22 Weeks

Your baby weighs about 13 ounces now and measures about 9 inches long. They are very thin, but completely developed at this point! Fat will continue to accumulate from here on out as your baby packs on the pounds getting ready for birth.

The bones inside the ears are hardening and so their hearing becomes more clear. They can distinguish between different sounds such as your voice and heartbeat. Eyes are developed now, but there isn’t any pigment in the colored part. Teeth buds appear beneath the gum line and the lips are completely developed and distinct from the rest of the face.

Lungs are developing. Right now, the lungs cannot transfer oxygen to the bloodstream, but by birth the lungs will be ready. The senses continue to develop at this time and your baby may experiment with touch by stroking their own face. White blood cells are forming now so that your baby can help fight illness and infections.

The pancreas and liver are developing now. The pancreas produces hormones and the liver breaks down bilirubin, a substance produced by red blood cells. Hand strength is very good now and the skin is pink and wrinkly. As the baby gains more weight the skin will become less transparent and wrinkled.

Things are going well. No real complaints. For some reason I don't need extra pillows for sleeping anymore. Sleep is generally pretty good. I'm quite adept at sleepwalking to the bathroom. I've been napping in the afternoons, but it's because I've been going to bed a little too late.

My belly is starting to peek out of the bottom of some of my shirts! I don't remember that happening until later in my other pregnancies. I guess Andrew and I should put together another belly photo shoot!

This morning I woke up feeling quite well rested and energetic. Then after I got out of the shower I felt completely drained, heavy, short of breath, desperate to sit or lay down. This happened once before a few weeks ago. I am guessing it was a low blood pressure moment? They both passed after a short while.

I took out my navel piercing the other day. My belly button is starting to become an outie. The kids are fascinated.

I'm still hungry a lot. We eat supper around 6:30, then I have a healthy snack or two at about 8:30 or 9:00. But often when I get into bed my stomach is growling! At that point I feel like I need sleep more than food so I just push through, though I have been known to get up and make toast.

I don't feel or feel like I look any fatter, but the scale says about 11 lbs now.

We have made some progress on names. I don't know if we've found "the one", but we have found a girl name that we all like. But it's a secret ;)

A blogger I follow, Rixa, had her second baby on Sunday. He was born at home, in water. She has just posted photos, no real details yet, but the photos tell the story of the hopes I have for our upcoming birth. Undisturbed by medical interventions or hustle and bustle, mother catching baby, everything allowed to proceed at its own pace. Doesn't she look beautiful in the closeup of her face when the baby is emerging?