34 Weeks!

Dani now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which she'll need to regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. Babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Toilet Paper Tuesday!

How many squares of toilet paper does it take to circle my belly?

11!

33 Weeks!

This week Dani weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal (although she won't be going that route). These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her enormous brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Toilet Paper Tuesday!

How many squares of toilet paper does it take to circle my belly?

10 1/4!

32 Weeks!

By now, Baby Dani is just shy of 4 pounds and is nearly 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my uterus. I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to our baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb.

Toilet Paper Tuesday!

How many squares of toilet paper does it take to circle my belly?

10!
okay, my excuse is that I was very, very sick last week. I probably lost a couple pounds.

31 Weeks!

This week, Dani measures about 16 inches long. She weighs a little over 3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's moving a lot, too, been having trouble sleeping because her kicks and somersaults keep me up!

30 Weeks!

Dani a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in the uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.