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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Twas the week before Christmas...

I'm normally not a quitter, but I've decided to quit something for a while....Pilates. I love Pilates and I've really enjoyed my classes, but after 14 months I think I'm going to take a break, for a few reasons. 1) The legislative "session" is coming up and lasts from January-March. This makes my evening schedule very unreliable and I had to miss several classes during this time last year due to late nights at work. 2) Many of my pregnancy books recommend that you don't exercise flat on your back after the first trimester, which is a large portion of Pilates, at least my class. 3) I'm scared of something called diastasis, where your abdominal muscles separate. Some women are worried about stretch marks, some about weight gain...I'm worried about my stomach splitting in half, and it freaks me out to think about it! I've heard conflicting opinions about ways to reduce your chances of this happening...most seem to say that extensive ab exercise makes it worse. (which is kind of counterintuitive to me...wouldn't you need those muscles to help during delivery?) At any rate, I quit. I realize this is a vain and obscure thing to worry about, but last night was my last class until after the baby is born. Pilates is amazing and a great strengthening exercise for anyone who wants to do it, and I fully plan to jump back into it after the baby, but for now I'm content with my treadmill and a few prenatal yoga DVD's, thank you.
Other than that fear-based, spur-of-the-moment decision, things are going well. Christmas shopping is done, (correction: MY shopping is done, Ted's hasn't started), and we're looking forward to spending time with family here over the holiday. We're even going Christmas caroling tomorrow night with some people from our church, then coming back to our house for hot chocolate...it doesn't get more festive than that! Here's an update on the little one:

How your baby's growing:This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

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