08 November 2007

Hello my beautiful. Tomorrow I’ll be 13 weeks pregnant with you. I am sooo thankful you are growing strong. Dad and I went to the doctor to see your first picture. I can already see what a beautiful child you are. We don’t know whether you are a boy or a girl yet, but hopefully we’ll find out soon. Dad has his heart set on a girl, and I don’t really care, but I also think you’re a girl. We heard your heart beat, it was so strong and fast and of course I shed a tear (I think dad too). You already have a lot of friends that you haven’t met yet. There’s Keaton, who is also not born yet, and baby Theron, who will be born about a week before you, Josh, who is already 4 and beautiful Deqlan who just turned 1. We heard great news about Deqlan today. He has Neuroblastoma, a child cancer, but after praying for months his cancer seems to have cleared up. I can’t wait till you meet them. You’ll have lots of friends!! I am so proud of you, sticking in there, growing in my tummy and holding on. I already love you more than you’ll ever know. Dad is also so excited. He’s just thinking about your future the whole time, and how we can give you the best possible life, the one that you deserve! You’re developing so fast and you finally look like a human now!!! This is what is happening to you now:

Head and NeckFetal head is about one-half of the crown-to-rump length and rests on a well-defined neck instead of shoulders. Sucking muscles of mouth fill out cheeks, tooth buds continue to develop and salivary glands begin to function. Scalp (hair) pattern is discernible.ThoraxHeartbeat can be detected with external instruments. Lungs develop further as the fetus inhales and exhales amniotic fluid, which is essential for air sacs within lungs to function properly.AbdomenFully functional spleen will assume functions supervised by liver such as removal of old red blood cells and production of antibodies.PelvisSexual organs distinguishing female or male are now clearly visible.LimbsArms have almost reached final proportion and length, though legs are still quite short relative to fetus' body. Hands, particularly the thumbs, become more functional.SkinMuscles function more smoothly and fetus is more flexible and has advanced movements of head, mouth and lips, arms, wrists, hands, legs, foot, and toes. Muscles and nervous system continue to advance. Sweat glands appear and body hair begins to grow.

You are about 6 – 8 cm long about the size and weight of half a banana!!!
From now on your main task is to grow bigger and stronger!
My nausea is finally gone, thanks my angel and I feel like I’m on top of the world again. I am so extremely happy!!! I have however, had some outbursts, especially at work, but that was the hormones! My tummy is starting to show, we’ll take some pictures for you. My exams are also finished, so now we can relax a bit. You are so strong, dealing with all the stress with me. But now I promise to relax so that you can focus on growing!

Love you tons and tons and tons my precious!!!
Mom