"Your baby continues to grow and gain weight. The eyelids are able to open and close again. Your baby's skin is still very thin and wrinkled from living in the amniotic fluid, making it possible to see the veins underneath. As your baby grows and deposits more fat under the skin, the veins will become less visible and your baby's body will fill out." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.
The routine monthly check up is going to be our last. From now on, fortnightly visits are required. Jr has been kicking and punching a lot this past week. Mexican waves, elbows and knees can be seen moving across my belly and sides.
At one point, the round ligament pain was so bad I thought I had suffered from placenta abruption as all the signs were so common! A frantic call to Dr. Haris and a soothing phone consult later, we concluded that the absence of blood meant that it was probably just round ligament pains.
How active is Jr exactly? Jr would score fetal movement count of 10 in less than 10 minutes. During the Doppler test to listen to Jr's heartbeat, one loud thud of a kick impressed Dr. Haris as "This is one active baby!" much to Z's glee.
It has been for a while now that we wanted to know if Jr is a boy or a girl for ease of shopping and selecting suitable names. It is the duty of Muslim parents to select meaningful and beautiful Muslim name for our offspring for it is by that name that he or she will be called upon on Judgment Day.
So this time round, we "made Jr promise to behave" and what joy overcame us when Dr. Haris said "Here's perfectly formed labia, make no mistake the baby is a girl!" The nurse was so excited and whispered to me "Nice things to buy for baby girl!". Overwhelming joy came over both Z and I that Saturday morning, knowing that other than our beautiful niece, S, the other kids are all boys! We do want a girl so much and for this gift, we thank Allah.
Also noted that Jr's head is already down but not engaged. That means the kicks at my rib will not end. The body scan was so cute that Z said "Looks like a teddy bear!"
Measurements taken by Dr. Haris Hamzah on 23 January 2010:
BPD: 7.31 cm ( was 6.06 cm )
Head circumference: 25.18 cm ( was 21.87 cm )
Abdominal circumference: 22.63 cm ( was 18.45 cm )
Femur length: 5.19 cm ( was 3.96 cm )
Weight: 1.085 kg
**Retrospective Wisdom: We took a poll of suggested suitable Muslimah names (we also have a bank of names for male child, just in case) and picked one that continues to be well liked, has little chance of spelling out a bad word in its abbreviated form, not likely to sound like a bad word, easy and loud to call out at playgrounds etc. Oh, did I tell you that Muslim parents take this duty of naming the child suitably very seriously?**
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