26 Weeks

According to www.babycenter.com, the network of nerves in Baby Helms's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both my voice and Jarrett's as we chat with each other. She is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she is born and takes that first gulp of air. She is also continuing to put on baby fat, and now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures fourteen inches (about the length of an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

She's moving around like crazy still, with most movement concentrated, it seems, in the morning and early evening hours. I feel something pushing up against the bottom of the ribs on the right-hand side of my body, but I can't figure out what body part it is -- definitely something that moves because I occasionally get a bit of a jab in the ribs. I think she might enjoy the fiddle, as she really got going to during more of a bluegrassy tune at church this past Sunday, which was pretty cool. I can deal with playing some bluegrass for my baby. That got me to thinking that she'll probably really love growing up with a dad that plays the guitar.

The air conditioning has been out at the office for two days now, which has been interesting. Yesterday I survived because I was in a meeting, and the room we were meeting in happened to be a bit cooler, and then they closed the office early. The day is starting out even warmer today, though -- it's currently about 87 degrees in my office, and it's only 9:40 a.m. It's supposed to get up to the mid-90s today in Atlanta. There is hope that the air-conditioning system will be repaired in the next hour or so, but I'm not holding my breath (then I might really pass out). I'm just hoping they don't torture us too long.

In other baby news, I met with a potential pediatrician on Monday and really, really liked her, so we're probably just going to go with her. She is the only doctor in her practice, which worried me a bit a first, but this passed after talking with her. Her hours seem rather limited (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Friday, closed Wednesday), but it all makes more sense when she tells you that she takes that Wednesday off to actually read her medical journals and catch up with the latest news in the field. Most doctors cram so many patients into their daily schedules that they never have time to do any research. All they are concerned about is what the pharmaceutical companies have to offer. She also will schedule appointments outside of her regular hours for established patients, and is available on her cell phone 24 hours a day for any emergencies. For this reason, she is planning to keep her patient base fairly low, so I'm glad I went into see her when I did. She practices functional medicine, which (per her Web site) is "an intensively science-based healthcare approach that assesses and treats underlying causes of illness through individually tailored therapies to restore health and improve function. Functional medicine emphasizes 'patient care' as much as 'disease care,' on the grounds that it is just as important to know what patient has the disease as it is to know what disease the patient has." Her approach seems like a good mix of the holistic point of view and that of traditional Western medicine (e.g., she believes in administering vaccines for those diseases that are truly debilitating, but will not give vaccinations for diseases that babies don't need to worry about, and the vaccines she does administer are done on a delayed basis). Anyway, I'm pleased with her and will probably end up going there myself, as she is a family doctor.