10 Weeks Along (Friday, 7/25/08)

Saturday I had Cate’s wedding shower then a lot of packing to do to leave on our vacation to South Dakota on Sunday. It was a really busy weekend which made me even more tired. We spent the week at Roy Lake Resort in Lake City, South Dakota which is near where Maureen grew up. We shared a condo with Debbie and Jack across the hall from the condo shared by Paul’s parents and his brother, Mike, and family. I was grateful to be in the quieter, more relaxed condo but not grateful to be awakened at 6 every morning by little Jack. As everyone keeps reminding me, I better get used to it! Many of Paul’s cousins stayed at the State Park which was adjacent to the resort so it was really pleasant meeting all of them. They are such nice people. The week was pretty relaxed. We mostly just sat around and visited while the guys fished. Paul and I took a number of drives around the countryside to take pictures.

News from the womb…
The retina of the eye is now fully pigmented. The external ear and tongue are completely formed. The bones of the palate are beginning to fuse and the taste buds are beginning to form on the tongue. The fingers have lengthened and separated. The toes become unwebbed and lengthen. Fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles have begun to appear and the soles of the feet are visible. The limbs are now capable of purposeful movement. The head is rounded and disproportionately large, making up almost half of the baby’s length. The neck region is established. The legs are now at their proper location and proportional in size for this stage in development. The shoulders are present and have rotated out to place the arms at the sides of the body instead of touching in front. The legs have rotated in and the knees point up to the face. The ectoderm which has covered the baby is being replaced by a layer of flattened cells which will become the surface layer of the baby’s skin. The intestines have begun to migrate from the umbilical cord into the body cavity. The external genitalia are developing but do not yet look distinctive of either gender. The baby assumes a more upright posture. Midweek, the baby was 22-24mm long from crown to rump, as wide as the face of an American quarter. This is 4 times as long as the baby was just one month prior. At the end of the week, the baby is 29mm long and weighs about 0.04-0.11 ounce.