Well because I am a very loved and very spoiled girl, "Daddy" is taking us on a 4 day Babymoon this weekend. A tropical paradise for sunshine and relaxation which I think we could both use before the excitement of December! To keep you guessing on our destination, I'll only say that there is a drink named after the island...with the word Mama in it. It's a place that I have ALWAYS wanted to go. A "Water Babies" dream! (I just hope with my big white belly, that no one thinks I'm a beached aquatic mammal...and tries to return me to the sea!!)
I've been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions for the last couple of weeks. Probably only 1 or 2 every couple of days. It's painless but I can definitely feel a "tensing". It's as if there is a drawstring through my tummy and somebody tugs on it for 30 secs or so...AND my abdomen gets rock hard!! It's a little scary-stops me in my tracks. (Even though I know they're harmless and just preparing me for labour.)
What's happening with Baby this week? "Most babies this age, yours included, still like to snuggle in a slightly curled position inside the uterus (thus the term "fetal position"). Even so, beginning at this stage, your baby's length will be measured from top of head to toe — which makes your baby nearly a full 15 inches now. And at just over two pounds, he or she has doubled in weight from four weeks ago.
Your baby's auditory development (hearing) is progressing as the network of nerves to the ears matures. And even though the sounds your baby hears are muffled (thanks to the creamy coating of vernix covering those ears), he or she may recognize both yours and your partner's voices. So this might be a good time to read and even sing to your baby (or rather, your belly) — and a good chance to start boning up on those nursery rhymes and lullabies you'll need to be repeating (and repeating) pretty soon. And while you're at it, here's another way to have some family fun. If your partner presses his ear to your belly, he might be able to hear the baby's heartbeat.
Your baby's taste buds are very developed now too (with more taste buds than he or she will ever have outside the womb, actually). Need a taste test? If you eat some spicy food (you hot mama, you), your baby will be able to taste the difference in the amniotic fluid (but keep in mind that you'll have different mealtimes, with your baby's coming about two hours after yours). Some babies will even respond to that spicy kick by hiccupping. And although hiccups (which feel like belly spasms to you) may seem like they're disturbing to your baby, he or she isn't stressed at all. It's just one more sensation that babies need to get used to."
Only 84 days to go.....
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