Week 32

Baby's development: The baby now measures 16 inches and weighs around 4 lbs. All five senses are now developed, although the baby won't be able to taste anything until he's out of the womb. The lungs are still developing and won't reach maturity for several more weeks. The baby's bones are all developed, but are still soft and pliable.

I have gained another pound since the last doctor's visit two weeks ago, making total weight gain so far 17 lbs. It's hard to believe that of that 17 lbs, only 4 lbs is the actually baby! My doctor also felt my stomach for the position of the baby. He is currently laying sideways so that his head is on the left side of my stomach and his butt is on the right side. This explains why I keep feeling him kick my right lower ribs and I feel him hiccuping on my left side.

Ryan and I had our first birthing class last week. We learned about the anatomy of labor. It was nice to meet all the other expecting parents (7 couples) and it turns out that one of the couples lives three houses down from us. They also have two dogs, and I've seen them at the park before. In fact, both Frida and Charlie have played with their dogs before! I'm excited that they live so close. I'm happy to say that after talking about labor and contractions during class, I feel less scared of actually going into labor. I'm feeling more confident that I'll be able to deal with the pain and get through everything OK. The nice thing that was also emphasized in class was the importance of not having a strict "birth plan," so that I would not be disappointed if things don't go according to how I want things to go. After all, having a healthy baby is the ultimate goal.

I'm off to Washington DC next week, and this will probably be the last time I fly for a while. 32 weeks is still OK to fly, but my doctor advised against flying past 35 weeks. Maybe I'll try to take a belly pic with Obama.