Week 27 and babycenter.com says: "Your baby is really starting to grow and fill in the available space in your uterus. This week he weighs in at about 2 pounds and is over 14 inches long. In other developments, your baby can now open and close his eyes, sleeps and wakes at regular intervals, and may suck a finger or thumb. Although still immature, his lungs are capable of functioning in the event of a premature birth, with help from a ventilator and other assistance."

I was looking around the internet and I came across a statistic that says around 70% of expectant couples find out the sex of their baby before birth. So, I guess Greg and I are in the minority. Its funny because there are a lot of people that think one can determine the sex of the baby based on facts or patterns that, to me, seem wholly unrelated to the sex (but I am no expert). I thought for fun I would list some of the common ones here for everyone to ponder.

- the baby's heart rate is slow (boy) or fast (girl).
- the mother is carrying way out front (boy) or wide (girl).
- the mother is carrying the baby high (girl) or low (boy).
- the mother has severe (girl) or mild morning sickness (boy).
- the mother's looks improve during pregnancy (boy) or worsen (girl).
- the father gains weight (boy) or doesn't (girl).

I got this list from babycenter.com. I just wanted to take my own informal poll and see if anyone has anyone of their own folk wisdom or thoughts on whether we will be having a boy or a girl.

26 weeks now and this is what babycenter.com has to say, "Your baby weighs about one and two-thirds pounds and measures 14 inches long with her feet extended. If you could see her now, you might be able to glimpse her baby blues (or browns, greens, hazels . . .) since her eyes are beginning to open. Fetal brain scans at 26 weeks show that she responds to touch. Response to sound is growing more consistent as the nerve pathways to the ears develop."

Wow, so it has been a while since we last posted. This has been a busy week, in our defense. Yesterday, I went to the lab to get a one hour glucose tolerance test done. It's a routine test they do at this time to check for gestational diabetes. I'm not too worried, since I don't seem to have any of the symptoms, but I guess we'll know soon enough what the results are. Overall, the experience was very frustrating. They give you this glucose solution to drink (I had heard ABSOLUTE horror stories about the stuff being awful, but on Liz's advice, I requested lemon lime and it wasn't that bad. A little sweeter than 7UP, but not syrupy like I had expected.) and then you go sit for an hour and they draw your blood at the end of your wait to see how your body is handling the glucose. Oh, I forgot to mention that the midwife told me not to eat anything after midnight the day I went in for the test. So, I go in, kind of hungry and drink the stuff and go sit in the waiting area. They phlebotomist tells me to be back at 11:30 and they'll call me in for the blood draw, so I am impatiently watching the clock, waiting for my blood draw. Well, 11:30 comes around, but silly me, I have faith that they have not forgotten me and they are probably just busy. I try to be patient but decide I will politely inquire at the reception desk about my blood draw. The receptionist then asked me, "well, where were you at 11:30?" (it is now 11:45). And I said I have been sitting there the whole time. She hurriedly gets someone to draw my blood, and that lady again asks me where I was at 11:30. I am super frustrated because I was there THE WHOLE TIME! I asked her if the results would still be accurate since the blood was actually drawn 1 hour and 20 minutes after drinking the solution. She says she thinks so, but she'll make a note of it. Let me tell you, there is nothing like being pregnant for the first time and feeling like you are in such good hands.

Class III
We did our third infant care and breast feeding class tonight. We now have a month off until our birthing classes. Overall the information from the class was very useful, but the class was kind of boring and uncomfortable. Today was probably the most entertaining class because this absolutely fanatical woman (we're talking coo coo for cocoa puffs) came to talk about car seats. She apparently became obsessed when she was pregnant and became as certified car seat tech. Her enthusiasm for the subject was overwhelming. I know there are a couple things I can easily talk for a half hour about, and I am sure there will be subjects around being a parent I will be able to talk endlessly about, but I am sure no one will ever refer to my enthusiasm as overwhelming.

Ok, I know it has been some time since we posted, but we have been on the road and busy visiting. My weekly post about baby's development is now up to week 25. According to Babycenter.com, "The baby now weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and is approximately 12 1/2 inches long. He makes breathing movements, but has no air in his lungs yet. At this point, fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which, according to researchers, means the optic nerve is working."

Road Trip
We made the drive down to Carlsbad CA to visit my parents. We came down to visit for my Mom's birthday, and so we could hang out with my family while Christine is still pregnant. We are going to do some shopping since the stores are all bigger and nicer down here, and beside that we will just take it easy and enjoy a few days away from good old Santa Cruz.

We are about to set off on the adventure down south to San Diego to visit Greg's folks. We leave tomorrow morning and we will not return until Sunday. We're both pretty excited by the trip. In other news, we had our second infant care and breastfeeding class tonight. I felt less out of place at this one, but still not quite comfortable. For one thing, they have these horribly uncomfortable chairs and mind you, I'm about 10-12 weeks less pregnant than most of the other women in the class, so they must really be suffering. Oh well, we have one more class next Monday and then we "graduate".

We've now progressed to week 24. Again, according to Babycenter.com, " At 1 1/4 pounds, your baby is still a little string bean with no body fat. But his brain is growing rapidly, and he's starting to fill the space in your uterus, which is now the size of a soccer ball. His taste buds are also forming, and, believe it or not, his sweet tooth. Could that explain your sudden craving for donuts [sic]?" Like I need an explanation for wanting doughnuts! And somehow it kind of bothers me that "donuts" is considered to be spelled properly by the spell checker.

Another Month Another Copay
We had our monthly visit with the midwife yesterday. The last few visits have not been that exciting. Since we heard the heart beat, they pretty much ask us if we have any questions, listen to the heart again, push on Christine a little bit, and tell us everything looks good. This week, and from now on they will be measuring Christine's fundal height to estimate the size of the baby. This week she measures about 2 centimeters higher than she should for how pregnant she is. The midwife assured us that does not necessarily mean it is going to be a big baby. But it is. Christine is convinced this baby is going to be on the big side, and this did nothing to make her think different. Our next appointment is in a month, and after that we start going every two weeks.

The Week So Far
We had our first "Infant care and breast feeding" class this Monday. It was an interesting experience, and not quite what we expected. The class was really crowded, and we were a few minutes late because we couldn't find the room. We are taking the class a couple months early because I have to work most Monday nights, and this month worked best. Everyone there was more pregnant, than us, and we were about the youngest couple there. The actual info was pretty useful, and the class looks like it will be pretty worthwhile, but it was kind of weird to be there with 16 other couples and not knowing any of them, or really interacting with them. The birthing class is supposed to be more interactive, and more supportive. That will be good in some ways, but it will also mean having to meet a bunch of new people, and apparently these classes have yearly reunions... sounds a little strange, but it's all part of the adventure.