Week 26: Milestones

I can't believe how time is flying by. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was announcing my pregnancy. Now I've got just a little more than three months before I welcome my son into the world.

This week my newsletter from Fit Pregnancy tells me my little alien weighs about 1 1/2 pounds (about 1/4 pound more than last week) and "would be about a foot tall if (he) could stand." That seems huge! No wonder I feel like I'm starting to have my own gravitational pull.

This week marks a major milestone in Baby's hearing and sight, they tell me.

"Your baby's hearing system (cochlea and peripheral sensory end organs), which began fine development during week eighteen, is now completely formed, and over the next few weeks, she'll become increasingly sensitive to sound. In about a month, you'll feel her jump if she hears a sudden loud noise. Sound passes easily into your uterus, which helps her ears develop."

And his eyes are almost fully formed, they say, telling me that all babies have blue eyes in the womb, no matter what their genetic inheritance is. Apparently, baby's eyes don't get their final color until he's a few months old. However, according to my own baby book, at birth my eyes were "dark." And Mom told me my eyes were so dark, no one could tell what color they actually were. So, I'm either a freak of nature, or Fit Pregnancy isn't totally right.

As for my changing body, they're not telling me anything I haven't known for a while now, when they say, "Sleeping is definitely getting uncomfortable." They don't offer any advice on how to make it more comfortable. They just tell me:

"Try sleeping on your left side. Your baby has to battle with your backbone when you're lying on your back, and sleeping on your back will also position your uterus over a major artery, cutting off blood flow."

I've been doing that. Still doesn't make sleep comfortable. Lots of extra pillows helps -- helps me. The poor S.O. has very little room left for himself. Good thing he's a heavy sleeper.