Week 30

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to devlop, thought it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision - which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
www.babycenter.com

Only 10 more weeks, it's just so hard to believe. Derek and I have a lot to do, lots of purchases to make, etc. My heartburn hasn't been so bad over the past few days, although my stomach and other organs are definitely getting more and more squished, as you can probably tell from the belly pic above. Baby likes to stretch upwards! Other than that, things are progressing nicely. I'm starting to feel tired again, so I'm really enjoying lounging around the house today. We have another regularly scheduled doctor appointment this week (every 2 weeks now!), and next week we go in for our growth ultrasound. Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to seeing a "chubby" baby in the sonogram!

Last night, Derek had some quality "belly time", as he calls it. Essentially he just lays with his head on my belly, talking to Baby. Baby loves it, kicking up a storm, giving Daddy a few punches to the ear. It's great bonding time for the both of them :)

A quick shout out to our friends, Chelsea and Tim - they mailed us 2 baby books! The first book is "Organic Baby" and suggests simple steps for healthy living (how to make your own baby food, etc.). The second book is "Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers" and I'm so excited about this one - I think teaching young children sign language is a great way to develop communication skills. Derek and I were looking through it the other day and we've started learning the basic signs for commonly used words: "more", "mommy", "daddy". I used to babysit for a family whose youngest child had Down Syndrome, and they used sign language as a means to encourage her development. It was really cool, seeing her do the simple signs. Thanks Chelsea and Tim!