Grain of Rice

Guess the actual birth date and time, or closest to it and win a Puerto Rican specialty item that will be mailed after the birth. If you live in Puerto Rico you’ll win some baked goodies.

Post your guess by adding a comment to this post (click the comment link directly under this post). Please only guess one date and don’t forget the hour. His actual due date is Nov. 15th. Have fun!

Baby Rose is now 3 pounds and 16-17 inches head to toe. He’s also growing a little plump :). He’s very excited that his head and body are now proportioned like a newborn’s. He’s getting some hair on his head, his hands are fully formed with finger nails and his eyebrows and eyelashes are fully developed. He’s reacting to sound and bright light. He’s still moving quite a bit, you’d be astounded by the amount of activity in there. He’s making faces, hiccuping, crying, kicking and elbowing. But as the space gets tighter, I’m afraid there are going to be less acrobatics. I’m already feeling a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, so my uterus must be getting into shape.
My check-up last week went very well. His heartbeat was wonderful and the doctor was happy with how everything sounded, looked and felt. We are very excited to say the least…though at moments I am overwhelmed with varying emotions as the due date draws closer.

Click on the photo to the left and tilt your head to the right to see the baby’s face & hands.

Yesterday we had a very nice check-up…Well, I guess any Mom & Dad would be happy with good news after being so far away in Israel. We had a mini sonogram and saw almost everything again, but this time we got more than one nice look at his face. It was like he was looking right at us. We saw his heart and the four chambers. We hadn’t seen that clearly before and it was fascinating. We also saw his penis again and more than once…The Dr. just laughs now because we see this every time there is a sonogram - he has no problem showing this area. We definitely have a boy! The Dr. was happy with how he looked and was very happy that I was home. I think the greatest thing was to hear his heartbeat again. I recorded it on my phone. I physically feel pretty good, but feel huge and still have quite a bit more to go and will just keep growing - AHHH! I love that I feel him often now, his movements are getting very strong. Saxton has been able to see my stomach move since I’ve been home and feel the movements. It has been a very special time for us.

Here are some details about him right now:
Baby Rose measures about 14 inches from head to heal and weighs almost 2 pounds. His hearing is fully developed. As he reacts to sounds, his pulse increases. He might even move in rhythm to music :). His lungs are developing now, but are not yet mature. His brain waves appear like a full-term newborn now and he has more defined patterns of sleeping and waking. His veins are visible through his skin, although his skin is quickly changing from transparent to opaque. He has developed a strong grip and may grasp the umbilical cord. Fortunately, it is designed to withstand all of his activity.

Baby Rose is now 23 weeks old and close to a foot long and weighs almost a pound. He is moving frequently and has regular periods of sleep and wakefulness. He is doing many acrobatics in there developing skills to help him later. His ears are well developed, so hopefully he is enjoying all of the singing he is being forced to listen to each day. His eyes are opening and closing and his vocal cords have developed, although he won’t use them till his first cry after being pushed out.

All is well with me, but I am sure growing….It’s incredible how much bigger I am today than just 2 days ago!

As you can clearly see in the photo, it’s a boy.

Elizabeth and I had an appointment this week where we were again able to hear and see the baby. You can listen to the heartbeat here. We saw the outstretched legs and the baby’s profile and face. It was moving a lot so our doctor wasn’t able to get a clear view to determine the sex. In about a month, at the next appointment she will do an extensive sonogram to measure everything and will probably be able to be sure about the sex. I don’t think either of us has a preference at this point though Elizabeth had her first baby dream this week and it was a boy. One of the secretaries at the conservatory however is sure it will be a girl and scoffs at any talk otherwise.

So here is what’s going on:
Our grain of rice is 15 weeks old and almost 5 inches long now. It has developed a full répertoire of facial expressions. The body is covered by an ultrafine hair called lanugo and eyebrows and eyelashes are beginning to grow. The joints are fully functional and all the baby’s limbs can move. It’s making initial sucking, swallowing and breathing motions and is probably sucking its thumb.

Elizabeth’s enlarged heart is pumping about 20% more blood than before pregnancy. This volume will increase throughout the pregnancy for an ending increased heart output of 30-50%. The uterus is the size of a small melon and it feels cool. She can’t feel the baby moving yet but looks forward to a couple weeks from now when the baby books say she will. She’s definitely growing and looking cute in maternity clothes.

It’s been a while since my last post but I’ve been busy. I’ve been growing from the size of a strawberry to a medium shrimp to a lime and now to an apple, 2.5 - 3 inches and 1.5 ounces. I’ve got 20 teeth buds, finger and toe nails, taste buds and my external genitalia are showing if anyone cares. I create urine all the time. My eyes are moving closer together and my ears have positioned themselves on the sides of my head making me look more human. Unfortunately my head is half the size of my body - I’m really hoping that changes. I’m moving around a lot but no one can feel me yet. Mom is starting to expand and is looking forward to the second trimester.

The picture you see is from my 2nd sonogram which shows one and only one healthy developing baby. On Monday I went to my first doctor’s appointment. As the doctor started the sonogram, the first thing she asked was if we had twins in our family history. I proceeded to freak out a little…I guess she could have just been making small-talk but as it turns out she thought she saw two yolk sacs. She explained that there are a few reasons to see two sacs at this point and that we needed to get an advanced sonogram to be sure. Yesterday was the day. I had to drink two large bottles of water and not go to the bathroom. I guess a full stomach of liquid helps them at this early stage to see more. But my full bladder became very painful as they started pressing the sonogram instrument on my lower abdomen to see the baby. They did a thorough exam measuring the baby, the uterus, the amniotic fluid, the cervix, the ovaries, just about everything you can think of that is down there. We then saw our teeny, teeny, tiny grain of rice (18mm) and it’s heart pumping away. Then we heard the heart! Saxton actually recorded it onto his phone and will try to get it on here somehow for you to hear later. Just incredible…amazing…
They told us that everything is progressing right on track. We left the office just relieved to know either way if there were one or two. Because of the twins possibility, I searched and now know our family history. Twins are there…so it could’ve been a possibility! We are very grateful to have one healthy grain of rice with a beating heart in the cooker!

I am 6 weeks old and am so beginning to appear human. I’m about 6-8 mm long. Arm and legs buds are working out nicely as are the nasal pits. Here’s what else is going on: muscles, cartilage, liver, pancreas, lungs, the stomach and… are those sex organs? I believe they are. The larynx and inner ear are starting to form so pretty soon I’ll be able to hear mom and dad singing and playing the bassoon - about which I have mixed feelings. Mom is feeling some nausea and dad is changing the kitty litter though he thinks toxoplasmosis is a conspiracy.

I am one month old. I am no longer a shapeless mass of cells - which is awesome. I am a tiny tadpole-like embryo, smaller than a grain of rice. I look far from human though I do have a head equiped with a mouth opening and eye spots. My primitive heart has begun to pump about 150 beats per minute and the right and left hemispheres of my brain are developing. Do I have a tail you may ask. I do indeed have an embryonic tail though I’ll be losing that bad boy in the next couple weeks. I’m hoping for arm and leg buds soon.