« Thoughts and Prayers | Main | Doctor's update »
October 20, 2003
Week 25
The baby is becoming more and more aware of his/her surroundings this week. According to the literature I've read, by this week, the baby is responsive to both light and touch. Additionally, his/her lungs go through an important developmental process this week.
Light: The baby is responsive to light now, which seems to indicate that the optic nerve is working. If you shine a bright light (like a flashlight... I've already tried it) my belly, the baby will move away from it. This is becoming an effective way of getting the baby repositioned when s/he's sitting in an uncomfortable place. So, it appears that the baby is responding well to stimuli.
Touch: The baby responds to outside touch, now, as well. I recognized this a little earlier than now, but according to the literature, this week is a reasonable time to start noticing such responses. Sometimes if I'm lying in bed or on the sofa and I push two fingers on my stomach and release, the baby will respond by either kicking or pushing on that same spot. The Baby Center website recommends using this time as a way of bonding, by trying to tickle the baby's foot or roll back and forth to see how the baby responds. Quite frankly, I can't seem to get the baby to stay still long enough to do those kinds of things when s/he's awake and active!
Lungs: According to The American Baby website, the baby's lungs go through an important development this week. It reads: "[The lungs] begin to secrete surfactant, a fatty substance that covers the inner lining of the air sacs and allows the lungs to expand normally so breathing can occur. Although it will be approximately 10 more weeks before the lungs are fully operational, the production of surfactant is an essential step in making the fetus viable outside the womb."
That's all the new news I have about the baby for now. S/he's seemingly doing just fine in there, and very glad to have his/her daddy home! We learned all about heffalumps yesterday :-)
Posted by Lisa at October 20, 2003 12:49 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://wordherders.dreamhosters.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4302
Comments
Not only beautiful, but smart too!
Posted by: Grandmom Annette at October 21, 2003 9:42 PM