The Rhodys

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November 16, 2003

Weeks 28 & 29

I hope you don't mind, but I've started combining weeks. I'll start getting more specific again around the first of the year. In any event, the third trimester has begun! The baby now weighs between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds, and s/he is about 14 1/2 inches long from head to toe.

The baby is continuing to become a plump, little baby. As it develops, more fat layers are developing under the skin. The baby can open her/his eyes now, and instead of moving away from the light, will actually turn and look toward it. Additionally, the baby's fingernails are starting to make their appearance.

Most importantly, the baby's bones are starting to get stronger, as his/her head gets bigger and the brain forms more neural connections. As for bones, the baby is demanding more calcium, iron, vitamin C and other nutrients in order to form a strong bones. Her/his head is also getting bigger (for the past few weeks, the body has been busily catching up to the development of the head), and the brain is starting an accelerated growth pattern that should continue after birth. In other words, the baby's brain is forming neural connections at a rate similar to what we'll see when we finally meet little Rhody. Hopefully, s/he is learning important things like chocolate tastes good, and lima beans are icky.

Finally, we had one bit of excitement over the weekend. Nothing significant, but the baby slowed down its movements a little bit. His/her panicky mother, of course, called the doctor, and on Saturday afternoon, we three took a brief trip down to Georgetown University Hospital to make sure everything was ok. The doctors hooked us up to fetal monitors for an hour or so and then performed an ultrasound. There are no pictures from the ultrasound, but the doctor verified again for us that everything is fine. The baby is breathing like a champ and moving just fine. S/he is just tuckered out lately like her/his mommy. So, we're resigned to resting a little more frequently. But the baby was happily making breathing and hiccupping movements. S/he was merrily sucking on her/his thumb and occasionally stretched one foot or the other out. S/he was just being courteous enough not to hit mommy hard enough for her to feel it.

So, that's all the new news on the baby front!

Posted by Lisa at November 16, 2003 9:31 PM

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Posted by: Aunt Donna at November 23, 2003 12:54 AM