22 weeks and all is quiet - plus what Spot is up to

All is quiet on the homefront over the last few days. It has truly felt almost blissful at times! Thank you again for allowing me my whine at the end of my last post. I think I was just having an emotionally tired kind of day, but I'm out of my funk I think. Even though 22 weeks is coming to a close ( hip hip hooray!) here are some highlights of Spot at 22 weeks:

* Your baby weighs close to a pound at this point!
* Your baby can now hear your conversations more clearly than before. When you talk, read, or sing, expect her to hear you. Studies have found that newborns will suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero.
* Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
* Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
* Be prepared for all those "Why" questions coming! Your baby's brain has entered a stage of rapid growth, especially in what's called the germinal matrix. This structure deep in the middle of the brain serves as a kind of factory for brain cells and disappears shortly before birth. But the brain's amazing expansion program continues until around the five birthday.
* With some help from mom, baby's liver is starting to break down bilirubin, a substance produced by red blood cells.
* Length is 10.94 inches (27.8cm); weight is nearly 1 pound (430gm). That's about as long as a package of Oreos and as heavy as a large bag of tortilla chips.
Your baby's hands have grown bigger and stronger and the nerve endings in her fingers have developed her sense of touch. She's in there testing out her newfound abilities by touching her face and grabbing the umbilical cord. Other cool developments:
Baby's hair is now a short, bright white crop. No matter what color it will end up—red, blonde, black—all babies' hair lacks pigment at this point.

Your baby has started growing taste buds and may be able to detect strong flavors in the amniotic fluid. If you could see inside, you might catch her sticking out her tongue for a taste and then grimacing, a sign that perhaps you should chill on the chili powder.


The stuff I bolded I thought was especially crazy or amazing. I had no idea that they could recall certain noises or stories after being born and increase their thumb sucking. I guess maybe I should start talking to our little girl Spot a bit more. Or at least read her some short stories out of the baby book my mom gave me recently. I just feel odd talking to my belly still, you know? I love her moving, but having full conversations with her just hasn't started flowing yet. Hmmm. Maybe soon? I giggled at the thought of Spot tasting the amniotic fluid and grimacing. I have eaten some more curry flavored stuff from Noodles and Company lately - poor baby probably wasn't too thrilled! She probably prefers the Mackinaw Island fudge ice cream I had tonight instead I bet. I didn't know that they amniotic fluid had different flavors..weird. But I do like thinking of her in terms of weighing about a bag of tortilla chips and as long as a pack of oreos...now that's my type of comparison!

My good fellow missed up uterus girl who is also 22 weeks pregnant has recently been put on bedrest as well, due to some icky contractions. If you get a chance - go give Meredith a hug. I think the first week of bedrest is the worst, and she deserves a smile so maybe go tell her a joke or something.

Well, I'm glad to bring you this boring post. I promise nothing but more boring posts ahead :-) We watched National Treasure 2 tonight. It was pretty good - and now we're watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics which is pretty cool as well. I watched the 3 hours of the John Adams 2 disc today, and have disc 3 waiting for me tomorrow. I hope to catch up on some emailing and bloggy type stuff too. I hope everyone else has a relaxing and boring weekend as well!