Lucy Elizabeth Masson

Summarizing Week # 21:

Many people have responded to our personal e-mail account regarding our last post, so I wanted to publicly introduce Lucy Elizabeth Masson. Her officially due date is May 11th, 2009- but we all know how that goes- what is it, give or take 2 weeks on each end? So, theoretically, she could be born any time between April 27th, 2009 through May 25th, 2009. Honestly, I don’t if I can wait that long!

At about seven inches in length and almost 11 ounces in weight, Lucy is about the size of a large banana –and- during our last ultrasound, see the photos below in our last post, the technician notes that the baby is just under one pound. Woo Hoo- she’s a whopper all ready! But, I think the coolest part of the entire experience was seeing her heart up close where you were clearly able to distinguish all four chambers of the little “lub-dub.” Hope she has lots of room in that heart for love, because she is greatly loved by us already and we haven’t even met her yet. How on Earth does that happen? How can you fall in love with a little being that you haven’t met –or- fall in love with a little person who isn’t fully developed? Wow- this whole process is VERY intense!

At 21 weeks pregnant, your baby swallows at least several ounces of amniotic fluid each day — not only for hydration and nutrition, but also to practice swallowing and digesting — skills your baby will need as soon as he or she arrives in your arms. And keep this in mind: The taste of the amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what Rachel’s eaten (spicy Mexican food one day, or sweets another). And that smorgasbord of tastes won't be lost on your baby. That's because your little one has very developed taste buds already. In fact, researchers have noted that babies who were exposed to certain tastes in utero via the amniotic fluid were more eager to eat foods with that same taste after birth. Want your baby to eat his or her broccoli later? Eat yours now! Your developing baby still has a great deal of room in your womb — though like anyone who lives in one space for a long time, this tenant will soon begin to feel cramped. Until those uterine walls start closing in, however, there's plenty of space for twisting, turning, and even an occasional somersault (so that's what you were feeling last night!). With all that belly dancing going on, it's hard to believe your baby gets any sleep at all. But believe it or not, your fetus sleeps as much as a newborn, perhaps 12 to 14 hours per day! (Now if only you could get some sleep!)

Summarizing Week # 22:

Guess what? At 22 weeks pregnant, Lucy has finally broken the one-pound mark. This week, she is making more sense of the world as her sense of touch develops. In fact, her grip is quite developed by now — and since there's nothing else to grab in utero, she may sometimes hold on tight to that umbilical cord (don't worry — it's tough enough to handle it). The sense of sight is also getting more developed. Lucy can now perceive light and dark much better than before (even with those fused eyelids). Unless Rachel and I are shining a flashlight over her belly (which you can do, by the way), it'll be mostly dark for Lucy inside that cozy womb. Moving up from the eyes, the eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed now — and even more hair is sprouting atop that cute little head. Hair at this stage of fetal development has no pigment, so it's bright white- yippee- we have a little toe-head!

In General:

Today is New Years Eve 2008, it’s snowing like crazy outside- we’re expecting four to six inches by 6pm… and by 9pm…. We’re expecting Sandy and Debbie to arrive at our house. Tonight, we will partake in our New Year’s Eve tradition of eating fabulously delicious food prepared by Rachel, we will imbibe spectacular cocktails again created by the wonderful Rachel, and we will no-doubt engage in some smack-talking and good ‘ole fun during the many hours of board games- Cranium, Apples to Apples, and Scrabble are at the top of the list tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be down right balmy, but if we can bear the frigid temperatures, we may try to get some snow shoeing in prior to Sandy & Debbie’s departure at 4pm- I promised Debbie that I’d kick them out by 4pm because she has to work early on Friday morning (as do I).

We had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah with our families; as always, we received many thoughtful gifts. Speaking of which, I think Lucy had more gifts under the tree than we did- Rachel’s sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Jake, purchased a beautiful traditional Winnie-the-Pooh bedding set for us along with wonderful outfits, Betty bought a Curious George jack-in-the-box, my Aunt Marlene crocheted a beautiful blanket, a book from Auntie & Joe, and my grandparents bought some wonderfully adorable outfits. Needless to say, Lucy made out like a bandit!

As always, I took many photos of the holidays with the family and I’m sure I’ll take many photos of our adventures tonight. I will make it a priority to post some of the photos of Rachel and the growing belly as soon as they’re downloading. Speaking of Rachel… I’ve somehow forgotten to mention her too much… Gee Whiz! Anyways, Rachel continues to feel great- She continues to work out daily and she is healthy. However, she continues to be easily tired and goes to bed around 8pm nightly, but she also works out at 5am… so, in general, we are on different sleep cycles as I can’t possibly fall asleep that early, nor could I drag my bum out of bed that early- I like my sleep and I hate the cold mornings of the winter!

Cheers to everybody

for a

Safe & Happy

New Year!