Friday, July 9, 2010

Week 21 Baby banana...I mean O

Baby gulps 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. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

His skin has changed from being translucent to opaque as the skin cells grow and stretch in preparation for the fat deposits, which will soon form under baby’s skin. If your baby is a girl, her womb and vagina are formed. She will have 6 million eggs in her ovaries decreasing down to one million, before she is even out of her own mother’s womb.

Your baby’s tongue is now fully formed and he is strengthening his muscles with movement. His bones are hardening nicely and his movements are much more coordinated now. He may be doing some gymnastics inside you at this very minute. Back flips and somersaults are entirely possible, and they are great practice for his leg and arm muscles.

Swallowing is becoming a steady activity with baby. After he takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid, with the waste moving on into his large bowel. The digestive system is already at work!

As your baby grows, his wake and sleep cycles begin to form. Your activity level and eating patterns are normally what rules his, as he can now hear all that goes on around him. And when you eat and drink, he eats and drinks. It is now that you start to find out if you have a night owl or an early bird.

not baby O; just so you can see it really is a REAL baby in there :)
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During my ultrasound last week they estimated baby O at 14 oz; heartrate was 156.  To read more about that appointment and see pics, go HERE.  I actually have another appointment next Tuesday and will have another ultrasound in about 3 weeks. 

1 comment:

Erica Ragen said...

yay for baby bananas!!! can't wait to meet shim ;)