BLOG 46 – AND NOW THIS

Recap for Blog 46 – And now this : Although Zani easily drifts off while listening to Dr Melodie de Jager’s interview, she manages to grasp that the movements of the minute hands and feet give Baby’s emotional brain a further nudge, and in so doing, boost the immune system.

Our combined appointment with the midwife and the obstetrician is getting closer, and my list of questions has been steadily growing. But I find that as we tick off the baby’s development, my questions are less about Baby and more about changes in my own body. I’m not necessarily concerned, just curious.

At lunchtime, I retreat to park across the road, and as I lovingly rub my tummy, I reread the list that has already been ticked.

WEEK 15+

• Baby is 250 mm long
• Baby weighs 227 g
• Risk of malformation is over
• Regularly swallows amniotic fluid
• Outer ear develops
• Baby responds to sound – rumbling of digestion, blood flowing, heartbeat – but prefers human voice to other sounds
• Heartbeat is very strong
• Movement of lips and facial expressions become defined
• The head is now a third of body length
• Fine hair on upper lip and eyebrow is called lanugo

These difficult names are so unnecessary!

• Nails on hands
• By the end of Week 17, the legs are longer than the arms
• Ears and eyes are finally in the correct place on the head

Quick SMS: Hi handsome, you know tomorrow is the day we will know if Baby is a boy or a girl? luv Z

No response.

An hour later, still no response.

And then it comes. A call, not a text.

“Zani, hey. I’m sorry, my love, but we have a crisis and I need to leave for the Musina area this afternoon. Which of course means I won’t be here and can’t make our appointment tomorrow.”

Breathe. Just breathe.

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