14 months later

It’s hard for me to believe that 14 months have passed since I’ve last written here.  As a friend whom I haven’t spoken with in quite a while said today, “You’re in another phase of life now.  It will pass soon enough, enjoy it for everything it is while you can.”  And that is exactly what I have been doing.  Enjoying my precious little gift from God, Jordan Christopher Quandt.  He is a true blessing.  We love every minute with have to walk with him and look forward to all the future steps God has for us to take together.

Pregnancy Week 34 ~ 6 weeks to go!

Our Jordan will grow a 1/2 an inch longer this week to reach 17 3/4 inches long, and weighs in at 4 3/4 pounds!  The little brain is developing nicely as it goes into the critical period of development this last month of pregnancy, increasing the size of the head by 3/8 of an inch this week.  The soft baby skin is starting to smooth out as fat deposits lay down thicker and thicker.  Now when it’s awake and stretching out as much as it can in the cramped quarters in there, the tiny eyes are stay open and they close when it sleeps.  The eyes are blue right now and if they don’t stay that way (which we’re hoping they will to match their daddy’s) the final pigmentation won’t fully develop for several weeks, it requires exposure to direct light in order to complete it’s process.  This week the baby is starting to develop its own immune reaction to mild infections.  It’s still using my immune system but can pitch in a bit now.  I knew this was a great kid, starting to pull it’s weight even before it’s born!  🙂    “Each time you look at your child you see something mysterious and contradictory-bits and pieces of other people-grandparents, your mate, yourself, all captured in a certain stance, a shape of a head, a look in the eyes, combined with something very precious-a new human soul rich  in individuality and possibility.  ~Joan Sutton~

Pregnancy~Week 33 (50 days left)

Right now our little one is growing in length.  By the time this week is over it will have increased by about a 1 inch and weigh about the same as 7 cups of water.  In addition to baby weight, the amount of amniotic fluid has reached about one quart, it’s  maximum for the pregnancy.  From here on out, there will be slightly less fluid and more baby as little Jordan presses on to almost double in weight.  Quite a bit of that weight this week comes from the growing brain mass as the circumference of our baby’s head will increase by about a 1/2 inch.  The developing brain pushes outward on the skull, but it also folds in upon itself to create more of the convolutions (or, wrinkled storage area) where migrating cells find what will be their homes for operation for the rest of the baby’s life.  The tiny toenails have fully formed and the skin is turning from dark red and transparent to pinkish and translucent. It’s been a crazy week for both mom & dad as we get everything prepared to take some time off when the baby arrives and we’re happy to get some time to just sit and watch the baby move inside or feel those frequent hiccups.  We’re getting as much done as we can while our little one is still fully contained 🙂

Pregnancy~Week 31

Our little Jordan weighs in the same as a quart and a half of milk this week and is almost 16.5 inches long.  Getting big! They say that it’s growth and weight will slow this month, but still, baby is expected to gain 2 pounds over the next four weeks…that seems like a lot.  Even though growth is slowing its internal systems and tissues continue to become more sophisticated, so, I keep taking the amazing amount of vitamins and drinking my mother’s tea every day.  This week I really noticed a difference in not getting all my vitamins when I skipped a day and my feet swelled up the next.  That’s MOTIVATION!  Good thing too because the baby’s bones are working like crazy to calcify for the next couple of weeks (no wonder I can feel all that movement in there more and more:) ) and so getting enough of my calcium & magnesium is super important.  They’re so obnoxious to take that I was skimping on them and woke up the other day with a horrible leg cramp.  Avoiding that is worth any amount of vitamin taking in my book, so I’m back to taking all of them, and actually getting used to it now.The baby’s brain is still developing rapidly, increasing the number of interconnections between individual nerve cells and identifying groups of cells that will perform complicated functions throughout its lifetime.  It still amazes me that all of the things it will learn and absorb are having the foundations laid right now.  What a wonder God’s plan for humanity is!

Pregnancy Week 30~10 weeks to go!

This week our little Jordan’s brain is forming so rapidly that it will begin to take on the characteristic “wrinkled” appearance.  These wrinkles are called convolutions and a convoluted brain contains more brain cells than a smooth one.  The production of the red blood cells, which were first produced by the tissue groups called the blood islands, then by the liver, and after that by the spleen will be entirely taken over by the bone marrow by the end of this week.   Since the baby’s eyes are opened now, it spends much of the time with them open practicing “looking” movements.  I wonder if it can see that most of the tiny fuzz covering it’s body has disappeared and that it’s toenails & fingernails are visible now?  It should be feeling stuff more.  I’m quite sure it feels when I push on it, there is always kicking or pushing back, or if I push it’s shoulder I can feel it try to wiggle against me.  The myelinization process (the covering of nerve cells with a fatty substance) is starting to speed nerve cell transmission and those responses are getting quicker.  It’s great to be able to feel the baby grow now.  There is such a difference in strength and response to outside stimuli in just the several weeks I’ve been able to feel it that I am ever amazed.  Even the speed of our little one’s hiccups has changed.  While they were quite rapid at the beginning, now they have taken on a slower rhythm much closer to what a newborn’s hiccup pattern is.  Makes sense,  I guess, as with still 10 weeks to go, little Jordan is already almost 3 (2 and 9/10) pounds and 15 and 3/4 inches long!  Still a lot of weight to put on but definitely getting there 🙂 .Chris & I have both had dreams that the baby is a girl now.  It will be interesting to see if that means anything… to see if we get to use the nickname I adore, Jori, (little Jori Q).  And, we’ve finally decided on middle names.  For a girl: Jordan Dai’Maris (which means flowing into great promises of God), and for a boy, Jordan Christopher (meaning, flowing into Christ likeness).  We like them 🙂  Names fit for a little child of God.

Getting Closer! Week 29

This week our little one’s brain can now control rhythmic breathing.  I’m pretty sure it’s 100% got the hang of “rhythmic.”  At least once or twice a day those little rhythmic “hick, hick, hick”s go off inside of me.  Even as I write this, the little “hick”s have just begun again!  I can tell there is some serious growth inside there as the “hick”s get stronger each and every day.  The baby’s eyes are sensitive to different levels of light now but can’t detect objects.  They will be able to fully move within their sockets by the end of this week.  Also, the baby will have increased substantially in sensitivity to light, sound, taste & smell.  The touch sensation is already well established.  And, covering the sensitive little body, the baby’s skin is becoming smoother and less wrinkled as more fat is deposited underneath its surface.  It is also changing to a whiter hue as the body fat accumulates. There is more and more movement as this tiny person develops inside me.  I never cease to be amazed at it’s growth and increasing stamina, ever present within me.  Already, it is a true blessing to see what God is doing with this little life that will soon come out to touch and be touched by us all.   I count it a privilege to spend this time with such a dear life.  What a joy it is to bask in the opportunity to spend time utterly close to another life.

Pregnancy 28 weeks~Only 90 days to go!

Jordan & I are in week 28 now.  Apparently Jordan’s lungs are really starting to develop because we’ve been experiencing hiccups once or twice a day.  The other night when we were going to bed it started so I suggested Dad feel them.  He had a hard time believing our little one is actually big enough to be experiencing real hiccups 🙂 !  We are both so amazed at how a little baby can be growing inside of me!   All of the muscles are growing steadily now though.  In addition to those little stomach muscles allowing for hiccuping, the sucking and swallowing skills have improved with stronger muscles and, tiny arm & hand muscles, legs & all the rest are all bulking up.  I can always tell now when baby is asleep or awake as there is quite a bit of exercise going on in there all the time!   Also this week, the little eyelids will unfuse and open partially and by the middle of the week, there will be little eyelashes present.  So cute! Our baby gained quit a bit of weight and is now 14 inches long and 2.22 pounds.  Everything’s going great and we’re almost all ready for the advent 🙂 

Third Trimester Begins! ~only 94 days left~

Here’s a picture of what our little one would look like if we were taking pictures of it.  (We are just letting it grow in there by itself, but it’s neat to know how everything is coming by looking at other babies!)  It’s pretty hard to believe that in only 14 weeks our little bundle of joy will be here for us to hold and snuggle!  It’s true though, 2 trimesters down and only one to go.  This week the baby is mostly just growing.  Of that growth, there’s quite a lot going on in the brain area.  For the next month the forebrain (right behind the forehead) will be enlarging to cover all the other developed brain structures, while still maintaining its hemisphere divisions.  If we could measure the brain wave patterns they would be similar to what they will be when born now that there is much processing of visual and auditory information.This week the baby will grow a 1/2 an inch to reach almost 14 1/2 inches long and enough weight to just barely reach 2 pounds!  That’s about the distance from the back of the average man’s elbow to the bottom of his hand.  Boy!  This kid is growin!  The little muscles are growing too, I can now tell when the baby is asleep or awake because it moves pretty consistently when awake.  Also, some days it has lots of energy and some days it rests more.  And, the rest days definitely follow the active days :).  Last week was critical in the development of the lungs and now there are enough air sacs present for the baby to breath on its own if it had to.  By the time the baby is born there will be about 50 million tiny  air sacs in the lungs.  Even so, these represent a mere 5% of what will be present in adult lungs.  95% of the sacs form between birth and age 8.   And, that’s it for our little baby Jordan this week.  Everything’s growing right on schedule and baby, mom & dad are all happy, excited and looking forward to spending time together on the out side of things!  

Pregnancy Week 26-almost to the 7th month!

Only one more week till I enter 3rd Trimester.  Seems this whole process is going quite quickly and we will have a little Quandt in the family very, very soon!  Nesting is going well.  In my attempt to get everything painted before entry into the 3rd trimester, we have painted 3 rooms in the house and only have one left to go, the baby’s room!  It is all organized in there now and ready to put everything in the center and get out the brushes.  We’re doing a mural so it’s a bit more complex than the others. 

Little Jordan must be eagerly anticipating it because wowsers, has there been a lot of movement these days!  We went to see Les Miserables and the baby was awake and kicking the entire time.  This little one LOVES the opera!  We are enjoying that it can hear now and seeing the difference it makes in relating to it.  Also, our little one will wake up on getting squished or poked too much and kick back against our nudges.  That’s fun!   

This week the nostrils have begun to open and if we could see inside we’d be able to note breathing movements going on to prepare for being born and getting to use those lungs where the little air sacs (alveoli) begin to develop this week.  (the alveoli will continue to develop until little Jordan is NINE years old!).  By the end of this week it is normal for breathing to be possible through some of the alveoli that have developed at the ends of the bronchial tubes and the lungs that will be well supplied with blood.  Also, the membrane that separates the air sacs from the capillaries has thinned out enough to allow some oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange.  The surfactant that the baby’s lungs began secreting continues to keep the lung tissue from sticking to itself and allow the air sacs to inflate. 

Over the next four days, brain wave activity will begin for the visual and auditory systems.  As it receives messages it gives a chance to process information and start practicing interpreting.  The eyebrows & eyelashes can be seen now and the fingernails and toenails are noticeable.  While our little one is still small and lean, growth is definitely taking place, it rings in at almost 2 pounds now and at least 9 inches long!  Keep growing in there Jordan!

25 Weeks Pregnant-only 111 days till baby arrives!

Our tiny baby is in the process of turning pink this week.  Seems very appropriate for out little one to turn pink the very week that we have just painted our bedroom ceiling with a lovely shade closely matching the pink/flesh tone of our skin in preparation for a pleasant arrival for our the little darling.  The cause for the pink color (in the baby, not the bedroom) is the development of the smallest of the blood vessels called capillaries under the skin.   Also, the blood vessels in the lungs are forming.  These will allow blood to flow through the lungs and intercept the oxygen and circulate it to the baby’s tissue after it’s born.  This should be easy enough because also this week the perfectly formed little nostrils (I hope it has Chris’ nose 🙂 )begin to open.  They have been plugged until now. And, under that cute little nose the buds for our baby’s permanent teeth will start to come in.  Already the baby teeth buds have formed but the adult teeth buds will come in high above and behind those.  Along with the teeth buds the parts of the spine are really taking shape beginning this week and continuing on for about a month.  There are 33 rings, 150 joints & 1,000 ligaments involved to support the body’s weight which are all under construction now.  Good thing, because this baby is growing fast now.  Since last week it’s grown an entire inch and a 1/2 to now measure 13.62 inches and weighs in at almost one and a half pounds at 1.46lbs!   I am feeling great again this week.  With the nice hot weather of summer I’ve been having a bit more trouble getting enough water in me to keep this little one hydrated.  The amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby is now removed every three hours and completely replaced!  This total daily exchange is equivalent to six gallons in volume!  That’s a lot of recycling which calls for a lot of refreshing!   I’ve been distracted some days with all the preparations for it’s arrival making drinking so much even harder.  We now have three rooms painted and only one to go before I feel ready for this little one to arrive.  We cleaned the garage out to make extra storage space for our growing family and all that is left is to somehow combine the “laundry room” with all the “baby’s room” stuff.  I’ve never heard of an ironing board cover that matches the baby curtains and bedding but I think we’re in for a first.  Who wants to iron in the garage, especially not with a cute little baby in the house!  All is going well, it’s super exciting to be able to feel little Jordan wiggling around in there while we make preparations for the arrival, and, nice to have a little one to chat with too 🙂  We continue to look forward to welcoming our little dear into our home!