Nora's (State of the Development Address)

Nora's belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that she is expecting, but our baby is still tiny. In fact, s\he is only about 3 inches long crown to rump - roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp - and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside Nora's womb now. Much more proportional than s\he was a few weeks ago, (h)er\is head is now only about a third the size of (h)er\is body. (H)er\is tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. (H)er\is kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and s\he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid s\he's been swallowing. As Nora has started her second trimester, most of our baby's critical development is being completed, and Nora's odds of a miscarriage has drop considerably.

Birth is still months (in May) away, but Nora's breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that will feed our baby for the first few days after birth, before Nora's milk starts to flow.

Sara's Valentines Day Card

Sara sent this Valetines day card. I loved it so much I made it into a animated gif.

Baby comes with brain repair kit for Mom

Stray stem cells from a growing fetus can colonise the brains of mothers during pregnancy, at least in mice.

If the finding is repeated in humans, the medical implications could be profound. Initial results suggest that the fetal cells are summoned to repair damage to the mother's brain. If this is confirmed, it could open up new, safer avenues of treatment for brain damage caused by strokes and Alzheimer's disease. <readMore>

"In some regions of the mothers' brains, there are as many as one in 1,000 to sometimes even 10 in 1,000 cells of fetal origin," ~Xiao Zhi-Cheng
Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.

Imprint

As far as I understand the development cycle. It's about time for the Tyke to have finger prints and the ability to concentrate better because s\he can furrow their brow:)

UltraSound II

Last one for the moment =) You will have to wait until mid week for more and the "Tyck with-no-name" is expected in May of 2006.

UltraSound I

Here is another one I was finally able to upload today & one more on the way.