26 weeks

I have made it to 26 weeks pregnant and everything is still fine and uneventful.  The last 2 weeks have been busy.  First my mom came for 5 days with the intent of painting and setting up the baby room.  She did A LOT of work while she was here.  She painted the baby room "lovely lavender", which turned out very nice.  She also painted our guest room, which really needed it because it used to be Darren's office and the walls were very dirty.  She also rearranged and organized a couple of closets, and we were able to throw away, recycle, or otherwise get rid of a lot of junk.  It's really nice to have both rooms all clean and set up properly.  Darren put together the crib and a chest of drawers and we moved our La-Z-Boy recliner into the baby room too.  That room is mostly set up now, we just need baby supplies and a baby to complete it.

After mom left we had a couple of days and then my dad arrived.  We were supposed to go to a Tom Petty concert, but it got postponed until September because the band did SNL on Saturday night.  I was pretty annoyed about that because its a really dumb reason to cancel a concert, and they weren't even very good on SNL anyway.  I just got a refund for the concert, because I don't think I will be able to attend the concert in September.  Dad already had the plane ticket though, so he came anyway.  We ended up just hanging out mostly.

Anyway, nothing much else is going on so there really isn't much to update on.  My next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday and I have to go do my diabetes test next week, probably on Monday.  I'm hoping things continue to be uneventful.  The baby is still moving just fine and her heartbeat is still nice and strong.  I only have about 12 or 13 weeks left of this pregnancy.  I'm expecting the rest of the time to go very quickly and hopefully smoothly.  Here is where we are at 26 weeks:

• Your baby may weigh about two pounds now (average is 1.7 pound, 760gm) and is 14 inches (35.6cm) in length


• To support the fetus's growing body, the spine is getting stronger and more supple. Though no longer than the span of the average adult hand, it is now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings, and some 1,000 ligaments.


• Air sacs in the lungs form now.


• Lungs begin to secrete a greasy substance called surfactant. Without surfactant the fetal lungs would stick together and couldn't expand after the baby is born.


• Although they've been sealed shut for the last few months, your baby's eyes are opening and beginning to blink this week. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes (which may change color in the first 6 months of life) and some will be born with brown or dark eyes.


• Retinas begin to form.


• Brain wave activity for hearing and sight begins to be detectable.


• Fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working.