MY LITTLE MUNCHKIN: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

WEEK 31

February 21 2010. My little butternut squash is still around 17 inches and 3.3 pounds. In the 31st week the umbilical cord has a diameter of about 1 cm. On the day of birth it will be of 35 to 60 cm in length and 2 cm wide. Inside the umbilical cord there are three blood vessels. One transfers the products of metabolism to the mother's kidney, and two other bring fresh blood, oxygen and nutrients. Baby Mark is beginning to develop under-skin fat and the surface skin is more pink than red. Mark has not yet positioned himself correctly with the head down, but it's possible for babies to do this now.
Monday had the BIG family breakfast and found out that Paul and Irina are having a BOY. It was so exciting for everyone. Paul and Irina were super excited and so was dad, he was so happy. I'm so glad that Mark is going to have a boy cousin to grow up and play with. Later me and Yelena went out to lake Julian for a boat ride, but it was too windy to get a boat so we had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks. Monday night I went to Lilia's house to play some Wii with Alina and Larisa. Later that night my hubby showed up from his week long trip to Canada and brought me a box full of apples from the Washington apple farm. Tuesday night I came home from Sign Language to a house full of Korolchuks playing the Wii, it was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. The rest of the week went by pretty quickly, friday night me and Toly went to see a movie - The Fighter. It was based on a true story and was pretty good. Saturday I went shopping with Yelena at the mall. I've been waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, heartburn has not been that bad this week. My belly is been a little sore and I can feel it getting bigger and stretching, I've been putting on the Palmer's lotion daily, hopefully it will prevent stretch marks if I'm lucky.

me and Yelena at the Lake

the guys playing th e Wii

my lop sided belly...

My handsome hubby

Had Dinner with Olga and Alex at Doc Chey's Noodle House

Olga and Alex

Olga and Olga

Friday, February 25, 2011

WEEK 30

30w 1d

February 14 2010. 10 weeks to go...Happy Valentines Day Mark! Mark is approx 17 inches and 3 pounds, the size of an small cabbage head. He will more than likely double and may even come close to tripling by delivery time. Around this week, most babies finally turn head down and remain in this position until the delivery. The brain continues developing and getting even more wrinkles and the lungs are now almost mature. When practicing breathing movements the baby might get the case of hiccups. The babie's body is growing and building up more fat under the skin. Baby Mark has been doing so great, kicking and moving a lot. He has really enjoyed the right side of my belly, when i lay down you can tell were he is laying. It's so cute to see my tummy all lop sided. I've been having a great week, as well with some heart burn, lots of bathroom visits, and some head aches. Varicose veins and swollen veins that can either develop or worsen in pregnancy are rarely cause for concern, but thank God I have not seen any yet. They pop up because of the increased blood volume during pregnancy. Some women find varicose veins painful, while other have no discomfort at all. Monday was Valentines Day so me and my wonderful husband spent it together. I cooked a yummy dinner which included grilled chicken and shrimp, steamed broccoli and wild rice. As for dessert, I had to make it twice and it still did not turn out. In the end it was all worth it. Later we went to go see a movie together. My hubby surprised me with my favorite white tulips and a gift set from Victoria's Secret. Tuesday we both went to Babies R Us and registered for the baby shower. It was so much fun, and i hope to get lots of the things that we want. We went for some chicken wing after and ended the day with a sign language class with my sisters. That night I found out that Toly is going out of town/country on his 1st truck road trip for a week. :( But i kept my self busy by hanging out with Yelena and going to CLT. Friday night Alina called and told me she was going to Charlotte, NC to see her sister Oksana with Inna and Sasha. What is better than that? So I decided to go with her and have some fun. It was a great way to spend time with my girls, we had a lot of fun. Friday night we went to downtown Charlotte, walked around and went out for some dessert at our favorite place, Amelies French bakery. Saturday was a day for shopping, we went to the mall and did some serious shopping. Went out to eat, it was Alina's free day so Japaneses it is! Later that night I kinda started having a head ache, which i have not had in a long time. It turned into a migraine and got me all sick that night. Sunday we slept in had some breakfast and went to Barnes and Noble for coffee and dessert, then we drove home.

Dinner for 2!

My White TULIPS

my amazing Valentines Day Gift... (Good job baby, I love you!)

me and Olexie

Walking with Olexie

This is for Aunt Yelena, found it while registering at Babies R Us

Belly

CLT

Oksana Inna and Alina

Japaneses

Carolina Panthers Stadium Charlotte NC

Monday, February 14, 2011

WEEK 29

February 7th 2011. 78 days to go, YAY! I get to meet my baby boy for the 1st time. Getting close to 3 pounds, 16 inches long. Marks kicking is keeping me up at night and worried during the day. Thank God my feet are not swelling, yet, I guess I should say. But I do get back pain, mostly in the mornings that just won't go away sometimes. It's getting a little harder to put my boots on, wash my feet, or bend over. But I have been feeling great, nothing else to complain about. Thank God I can say I've been enjoying my pregnancy very much. This week, baby may be dreaming. Brain activity measure in a developing fetus shows different sleep cycles, including the rapid eye movement (REM) phase, the stage when dreaming occurs. Baby has now added blinking to his growing bag of tricks. Other impressive new talents being added to my baby's roster in the womb including coughing, more intense sucking, and perhaps more important , better breathing. Baby Mark is adding fat, developing the brain and is moving and stretching. There is still room for him to try out different positions. Nothing too exciting happened this week, except the fact that we tried to go to Winter Jam. Friday we drove to Greenville SC, got there an hour early and stood in line for an hour and still did not get to go. There was just too many people there and they would not let everyone in to the concert. So we got in the car and drove to Honea Path to my mom-in-laws house, we stayed the night and got to hang out with Dina and mom all day long.

Dina

Toly my little red neck

Doing some yark work

Max and Toly hanging out.

Murka enjoying her favorite spot on the bed.

Cutie pie

Sunday after church

Friday, February 11, 2011

WEEK 28

January 31 2010. 12 week to go. 16 in and 2.5 pounds (head of an cauliflower) The baby is growing and putting on weight constantly. Pulmonary alveoli get covered with a net of blood vessels. So when the baby takes its first real breath after birth, oxygen will be immediately transported to the brain. By the way, the unconditional reflexes are amazing. When the umbilical cord is cut off, the baby immediately knows it needs to take a deep breath. But it is not surprising that the baby know that. It spent half of the gestation period busily inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluid. Hard work, isn't it? The baby knows me from the inside, which you would not even suspect. The beating heart, rumble in the stomach, hiccups, digestive noises, yawns, laughter, speech, crying. The baby can hear everything in the belly. After delivery, the baby immediately will recognize my voice. Note that baby has increased its weight more than 10 times in 1 weeks! And from now on he increases his weight by 27 grams on a daily basis. Well this week was a little exciting, me and Toly moved down stairs to moms little apartment. The reason being is that its a lot more room down there, and if baby Mark come before the house, we have room for the three of us. Wednesday I had my Dr. app which went great, I had to drink some orange stuff for them to check my sugar level and they checked Marks heart beat. Friday I had to come back and get my Rhogam shot, which I have to say was a bit painful. My bootie was soar for hours after. LOL Over all, I still get heartburn but I'm glad TUMS help a lot. Mark is been kicking more and more everyday and I LOVE IT! It's the best part of the whole pregnancy.