27 Weeks

We've entered into the 3rd trimester.  This pregnancy is going by way too fast!  The baby belly sure looks like we are in the 3rd trimester, but mentally, I'm not prepared.  I am grateful that we have made it to the 3rd trimester without any complications so far.  We are very fortunate to meet this milestone, as this is the viable baby marker.  If Miss Caroline was to come now, she would have a good chance at survival.  Of course, it would be a long road to recovery, and we want her to stay inside as long as possible.  The 27th week milestone has always been in the back of my mind ever since hearing that piece of information from a NNICU nurse.

This mamma has an appointment with Dr. Villers on Thursday.  I assume since I didn't hear back from the blood test that my glucose levels were normal.  I hope to get clarification on that when I go.  Also, I hope to get to take a peak at Caroline.  Since she measured normal at the 20 week ultrasound, there was no need for further ones, but I'd still like to see how she is doing in there!

Lots of planning has been happening around Sweet Caroline's arrival.  She has bedding, we've picked out a crib and furniture, and we're gathering hand-me-downs for the little one as well.

Bubblegum by Bananafish is Caroline's bedding.
Our set includes the bedding & a night light.
Cici is going to monogram the quilt. 

Here's Sweet Caroline's furniture for the next 18 years!
Love the crib & toddler bed has the drawer underneath! 

We plan to get the crib, night stand, door dresser
& wardrobe mirrored door. A HUGE thanks to Caroline's
Cici & JRS for purchasing this set for Miss Caroline.

Since Miss Caroline Sutherland is the first girl on either side of the family, there are no hand-me-downs from the cousins.  I have gone through Tillman's things, and gathered all of the "gender neutral" clothing.  It totaled to be one tote from 0-12 mo clothing.  This mamma has some shopping to do.  Just not sure what to buy, since we don't know how big she will be.  I guess we'll just shop along and along for her. I am very grateful to several of our friends who have offered hand-me-downs.  This will be a huge help!

I have also started stock piling diapers!  My weekly trips to Publix have been a little bit more expensive lately.  I've been gathering coupons throughout the week and will buy the diapers for sure if I have a store and a manufacture's coupon.  However, if the store has diapers or wipes on special and I have a coupon, I often buy them as well.  A $1.50 off a pack of diapers just doesn't go to far when the cheapest pack is $10! I'm purchasing size 1 and higher, as we just don't know how big Miss Caroline will be!


How big is baby?
Congratulations! This week is the beginning of your third trimester. Baby now weighs 1.93 pounds (875g) and measures from head to toe at around 14.41 inches (36.6cm).
How's baby developing and growing?
Your baby's eyes first appear at around 5 weeks after gestation and look like a pair of shallow grooves on each side of the brain. These grooves continue to develop and will turn into pockets, called optical vesicles, of which the lenses will start developing. At around 7 to 10 weeks the eyes start moving toward the middle of the face and at around 8 weeks blood vessels start to form and during the 9th week the pupils form.
At this stage the nerve connection from the eyes to the brain will start to form, this is called the optic nerve. At 11 to 12 weeks the eyelids form but remain fused together until 27 to 28 weeks, when they start to open and close and he/she will start to develop his/her sense of sight.
Your babys brain continues to grow and develop, and over the coming month special attention will be paid to developing the forebrain. There is also particular development in the portions of the brain which deal with visual and auditory information.