36 weeks - did you know?

• Baby Boy continues to put on weight, about an ounce a day.
• He is about 19-20 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6 ¾ pounds.
• Most of his bones (soft skull aside) are now completely hardened.
• At the end of this week, he will be considered a full-term baby!!!

35 weeks - did you know?

• Baby boy is about 18.5 inches long and weighs about 5.5 to 6 pounds.
• The vast majority of his growth is completed this week.  His kidneys are completely developed, and his liver is beginning to process waste.
• He will spend the next couple weeks putting on even more weight!!!!
• Baby boy is beginning to develop its own immune system.  Before it was depending on Mommy's.

34 weeks - did you know?

• Baby Boy is between 17-18 inches and weighs about 5 pounds.
• His central nervous system is continuing to mature and the lungs are well developed.
• If he were to be born right now he would be called a pre-term infant instead of premature. The only difference is in the maturity, particularly lung maturity. A pre-term baby is less likely to need intensive care because its lungs have developed.
• He is still rotating to the head down position for delivery. 

33 weeks - did you know?

• Baby boy between 17-18 inches long and weighs about 4.5 to 5 pounds.
• His skin is beginning to look less red and less wrinkled.
• Fat stores are continuing to be deposited under his skin.
• His bones are all beginning to harden except for the skull.  The skull needs to remain soft and pliable for delivery.
• With the exception of crying, he is capable of doing everything that a newborn baby can do. 
• He sleeps a lot of the time, just as newborn babies do.
• His eyes move in the manner of REM sleep and researchers believe that babies can dream vividly in utero.
• When he is awake, he is listening, feeling, and learning.  There are billions of neurons in the brain that make trillions of connections.
• His eyes are open during alert times and closed during sleep.

Baby Shower - 31 Weeks

On the 21st Nickie was showered with gifts from friends and family.  The chatter of Baby E got everyone excited for his arrival.  It's hard to believe that he will be here in just a couple of months.

Here is Nickie's adorable belly at 31 weeks

And here is here adorable nephew Gabe

Julia (18 weeks) and Nickie

To see all pictures: Click Here

32 weeks - did you know?

• Baby Boy Nilsen is about 17 inches long and weighs about 4.5 pounds.
• His toenails and fingernails are completely formed.
• His lungs are continuing to mature but will not reach full maturity for several more weeks.
• Baby Boy's skeleton has completely formed, but his bones are very soft and pliable.
• Baby Boy has now developed sensitivity to temperature.
• He will gain one third to one half of his birth weight during the next weeks.

31 weeks - did you know?

• Baby Boy is about 16.5 inches long and weighs anywhere from 3.5 to 4 pounds. 
• He is continuing to develop a layer of fat under his skin.  This is in preparation for his arrival into the world and gives him more of a newborn appearance.  During the next several weeks he will really begin to put on the weight, about a ½ lb per week from now until about two weeks before birth.  Average size newborn is about 7.5 lbs and 19 to 21 inches long.
• This week marks an incredible milestone in his lung development.  Before now, the air sacs and branches in his lungs were present but not functionable. The lungs were not able to inflate properly. However, now there is surfactant being produced in his lungs. Surfactant prevents the his lungs from collapsing outside of the uterus and he is able to take in air and breathe properly.
• His ear is almost completely developed both inside and out. He can hear your voice and other familiar sounds that he will recognize after birth.
• Baby boy's fingernails have grown to the end of his fingers and he may scratch himself while in the womb.
• Baby boy's iris color begins to appear around the thirty-first week. Most babies are born with dark blueish-brown or bluish-gray eyes, but this shade almost always changes after birth. True eye color won't be apparent for six to nine months -- final formation of eye pigmentation happens in response to exposure to the strong light of the outside world.  In the meantime, his eyes are being readied for life after birth. Pupils begin to dilate in response to the soft, pinkish-red light that filters into the uterus. Eyes are usually open during alert times and closed during sleep.