Another Milestone

Pictured above is the smallest baby to ever survive after being born at only 22 weeks and 6 days gestation.  That's a little over half the time babies need to bake.  She was 9 inches long and weighed only 10 oz- less than a can of Coke.  I saw this picture and immediately teared up. (Suffice it to say, I have given up watching shows like Amazing Babies or any TV drama showing teeny tiny babies hooked up to tubes and IV's- absolutely heart-wrenching).  This week marked a pretty huge milestone: viability for our little Junebug.  If baby were to be born now *heaven forbid*  he/she would have a decent chance of surviving with the help of modern technology.  By "decent," it's about a 50-60% chance.  Most doctors are in agreement that 28 weeks is the safest point, giving baby a 90% chance or better of living without complications.  The road to recovery from pre-term birth is still a tough one, but given the advances of modern science, it is a story that usually has a happy ending.  For the life of me, I cannot imagine having this baby next month *but* if it were to happen, I am relieved to think there would likely be a light at the end of the tunnel.

     So the tiny little feet pictured above are probably only slightly smaller than Junebug's right now.  I'm finally getting kicked and poked hard enough to see my belly move and to watch them displace a remote control when I set it on my belly.  *Too fun*  Jake was looking at my belly incredulously the other night and commented, "just think....there's a head in there!"  *crickets and blank look*  Let's hope that head is attached to all the other various and important body parts. A torso and some limbs are considered ideal, don't you think?  We both laughed- obviously I knew what he was getting at.  There's a living being inside my belly that we've already seen sucking it's thumb at a recent ultrasound, and who- at this point- can direct it's movements and is starting to have REM cycles.  Crazy.  Every morning when Jake's obnoxious alarm goes off, I roll over to hit it and immediately the baby is awake and kicking.  Luckily right now, Junebug doesn't have but about 1 1/2 lbs of body weight, so I can usually go back to sleep pretty quickly. (God, I'm going to miss my lazy mornings *sigh*).  

     With each little poke, kick and roll, I'm recognizing this baby as a little individual person rather than just a life-form in my uterus.  With little over 3 months of "cooking" left to go, he/she is forming the capacity to make cognitive decisions, can feel pain as any other person would feel it and respond with all five of his/her senses.  The tiny little beating heart that I hear swooshing away at my monthly appointments will some day be broken by a girlfriend or boyfriend.  *sniff*  Ok, before the floodgates open...I am simply an awe that this baby is considered viable.  It seems like just last week I sat in my bathroom holding a positive pregnancy test and the 13 week mark seemed an eternity away.  These next 13 weeks will bring me to full term.  Holy cow.  Something tells me it's going to go pretty fast...*I can only hope.*