Merry Christmas!!

LOTS of food, kris-kringle presents, sleep in the afternoon, game of boules/bocce & a leisurely walk with the dogs on the beach…

Postcrossing

Have you ever heard of Postcrossing? It’s a great new hobby of mine and so far I’ve received 12 postcards from random strangers around the world: USA, Taiwan, Holland, Germany, Japan, Finland, China, Moscow, Belgium and Lithuania!

Once our baby has arrived and we’ve named him I plan on signing him up for Postcrossing. I’ll send postcards on his behalf and, in return, he’ll end up with a great portfolio of postcards welcoming him into the world from world citizens he’ll never meet! It’ll be such a lovely, personal keepsake.

Pregnancy Weight Gain

I’ve found a breakdown of the rough distribution of weight gain that occurs during pregnancy.

According to “Waiting For Baby” by Paula Ford-Martin, on average women put on between 10 – 14 kg (22 – 30lb) during pregnancy. These extra kilos are roughly distributed as follows:

• 3 – 4 kg for the baby
• 600 – 8–g for the placenta
• 1 kg for the womb
• 400g for the breasts
• 1 kg for the waters/amniotic fluid
• 3.5 kg of extra body fat (necessary for breastfeeding)

Chart

Pic

Pregnant woman

Development of our bub – week 22

Week 22 – Baby Development

I’m 22 weeks today!

According to BabyCentre:

The baby now weighs about 430 grams, measures nearly just over 27 centimetres long from crown to heel, and is proportioned like a newborn, albeit a thinner version since his baby fat hasn’t yet developed. Although he’s getting heavier every day, his skin still appears wrinkled because he needs to gain more weight. The lips are distinct and the eyes are formed, though the iris (the coloured part of the eye) still lacks pigment. The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. Even this early, the first signs of teeth appear in the form of tooth buds beneath the gum line. Before you know it, your baby will be born, and soon after, his first teeth will come through.

According to I Am Pregnant:

Your baby’s crown-to-rump length is approximately 7.6 inches and your growing baby weighs about 12.25 ounces now! Your baby’s body continues to grow and develop every day. The organ systems in your baby’s body are becoming specialized for their particular functions. The fetal liver produces different enzymes than it will produce after delivery.

Your baby’s senses are developing daily. The fetus now has a full complement of neurons in the brain and is learning about his body and surroundings through touch. Touch is one of the first senses to mature and your baby may stroke his face or feel his arms and legs. Your baby now shows an extremely rapid brain growth (which lasts until five years after birth).

Which celebrities are ‘due’ next?

Which pregnant celebrities are due next? All found here.

SARAH CHALKE - Scrubs star Sarah Chalke will be welcoming her first child (a son) at Christmas with fiancé James Afifi.

CAMILA ALVES - Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey announced their second pregnancy on Father’s Day.

CHRISTINA MILIAN - Christina (singer), 28, is pregnant with her first child with husband The Dream. She’s due with a girl in late February.

JENNA ELFMAN - Jenna is due in March with her second pregnancy. She already has a two year old son called Story.

Healthy Child, Healthy World

Healthy Child, Healthy World by Christoper Gavigan (husband of Grey’s Anatomy Jessica Capshaw). Fans of this book include Nicole Richie, Kate Hudson, Brooke Shields and Michelle Obama! Added bonus: Meryl Streep wrote the forward.

How cute is my lil’ cousin?!

My new little cousin, named Felix, is now about 7 weeks old. He should be a baby model – look at those squeezable cheeks!

To see how much he’s grown, click here to see him on the day he was born, and click here to see him when he was 4 days old.

Week 21 – My Bump!

This was taken at 21 weeks + 5 days… late again!

It seems fairly obvious that I’m pregnant now, although the muscles at the top of my stomach are still hanging on. If you run your fingers down my stomach muscles towards the bump, you can distinctly feel the uterus start like a relatively hard ball about 1 – 2 cm above my belly button.

Abdominal cramping

Another downside! Look out for cramping when you get pregnant

This morning after getting out of bed and heading to the shower I got a strong cramp-like pain to the lower right of my belly that made me double over for about 5 minutes. At first I thought I might be experiencing a Braxton Hicks contraction but after doing a bit of Googling, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is just the result of ligament stretching. I struggled to walk and couldn’t stand upright but found a hot shower helped.

According to this link, in the second trimester the muscles and ligaments (tough bands of tissue) that support your uterus stretch. This can cause a dull ache across the belly or a sharp pain on one side. Many women feel this pain most severely when getting up from a bed, chair or bathtub or when coughing.