Gametes In Love

For those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of being pregnant (or just lack the equipment to get that way), there’s an interesting condition that occurs as the belly grows: your main abdominal muscles separate and spread out. Now you don’t feel this happening, it doesn’t hurt and nothing looks strange, but if you “look” for it (ie. poke around enough), you can feel it.

At exercise class Monday the instructor tested the separation for everyone in the class. She does this mostly to confirm if you need to adjust the abdominal part of the work-out. The way this test goes is like this: you lie down on your back and bring your chin to your chest. She then presses down, gently, about an inch north of the belly button. So after she confirmed I was good, I got curious: I mean what did she feel for? How could she tell? I started at the ceiling as I pressed at the same spot and felt nothing… until I brought my head up. Holy cow! Yeah, that was different… and creepy… and kind of freaky. It was like going to the theatre: curtain close/curtain open.

So now I’m stuck between “Ew!” and “This is cool!”

How G plays baseball.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWtDoDxxD0Q]

(he hasn’t figured out yet that someone else needs to pitch him the ball… but hey — he made contact once)

How far along: 24 weeks
Weight: 136.4 lb
Sleep: Good
Gender: Boy
Movement: Lots and lots and lots. It’s occasionally a bit distracting 🙂
Feeling: I’m getting more joint pain by the week, but feeling OK overall.
What I miss: Walking without waddling. And I’m waddling because it hurts less.
Weekly Wisdom: Asking people to move their meetings to a location closer to me has been a bonus.
Milestones: As of nowS2 is viable. If he decides to make an early appearance, he has a chance of surviving.
Food cravings: Carbs, carbs and more carbs 🙂
Fetal development:
Your baby’s growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he’s almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he’ll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How about S2’s first video debut? He starts wiggling 9 seconds into the video. Look towards the top of the video screen. Now imagine having this go on for a big portion of your work-day. It feels bigger than it looks, so my pregnancy brain is being taxed: it’s like getting instant ADD.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57dZ-xa1Sc]