Not much new to report. I know I promised you my weight (bad idea), so here it is. I cannot be held responsible for its accuracy. :) PSM got me an ice cream maker for my birthday so looks like this baby might be pretty well fed. The good news is that I don't gag at the thought of vegetables anymore so my diet is improving somewhat (with the exception of waaaaaaay to much ice cream).
Here's the action in the womb this week:
As your pregnancy progresses, your baby's first feces are starting to build up in her bowels. Called meconium, this sticky substance is made up of dead cells, digestive juices, and swallowed amniotic fluid. Meconium is usually not excreted until after birth, although occasionally Baby may release it into the amniotic fluid before delivery. Baby is now almost five inches long and weighs about four or five ounces. She is firmly anchored via the umbilical cord to the placenta, which continues to grow with her. The placenta, which is now more than an inch thick, contains thousands of blood vessels that exchange nutrients and oxygen from your body to your baby.
Big happenings this week include:
• Layers of fat are beginning to develop under the skin to help keep Baby warm and protect her after birth.
• A rubbery skeleton continues to develop, although Baby's bones are still primarily cartilage, flexible enough to enable her to pass through the birth canal.
• A protective coating called myelin is slowly beginning to cover Baby's spinal cord. This coating will help protect the cord for the rest of Baby's life.
