Good Afternoon,

Here is Taddy's weekly update:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.


This past weekend David and I recruited the help of Rizzo in order to gather some items to donate to charity. We managed to find lots of things to give away! I was excited to get so much moved out of the house. There's nothing better than the feeling of finding more room in your home. As I am typing David is moving the bed out of our guest bedroom in order for the conversion to begin. We have decided to keep our home office, and convert the guest bedroom into the nursery. It's a larger space, and from everything I've seen babies need lots of space!

I've been doing a lot of research on breastfeeding, and it seems that it's not as easy as it looks. Some mothers had to keep trying for two to three weeks before they could get their babies to latch properly. The doctor I'm using has a free service with a lactation nurse (never knew there was such a thing!). Apparently, all I have to do is schedule an appointment with her, and after the baby is born she travels to your home to help you to get the baby comfortable with breastfeeding. I'm not really worried about directly feeding Taddy. I'm ok with simply using a breast pump. It might be more comfortable for me. I know one thing, motherhood is certainly different as I'm going through it. I had all of these ideas and standards in my head, and now that I'm in the big middle of it all some of those ideas are not feasible. I also read that if you breastfeed your child, it's a good idea to start giving the baby cereal around 4 months since breastmilk lacks the amount of iron regular formula contains. I'm not going to get hung up on books and experts too much. Every child is different, so I plan on letting our child "tell" me when he or she is ready for cereal or baby food.

This week the new development is a bad case of heartburn. I have learned that I need to shy away from spicy food. I have posted the list of recommended over the counter medicine on our refrigerator. The sad thing is that half of the medicine on that list I don't even own. I'm going to stock up on pepcid today. :-) I had Tums, but it's not recommended due to the possiblity of developing kidney stones! OUCH!!

I am certainly at the mercy of our child. I thank God daily for our blessing, but I had no idea what Taddy had in store for me. I told David yesterday that I knew one of the parts of being a parent was that you make lots of sacrifices, but I didn't know it would begin immediately when I became pregnant. I'm entering the second trimester, and I have noticed my energy level has returned to normal. I suppose I may be trying to do too much too soon. My referee, David, has had to put me in time out a couple of times this past weekend. I cleaned out our closet, and then the kitchen. I guess I want to knock these things out before my energy subsides. I promise to try to take things a bit slower.

I started aerobics again today. Only the low impact kind, I swear. I'm just hoping it will help regulate my insulin and help me dodge gestational diabetes. I've been drinking LOTS of water, especially with the heat. I don't remember it being this hot last summer, but then again it could be one of my perks from pregnancy.

So far so good. Our next doctor's appointment is next Thursday. I can't wait to hear Taddy's heartbeat again. We will not "see" our little one until July 8. I hope he or she lets us find out what we're having!

Motherhood is one of the most basic instincts a woman can have. I just never knew the real power in it. It's a magical thing. <---- I'll try to remember that when I'm giving birth!

Have a great week!

Love,

Mrs. S.