33 Weeks

We had our final Childbirth Class last evening. We both really appreciated our instructor's (Carol) experience and humor. She gave us some great practical advice which I am certain we will really appreciate in the coming months. We also met some really great people and have a reunion planned for April 4th so we can get together and see each others babies.
Only seven more weeks until Lindsay's due date. It's coming up so fast! I've still not started on Alec's bedroom. I have the next week off of work so I plan to finish it by the end of the week. Next Tuesday we have an appointment for another ultrasound. They will be able to tell his position. He won't be to flip from here on out so hopefully he is head down. After our appointment we plan to take a tour of Northwest Hospital's Childbirth Center.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to capture Alec kicking on video. I uploaded it to our website (click here). You may have to download Quicktime to view it.

Alec now weighs about 4 lbs 10 ozs and measures about 17.75 inches. He is now fully formed physically and has a firm grasp reflex. During the last 6 weeks, his main task is to gain weight and grow a little larger, as well as build up his immune system, which is obtained from Lindsay as antibodies are passed through the placenta.

We hope he has assumed a 'head down' position and he will stay this way until he is born. his movements may change in character (to be more 'stretches' and 'squirms') as he grows larger and there is comparatively less room for him to move.

Alec can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes. Premature babies as early as 33 weeks have been observed to suck harder on a teat dipped in glucose! However, unborn babies can also detect subtle changes in the 'flavor' of the amniotic fluid surrounding them. It is believed the fluid acts as a type of "flavor bridge" to their mother's breast milk, which also carries different food flavors from the mother's diet.

Babies born between 33 weeks and 35 weeks normally do quite well and have more than a 95% survival rate. However, they are still regarded as being 'mildly preterm' and will usually require some time in the intensive care nursery.