Well, the summer is officially ‘on’.  All of the kids activities and vacationing that we did in the beginning of our summer vacation are now decidedly over.  The beasties are very much always around, which makes writing in this blog difficult.  As I write this, one is arguing with the other about chore duties; a mere foot away from me.

There’s only so much room in a 1000 sq foot house.

Week 24

Week 24 was last week, in which fingernails were completed, nails were done, and the lungs started secreting a fat that allows for easier inflation.  Movement-wise, she’s been quite the little jumper – kicking and bouncing quite a bit.  I have yet to feel any kicks or anything of the sort.  Usually she stops doing it as soon as I put my hand there.

At some point during this week we passed the divine proportion.  The divine proportion is of historical, mathematical, and artistic significance.  Numerically, it’s approximately .6180339887 – but what does it mean?

The Divine Proportion, Week 25

Essentially, the divine proportion it’s a ratio that’s derived from the Fibonacci Sequence.  It’s also called the golden ratio and the golden mean.  It has been used by artists, and observed in nature since about 300 BC.  It really came into it’s own during the Renaissance in Europe, most famously used during this time in the Mona Lisa

The face in this painting makes up almost a perfect divine proportion rectangle, with her eyes making up the line that delineates the portions. It’s also used in architecture, and seen in nature in things like beehives and leaf patterns in trees.

What it has come to mean is a pleasing, natural beauty that is apparent to everyone. Humans, and nature itself seem designed around this number.  From what I can surmise, it’s true.  Is it any coincidence that the majority of the development is completed in this week, with the remaining weeks concentrating on building up mass and developing the nervous system?  Is it a coincidence that survival rates of premature infants past the point of this ratio are reasonable?

In the upcoming week, the baby will start to gain lots of weight.  It’s the ending section of the pregnancy, and the baby is getting more and more strong as the days go by.  14 more weeks until her journey is complete.

We went for an appointment with the doctor on Monday – one of the ordinary checks to make sure all is well for the baby.  We found out that the ultrasound results were completely normal, and the genetic tests that we took are also normal.  This is especially good, because these tests tend to have false positives, which would make further testing necessary.  We heard the heartbeat again, and when the doctor pressed against Jolene’s stomach to get the reading the baby kicked at the sensor.

The baby, she has an attitude!  Excellent!

We also got a new chair and have begun some other changes to our house to better hold all of us.  Shelves are planned, a new desk, removal of more furniture, and on and on…  It all sounds so tiring…

Week 21

They’re still talking about bananas.  This time, plantain-style bananas.

Her skin is no longer translucent, and is starting to get pigmentation.  Movement is becoming more coordinated, and it has a greater facility for it’s own locomotion.  Some sites are talking about how they can do backflips and stuff, but that all seems far fetched.

What doesn’t seem far fetched is that the tongue is becoming more and more strong.  It’s nearly fully formed. Would it surprise me if it stuck it’s tongue out?  Absolutely not.