32

He was six weeks old yesterday, and he's finishing his 32nd gestational week today. Out here in the real world, he's doing well on his 2-liter high flow and 30 milliliters of breast milk every three hours. That's still not a dent in the supply side of things, which is yet another argument against the "trickle down" theory. The upstairs freezer is full again and in need of a defrost, and I am not sure where I am going to put it all. We are only putting 8 ounces a day into the baby, which leaves 36 ounces up for grabs. I may have to write a breast milk cookbook, start putting it on my cereal, or give it to the cats.

If he were still in the first womb, his lanugo would be falling off. If you remember from earlier posts, lanugo is the fine, downy hair that grows on the fetus to keep it warm. It is not a teen sensation latin boy band. Finn still has some of this fluffy blond down on his forehead and shoulders, but there has been less every week. I am surprised that he still has any hair on his leetle head, what with all the head holding and wee kisses that his parents give him on a daily basis.

Weight-wise, he is a little behind what he would be in the womb because he's burning a lot more calories out here in the world than he would be in the bubble. Still, at 3.64 pounds (1650 grams). he is not far off from the between 4 and 4.5 pounds one would expect of a fetus. Length wise, he's right on target at 15.75 inches at last check. He gets weighed every day and measured every Sunday.

Fortunately for us, the book says that "nearly all babies born at this age survive the challenges of premature birth." My cousin, Andrew, was born at 32 weeks and five pounds. He's doing quite well at 13 years old and very tall. At least, I think he's 13. I can never remember the ages of the boys in the family; there are too many of them. The three girl cousins are easy to remember because we are all ten years apart.

The book says that I am supposed to check on fetal movements from time to time. OK. Here goes:

Finn is still as squirmy as ever. He quite enjoys stretching his legs out, locking his knees, and making it hard for us to bend them again. Once his diaper comes off, it's all about stretching. Once he wakes up, it's all about stretching. Once he gets back into the third womb after a cuddle, it's all about stretching. He wriggles and grabs, tries to turn himself over, and lifts his head if he is especially uncomfortable or agitated. For instance, when he has a wet or messy diaper, when he is getting hungry, or if he has been on his back for too long. He grabs fingers, tubes, and bedding. He does not like having his temperature taken: it involves putting the thermometer under his arm and then holding his arm down.

He's starting to make more noise as well, not just crying, but little mewing sounds, puppy sounds, and baby dinosaur sounds, especially when we are holding him.

He's a good boy, and, well... I didn't say it. The shirt did...