General Update for 33 Weeks

So I've shown you Ernie's room but thought I should do a general update for the 33 Week and 3 Days mark as I haven't done this for a while.

Ernie has really grown and should look something like this at the moment.

Also according to pregnancy.org -

• The Amniotic fluid surrounding Ernie is at its highest level that it has been during my pregnancy.
• Ernie's head size has increased due to rapid brain growth.
• Neurons and synapses are developing in huge numbers -- forming connections in your Ernie's brain which will give her all the skills she needs to thrive as a newborn. This week, she may be able to coordinate sucking and swallowing with breathing. What a big achievement that will be.
• While most of her bones are hardening, Ernie's skull is quite pliable and not completely joined. The bones will be able to move slightly to make birthing easier. I'm for anything that makes birth easier.
• Ernie takes intermittent deep breaths -- of water! That's okay, though since she gets oxygen from the placenta. This breathing exercises muscles and encourages her lung cells to produce more surfactant (a protein essential for healthy lung development). She also has the hiccups a lot.
• Ernie is now about 43.7cm long from head to toe and weighs about 1918gm.
  

As for me, I noticed the strangest thing when I got up to go to the loo at 6.30am this morning. I knew it could happen but didn't know if it was going to happen to me. Some time during the early part of this morning my right breast started to leak and there was a great big wet patch on my tee-shirt. It looks like I may have been leaking a little bit for a few days already (out of both breasts) but I hadn't noticed until this morning. I think it can be said that I am now a colostrum making machine - good to know that my body is able to do this - although it could have waited until after she was born.

I've been on the look out for stretch marks on my belly or anywhere else for that matter but luckily there aren't any there yet and my innie belly button has not yet become an outie. Neither of these may actually happen but I've been on the look out. Thankfully I don't seem to be retaining fluid either, no swollen hands or ankles. If it is just this continuing nausea and fatigue then I think that I'm doing really well.

Jochen finally felt the full power of Ernie's kicks on Sunday night and it amazed him just how strong they were. We were in bed and he had his hand resting on my left side which is often where I feel her kicking. She gave a good kick and for some reason Jochen thought that I had done it (although how I could have done it I don't know). He seemed to be a bit surprised when I told him that I hadn't done anything and that it was his daughter giving me a kick or two as she often does. I think he can understand a little better why it hurts at times now. I have offered to give him a demonstration of how it feels on his ribs but he has yet to take me up on the offer.

I'm also getting better at being able to feel what is what down there. I'm sure I can feel her head which is already down. Sometimes depending on how she is laying I can feel her back then continue up and feel her bum, which is often located just under my ribs which I have to try and push down to a more comfortable position. We even get a foot kicking out at me on my left side, which looks really weird as does the general squirming and wiggling we get in the middle of my tummy. I love to lay in the bath and watch all the weird movements happening, it is something that I will never forget.

And finally, we were meant to be having a 3D ultrasound this Friday but I changed this to a normal ultrasound when I found out that we would only get pictures and not any video. I can't see that 3D photos would be much different from 2D ones especially at this late stage when there isn't much room to see anything apparently. Jochen and I talked about it and decided that having the video and pictures in 2D would be better than just having pictures in 3D and that Ernie might get more out of it when she has grown up. I am however looking forward to it anyway. It will be great to see how big she is and see her face in more detail. Hopefully we will also be able to confirm that she really is a girl - it still seems funny sometimes. Anyway I'll definitely post some pictures when we get back.