Baby Chimeziri at 29 Weeks!

Baby Chimeziri now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, I'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, I'll be sure to drink my milk (or find another good source of calcium as my new meal plan allows). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in her hardening skeleton each day.

See what Baby Chimeziri looks like this week.

Our First Baby Shower!

Last week I made a trip to the MN office of the American Diabetes Association (who I work closely with and where my boss has her office). The lovely ladies there threw me my first baby shower. Check out some pics of the fun we had!

Sugar, Sugar Go Away!

Working for the American Diabetes Association, I know sugar doesn't cause diabetes, so the title of this blog isn't entirely accurate. However, it does kind of let you know how I'm feeling. I found out yesterday that I have gestational diabetes - a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy and almost always ends once the baby is delivered. I was shocked, to say the least. I don't know why, but it never crossed my mind that I might develop this.

Anyhow, I met with a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and a dietitian today. I'll be checking my blood sugar levels four times a day and following a meal plan based on carb choices. It'll be an adjustment, but at least it's only from now until the baby comes! And, working for the American Diabetes Association, I've got plenty of resources and support at my disposable (I found tonight's dinner in a cookbook on our office bookshelf!). Plus, this experience might help me understand a little better what someone with diabetes goes through every day.

Anyhow, that's the latest development with me and baby. Stay tuned for more!

Baby Chimeziri at 28 Weeks!

By this week, Baby Chimeziri weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at us.

>>Read more about this week

Fun Birthday Facts About Baby Chimeziri

If Baby Chimeziri is born on her due date:

• Her birthstone will be Emerald (Love, Success)
• Her Astrological Sign will be Taurus
• Her Flower will be Lily_of_the_Valley or Hawthorn (Yellow, Red and Green)
• She will be born in the Chinese Year of The Ox
• She will start kindergarten in 2014, be old enough to drive a car in 2025, finish high school in 2027, and will graduate from college with the class of 2031, give or take a year. Can you imagine?

Baby Chimeziri at 27 Weeks!

This week, the baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Any tiny rhythmic movements I may be feeling can be chalked up to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so I just relax and enjoy the tickle.

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Hee, Hee, Hee, Hooos - Breathe!

Today was day one of our crash course in lamaze - 12 hours in one weekend. It was definitely more interesting than I expected it to be; answering a lot of unknowns I had up to this point, including some I would have preferred to have stayed unknown. :) But, truth be told, there is power in knowledge and I'm maybe not so scared now about labor and delivery as I was before.

Of course, the whole day was worth it when we had a chance to practice relaxing massage techniques at the end of the day. Now, the trick is to get Henry to do that every day! :)

My Baby Bump!

There's definitely a baby in there - and I'm starting to feel her move more and more every day!

Baby Chimeziri at 26 Weeks!

The network of nerves in her ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both mine and Henry's voices as we chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

>> Read more about this week