Last report: Doc says I am still making progress, my head is really low and mom's dilated 1.5cm and 60-70% effaced, which is great. Especially since I haven't felt any of those hugging "contractions" in almost two weeks now.

It's awesome that mom doesn't have to haul herself back and forth to work anymore, though. Maternity leave is the best invention ever. I particularly like it when she bounces on the yoga ball. Wheee!

It's getting interesting in here

Mom keeps hugging me.
What I mean by that is that from time to time over the last few days, my world gets very...cramped, and tight. It's interesting, and I don't think it's very comfortable for mom. But after she lets go and I have room to move again, I love bonking around and doing a little "yay, I'm free!" dance.

At this stage I should weigh almost 7 pounds, and be putting on a nice insulating layer of baby fat. I think I'm almost ready to be born...so I'm trying to conserve my strength. Wish me luck.

Getting ready

This week I probably weigh about 5.5 pounds, and I'm almost at the point where I could be born without too many problems...the last couple of things left are my lungs maturing the rest of the way, and putting on some fat so I won't get cold too easily.

Mom's been calling me her "little genius" because my head's already down, and I'm in a pretty good position for birth. Of course, I could still flip around completely if I wanted to...but so far I've just been kicking up a storm once or twice a day. I'm especially proud when i can get a whole roomful of people to go "WOW!" because of the belly's shaking.

My other favorite movement thing is in the morning, when mom's been holding still for a really long time. Then I poke one foot at a time, slowly, up under her ribcage to explore. I think it tickles her -- she usually squirms, and gets up soon after that.

Mom spent some time this weekend telling me about my room, and all the stuff that's waiting for me. People that don't even know me yet have started giving me cool new toys and clothes, and Mom's thrilled because there are a lot of hand-me-downs too. I can tell that she and Dad are more relaxed these days -- they aren't rushing around to baby classes in the evening anymore, and they spend more time on the couch watching a bright light with loud sounds and music.

I'm looking forward to joining the family.

Tomorrow starts Week #34

...and that means I'm just three weeks from term! And just about seven weeks from my due date.

I probably weigh between 4 and 5 pounds now, and since my brain and synapses are connecting up better with my eyes and ears, they think I can really distinguish colors and sounds now. Mom impulse-bought some baby music yesterday -- classical songs and lullabies -- and she went right to sleep while listening to them, while I just kept on groovin'. I might have also been a little hyper from the pumpkin pie. Mmmmm, pumpkin pie.

I'm causing mom some leg-swelling and headaches now, and she's been super tired. And short of breath -- I think I take up a lot of the space where her lungs would usually inflate. But she's being a pretty good host -- she got one of those bouncy balls, and sits on it to let me bounce around. It's a nice feeling.

It's getting cramped in here...

and I'm feeling antsy.

These days, when I want to stretch my legs a little, I'm bulging out on both sides of the belly at once, or pushing up under the ribcage. I have the hiccups more often (((HICK!)))), and also some occasional sudden spasm-y fast movements that Mom thinks might foreshadow a stormy temperament. Tantrums, anyone??

As a result of all this, I'm not letting her get much sleep, and her eating more than a bite or two of anything usually results in wicked heartburn. Well, maybe that will make her more willing to finally LET...(kick)...ME...(kick, punch, headbutt)...OUT!!!!

This is Week 32 for me. I probably weigh about 4 lbs now, and am practicing blinking and breathing. I can't see a whole lot, unless mom's near some bright lights, and then it's mostly a pretty reddish haze. And I can still do those flip-turns, but not as often anymore.

The outside world is a strange place

Yesterday, Mom had some music on and was moving around funny, swaying from side to side and spinning around. It was sort of fun. Plus, she was singing. Something about a "Natural Woman"? I don't think I'm getting how funny that is, but someday I will. Dad seemed to think she looked hi-larious. I wonder if she was dressed?

I noticed that when she does that hip swaying thing, I actually shift from side to side in the belly and sort of bulge out on either side. Most of the time these days my butt is up on top and my head is sort of lower, and whichever side of her belly has me on it sort of has a little lopsided butt-bulge.

I'm feeling pretty good these days -- strong! I can kick hard enough to move things away from the belly, or to get up underneath the ribcage for a kick at the organs up there.

Mom and Dad are spending two evenings a week at some sort of meeting where they talk about babies being born, and practice nice things like positions that make me happy, and massages that make Mom happy (which makes me happy, too!)

Otherwise, not much new to report -- I weigh about 3 pounds, my fingernails and hair may be growing now, and I'm just getting ready to make my debut in a couple of months...

28 weeks

As of this week, I'm about 10.4 inches from crown to rump, or a total length of about 16.7 inches from head to toe, and I should weigh about 2.7 pounds. At this stage my eyes are probably blue and can distinguish bright sunlight or artificial light that shines through the belly. According to the bexperts, I should be "performing fewer acrobatics as conditions in the womb become more cramped," but I think that's just them trying to be the boss of me, so I'm rockin' out in here.

Ready, mom? BELLYQUAAAAAAAAKE!!!!

Two days in the life

Since mom's been in the office yesterday and today, I've been able to make her pay more attention to me than when she's up and running around to court and stuff.

So this is what my day was like yesterday, and today:

Yesterday:
12:00 active!
12:15 still active
12:35 still active
12:45 still active
12:50 less active
1:00 quiet
1:05 some activity
1:10 quiet
1:20 lunch. Pretty quiet.
1:45 active
2:00 active
2:10 active
2:15 quiet
2:40 still quiet
3:30 active
3:50 super active!!!!
4:00 pretty quiet
4:25 more active
4:35 quiet

Today:
9:45 active
9:50 still active
10:00 quiet
10:15 still quiet
10:30 still quiet
10:40 active
10:45 still active
10:50 still active
11:00 more active
11:10 quiet
11:15 still quiet
11:40 more active
11:50 quiet
12:00 more active
12;10 active squirmy
12:15 still squirmy bumpy
12:25 lumpy bumpy active
12:35 less active
12:40 somewhat active
12:45 more active, flip turns
12:50 quiet
1:00 quiet
1:10 lunch. Pretty quiet.
1:40 a little active
1:45 lumpy bumpy active, more turning
1:50 pretty active, swimmy-crawly
2:10 quiet
2:20 still quiet
2:30 still quiet
2:40 still quiet
3:15 active !!
3:45 active
4:00 quieter
4:10 still quiet
4:20 slow moving around, little kicks
4:25 quieter
4:30 active, lumpy, pokey
4:40 active but slow moving

Only 93 days left!

...until my estimated due date!

Doc says that Mom and I are right on track weight-wise and with everything else. I weigh about 2 pounds now, and am probably about 14 inches long from head to foot! When I kick hard, Mom can feel me on both sides of her belly -- but she still has to guess which is the foot and which is the head. I can also make her belly undulate by poking it in different places...it's pretty entertaining, apparently, she stares at it a lot.

I've been making some trouble for her with eating, probably just because I take up so much room in the abdomen that there isn't much space left for the stomach. So I cause heartburn. Can't help it, though...maybe the belly will expand more and there will be room again. At last measurement, it was 44 inches around.

From what I hear (and I can hear a lot now!), they've been setting up my room and signing up for classes to learn about me. I am a research project! And a pretty important one, too, if I do say so myself.

More pictures of ME

These are almost a month old now, but I thought you might still be interested.
And no, I'm not showing you the one with my private bits on it.







Mom is 24 weeks pregnant today, which is a milestone. "Viability." I hear that this is a big deal for some supreme court decisions involving choice and freedom and privacy and stuff, but to me it just means that if I were born early, starting this week I'd have a better than 50% chance of surviving. That's sort of grim to think about, though, so I think I'll kick mom instead. (KICK!!!)

GOTCHA!!! Hahahaha!

I'm a BOY!
Yesterday's appointment was the longest ultrasound yet; they measured all kinds of things to make sure that I'm OK. Head circumference, abdomen circumference, brain anatomy -- all kinds of stuff. And since I'm bigger now, and pretty squished, I don't move around as easily -- they got really good pictures. There's one of my foot, which is like mom's because my second toe is longer than my big toe. There's one of my profile, with my little button nose. And there's one of my, erm, private parts, that is top secret and confidential (and not to be brought out to show friends of the family in the future, MOM!!!). And that one shows that I am definitively a BOY.

Mom wasn't disappointed, but she was surprised! She'd been talking about me like I was a girl for weeks -- I think she was even starting to think of me by a couple of girl names. Well, nix to that! I am a strong and active little guy, getting ready to enter the world!

Half way to D-Date!

Yesterday marked 20 weeks, which is exactly halfway to my estimated date of arrival. I have been celebrating by running circles on the interior of mom's belly (I can make it visibly bulge out now!), and causing her acid reflux. She's been ingesting more sugar, too, and that may be part of the reason for my high energy level. Mmmmmmm, sugar!

Today's my big ultrasound, the one where they screen me for "defects" and take pictures of my private bits to tell everyone what kind I have. I'll have pictures posted later if there are any good ones.

19 weeks!

My most recent test results game back -- good news for me, they think I'm healthy. Yay! And I've been kicking up a storm -- especially when Mom's at work. I particularly like distracting her when she's in the middle of a trial, or back in chambers with the judge and other attorneys. And when her pants are too tight, I have sometimes kicked and kicked until she gets worried and cuts the elastic out of them. And then they fall down. Ahahahahaha!

But I'm also enjoying playing with her -- I'll kick when she puts a hand on her belly, or twitches her muscles at me, but never when somebody else wants to feel. I do not perform on command! I am the boss of me.

Mom now refers to me as "your daughter" sometimes when talking to Dad. Like "Your daughter is wearing me out." So they really think I'm a girl -- but I'm still keeping that secret as best I can. Maybe I'll just throw them all for a loop!

I think they like me.

18 weeks!

This is half way to being "full term," so that's exciting.

Also exciting is that the doc says she'd give it about 70-30 odds that I'm a girl! I gave her a run for her money, though -- I took evasive action in the form of flipflops and somersaults to prevent her from getting a good angle on the ultrasound. And I'm pretty quick, if I do say so myself! Flip-kick, turn-twist, kick-jab! Take THAT, wand-lady!

Oma came with mom this time, and was excited to see me too. And mom can really feel me now -- I can tell, because after a good kick or two, she usually starts sort of poking at her belly to see if she can feel me kick from the outside.

Not a lot of other news to report. Mom's getting better at sleeping on her left side -- I guess so that I don't end up lying on her spine and vena cava, and depriving myself of nutrients. It's kind of funny when she wakes up at night to flip from one side to the other, because I go sloshing across her belly every time. Whee!

Pictures of ME!!!

June 1, 2007 (11 weeks)


June 19, 2007 (14 weeks)

175 days left....

until my due date.

We went in for another appointment, and the doc said I'm due December 18. I'm pretty big now -- at 15 weeks, i'm about 4 inches head-to-rump, plus those long froggy legs of mine. Although now they're all curled up, because it's starting to get a little bit more snug in here.

My mom...new word...my mom still doesn't look particularly pregnant. She thinks she just looks heavier than usual -- I think she's waiting for me to make a real "baby belly," the kind that will prompt people on public transportation to give her a seat.

I didn't let the doctor see my private parts on the ultrasound -- I still have my modesty. And so my gender's still a secret. Once it's obvious, I think my mom and dad will want to know, just so that the doc isn't keeping secrets from them. But I dunno, they're also sort of capricious -- with everybody asking, they might just decide to keep it to themselves for a while. Who knows :)

Second trimester

I feel so grown-up, so mature, so worldly.

I am now...wait for it...a second-trimester fetus. I have most of my crucial development behind me -- the rest is getting stronger and bigger. But the blueprints have all been followed, my bits and pieces are all in order.

I even have identifiable gender characteristics now (read: "equipment," "junk," "my wee-wee")
Nobody out there has seen it yet, though, so I'm keeping it a secret for now.

My host and progenitor haven't even decided whether they want to know yet. I thank them for considering my need for privacy during this very private time in my very special place.

I mean, if the paparazzi can get to you inside the womb...where does it end???

I can KICK!

So today my host got a little nervous and apparently decided to go back to the doctor place with the view screens.

I guess things must have turned out all right because she seemed pretty happy (I like it when she's happy, i get these happy-endorphins that come from her, and then I get happy too).

The doctors did another sonogram, with the magic wand on the outside
of the host belly and the screen showing the inside...and I was! In my happy little amniotic sac, all sort curled up
at the bottom.

I guess my host was so happy and relieved to see me that she started laughing, and I felt that, and so I KICKED! I mean like I really jumped, used my new ankles and wrists and knees and elbows, uncoiled from the bottom where I was slouched,
stretched my arms and little froggy legs to the sky and kicked with my whole body! I launched myself most of the way up to the other side of the sac, then fell back and curled up again.

I think I made *quite* an impression.

11 weeks!

My newest talent is giving my host headaches.

I am the size of a large lime, and if you were using a Doppler machine you could hear my heart swoosh-swooshing. I can swallow, too. And I have genitals and fingernails now!

This is all terribly exciting. I think I need a nap.

Status Report: 10 Weeks!

Hooray! I've reached the ten week mark, which means I've graduated from "embryo" to "fetus."

[Cue "Pomp and Circumstance" graduation march music]

It also means most of the time for scary developmental defects to happen is behind me. Sure, things can still happen, but I'm getting more comfortable with the idea that I'm here to stay now.

I'm about the size of a strawberry now, somewhere between 1.25 and 1.5 inches. But next week I'm supposed to suddenly be the size of a large lime, so I have some growin' to do. Between that and all the neurons, no wonder my host is eating six meals a day and catching catnaps at every opportunity (in the parking garage; at the side of the road; on the magic couch; at the bike shop; in the middle of dinner parties).

Also, I have ankles and wrists now, and am starting to use them to kick and thrash around a bit. But I'm still so tiny that my host supposedly can't feel it. I sure try, though, and sometimes I think she knows I'm here.

Brilliant

I am developing over a quarter million neurons a minute this week!

Oh, and losing my tail.

Tadaa!

I have a heartbeat!

It's really fast, like alittle hummingbird, just a flutter on the ultrasound screen.
Made my host very emotional, I think she might have been worried there wouldn't be one. My progenitor, too -- he didn't show it as much, but I think he was excited to see me on that little screen.

I am roughly 10.4mm in head-to-rump length, just over a centimeter.

My features, even the big ones like my head, weren't very distinguishable using the ultrasound. Still, it was my first time showing myself to the outside world.

I think I pulled off a good performance.

Nebulous

For anyone that might be curious, no, that picture on the right isn't me. For one thing, it's a lot bigger -- I'm only about 3/4 of an inch long at this point, and that thing is the "Embryo Nebula," an emission nebula in the area of Casseiopeia.

From Wikipedia: "An emission nebula is a cloud of ionized gas (i.e. a plasma) emitting light of various colors. The most common source for ionization are high-energy photons emitted from a nearby hot star. Among the several different types of emission nebula are H II regions, in which star formation is taking place and young, massive stars are the source of the ionising photons; and planetary nebulae, in which a dying star has thrown off its outer layers, with the exposed hot core then ionizing them."

So I guess my geeky host was interested because of the name and shape of the nebula, and because it may be the result of star formation taking place.

As for my own development, in theory I now have arms and legs, and much less of a tail -- I am coming out of the sort-of-reptilian-looking phase. My head is pretty round and has eyes and the beginnings of ears. This is a pretty exciting time.

Also, although I am counting my age from -- like I said before -- the uniting of my DNA, I am informed that "gestational age" is calculated from roughly two weeks before that. So that means although I am a 6-week-old embryo, my "gestational age" is 8 weeks. I don't know why they make it so complicated, but I'm glad I got that sorted out.

Sleep deprivation

I have discovered that through changes in the internal structure of my host, I can make her uncomfortable enough to wake up at 3am on a fairly regular basis. This seems to make her hold still more during the day (napping on the couch) which works out well for me.

[Note: I have considered using the term "host-mom" to describe this individual, and find the idea of my being like a foreign exchange student in a strange new land to be sort of amusing. But I don't think I'm ready to use the "M-word" yet. So host it is.]

Greetings. I am.

Hello.

It's dark in here.

I don't really have eyes yet though so I guess that doesn't matter.
I've been in here, at the cellular level, for about 5 weeks now, counting from the uniting of my DNA.
Although I am only a couple millimeters wide, I have been causing changes in my universe.

I have triggered hormonal surges, the levels tripling every three days.

I have caused emotional outbursts and great exhaustion in my host body.

I have set whole HMO systems into motion, which are testing and monitoring my every developmental step.

My existence has been announced and published and privately celebrated, although many seem concerned about whether I plan to stick around.

For what it's worth, I do.