21 weeks: Kicks, Pomegranites, Brother and Grandchildren

Little one,

You are nearing the end of your 21st week inside your Mom's tummy. Your Brother grows more and more excited to meet you every day. He say 'baby!' whenever he sees a baby, and kisses your Mom's belly without even being prompted. He's getting pretty good at your name too. We say 'what's your sister's name?" And he responds with something very similar to your name!

You're an active little girl. Your Mom feels you kicking all the time, mostly when she's inactive. And I can feel you kicking every night now...a far cry from a few days ago when I first felt you kick.

Your mother's belly continues to grow largery and larger, but she's really taking it like a champ.

I tell her how beautiful she looks, but she refuses to believe me. But, c'mon!


21 weeks

 At 21 weeks old, you are "gulp[ing] down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid."

So last night you got to taste fajitas for the first time. And tortillas. Between your Mom and Brother, we were running the watiress ragged getting fresh, hot flour tortillas. The two of them must have consumed 8 or 10 tortillas for the night.

But, from Tex-Mex to the produce aisle, this week you are the size of one of your Mom's favorite foods (which will be in season just in time for your birth): the pomegranite.

You've reached a milestone in your development this week. Your reproductive organs and your womb are developing quickly. That means you've already got a lifetime supply of eggs in your womb...about six million of them.

We stumbled across this factoid when we were pregnant with your brother: a mother pregnant with her daughter also contains the eggs that will one day be her grandchildren. Mind blown, right? So when GiGi was pregnant with Yaya, Yaya already had the egg in her womb that would become your Mommy.

So when I feel you kicking tonight, I'll  envision myself extra spoiling our eventual grandhildren (if you choose to have any...which, and here comes the parental guilt, you'd better ;) ).

But don't worry, I'll spoil you first.

Little Girl: Week 13 & 14

Week 13

Week 14

What you might notice from these images is that the touch up paint I used to paint over some scuffs on that wall doesn't quite match the surrounding paint. What you really should be noticing is the growing bump around your Mom's mid-section. It's hard to believe we're officially out of the first trimester, but looking at that bump makes it a little easier to believe. It also makes it a lot easier to take because you're Mom is now out of those first trimester doldrums: no more queasiness, no more extreme weakness, no more sleeping 20 hours a day, and no more exaggerations from your Dad. That makes leaving the first trimester behind a very sweet deal. Your mother's pregnancy with you is simultaneously going by so quickly but not quickly enough. Some moments I'm ready for you to be here already; other moments, like when your brother is having a 'two-year-old moment', I'm glad you're safe and sound (and self-contained) in that beautiful, burgeoning bump. We didn't get to see you, but your Mom went to your 14 week checkup and heard your lively heart beat. Dr. Bertrand said that everything was progressing normally and wonderfully. We couldn't be more pleased, little one. You're growing, your mom keeps showing and both of us are crowing. As you can see below, we had a LOT of family in town last week and we showed your pictures, showed off your video and told everyone we could find that you're 98% a girl (official confirmation comes in a few weeks). Boy or Girl didn't matter too much, we just wanted you to be a happy, healthy baby. But...it's super sweet knowing you'll be the sugar & spice and everything nice side to this operation; though your brother's pretty sweet, nice and a bit spicy too.

You are 14 weeks along and you are the size of a lemon; which sounds like a sour note, but we already think you're as sweet as can be.

Countdown

Week 35, month 8, and this whole pregnancy are nearing the finish line really quickly around here.

First of all, the belly that used to only be occasionally in the way is now officially 100% in the way 100% of the time. Not that your Mom doesn't love the belly, and love what's inside it even more (not just her internal organs, I was mostly referring to you. But, she is so uncomfortable now that she said today she was nearing the time when she was just about ready for you to pop out. And plus, the laundry bills are getting pretty high with the in-the-way belly's encounters with food. Just check out the contact the belly made with the innards of a Cherry Cordial the other day (the black stripes are, in fact, the cordial goo):


And, the side-by-side comparisons we've been doing this whole time clearly indicate that we're super close to the finish line too.

Here's week 15:

And in a mere 20 weeks, check out how much you've grown! Week 35:



Another way I cleverly determined that we're almost there is that the little ticker we have on this site says it's officially 30 days til your due date!

But, after today's visit with the doctor, we're not entirely sure that you're going to make it to that due date! You see, besides being right on target with the tummy measurements (35 inch belly...just on schedule for 35 weeks), right on target with the weight gain (as promised, your Mom gained 2 more pounds in the last 2 weeks, bringing her weight to 148 pounds! (and 33 pounds over all)).

But, something that wasn't quite expected was that your mom is TWO CENTIMETERS dilated. Now, the magic number of dilation for babies to come out is 10, and women have been known to hold at five centimeters of dilation for 5 weeks (and wind up needing to have labor induced), but this revelation was pretty stunning. It means that not only are you coming (and soon), but that the light at the end of the tunnel has, quite literally, gotten a little bit bigger.

What did the Papa Tomato Say to The Baby Tomato when he was lagging behind?

Ketchup!

As you get to know me, you'll find that I have tons of awesome jokes like that.

But, today, we're going to play "ketchup" and take a look at how much you've grown over the past 4 weeks!

Week 31

Week 32


Week 33



Week 34

As you can tell, the wardrobe choices are become slimmer and slimmer as your Mother becomes...pregnanter and pregnanter.

You can also see how well your nursery is coming together! We did, in fact, hang up the illustrations I told you about so long ago!

Even though I talk to you every day and write to you almost as often, I still can't wait for you to actually come out so we can talk face to face, and finally have the time to catch up, for real!

Plus, I literally have dozens of amazing jokes to tell you!