Week 31

Anna Marie Smith is continuing to grow each week. Her crown-to-rump length is nearly 11.2 inches and her total length is approximately 18 inches. She weighs approximately 3.5 pounds at this point.

Anna can turn her head from side to side. She is getting very active as she is moving constantly, kicking and punching very frequently.

This week marks an incredible milestone in Anna’s lung development. Before now, the air sacs and branches in her lungs were present but not functional. The lungs were not able to inflate properly. However, now there is surfactant being produced in her lungs. Surfactant prevents her lungs from collapsing outside of the uterus and the baby is able to take in air and breathe properly. The fetal ear is almost completely developed both inside and out. She can hear your voice and other familiar sounds that she will recognize after birth. She is putting on white fat under the skin and the skin's color is pink instead of red at this point. Her fingernails have grown to the end of her fingers and she may scratch herself while she is in the womb.

Laura has now been taking insulin for about a week. Her numbers have gone down to better than what they were but they still aren’t ideal. But we believe that God has everything under control and that he will be with Laura and Anna during this time.

I have enjoyed the past few weeks, being able to “talk” to my daughter. It is so awesome when I talk to Laura’s stomach and then after about 30 seconds, little Anna starts kicking/punching about where I am talking. I am so excited about being a dad. When we first found out we were pregnant, everyone would ask me if I wanted a boy or girl. I would always say that I didn’t care as long as he or she was healthy. But now that I know we are having a girl, I am so happy. She is going to be as beautiful as her mother. She is going to have a lot of women to look up to: The world’s Greatest Mom, two wonderful grandmothers, three awesome aunts, two great-grandmothers, and many aunts and cousins on Laura and my side both.