Week 27....and a half

Running late again this week!  Naomi, you're half way through week 27.  You're growing to weigh 2 to 2.25 lbs and to be 14-15 inches long.  You sleep and wake at regular intervals (although it feels like you're always moving) and you may suck your fingers or thumb.  Your brain is very active and your lungs are maturing even more.  You can recognize different voices and can "taste" all the different foods I eat.  You can also cry now, although I hope you're not doing much of that.  If you were born this week, you'd have an 80-90% chance of survival.  But we're not ready by a long shot, so stay in another 12 weeks at least!  We love you very much.

I am out of breath, more than not.  Climbing stairs is enough to wind me.  I don't sleep well....ever.  Jared saw my legs the other night and asked who was beating me--they really are that bad.  They swell a lot, too.  Acid reflux comes and goes.  But it is nice to feel Naomi being active.  I feel turns, kicks, and pushes.  I do prefer that to not feeling it and wondering if everything is okay.

This past weekend Kathryn's Nana and Mimi joined us to watch Disney on Ice.  Kathryn was interested and watched the whole show.  She especially loved seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and the princesses.  We also traveled to Asheville to visit the Biltmore House for Christmas.  It was not as good as I was building up in my mind.  Crowded, expensive, and difficult for a six months pregnant woman to get around, never mind a two year old.  Oh, and Kathryn and Jared were both sick, so that didn't help.  But--I am glad we went, and now I'm good for another 6 or 7 years. :)

A large research study was released and published yesterday by JAMA Pediatrics.  After following more than 145,000 mothers and children for ten years, they came to the conclusion that infants whose mothers took anti-depressants, especially SSRIs, during the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, had an 87% higher risk of developing autism.  The study assured the reader that depression is a serious illness and needs to be treated, but that there are other options than antidepressants that can be tried first, during pregnancy.  Since we've dealt so much with concerns and therapy for Kathryn, I really don't want to walk down that road again.  So, after just 2 weeks I am back off my anti-depressant.  If I continue to have problems I'll give my counselor a call, and also see what kind of natural supplements are available to me.