Respect Life

Thank you for praying for me. Things are really starting to happen now. Hey look! My arms and legs are budding. I have an umbilical cord through which my wastes are removed, and my mommy supplies me with oxygen and nutrients. Most of my organs are beginning to develop. My lungs are starting to appear. All four heart chambers are functioning, and my blood is pumping. If you listen really close you can hear my first heartbeat! With each beat of my heart I say, “I love you God!”.

My arms and legs keep developing. They are stretching more and more. The lenses of my eyes have appeared. Look, my nostrils have formed. Someday I’ll use them to smell all the beautiful flowers God has created for us! Please keep praying for my mom, dad, and me!

So much is happening every day! My elbows have formed. Now I can bend and flex my arms. Watch out Bruce Lee! My tiny little fingers are starting to grow. I have feet with tiny notches for toes. I can’t wait until my mommy plays “This little piggy” with them! When I get bigger, I will use my feet to nudge my mommy to remind her that I am here! Thank you, God for creating me! Thank you for your prayers!

I am only a half an inch long, but remember, “A person is a person, no matter how small!” My cartilage and bones are starting to form. My tongue is beginning to develop. Someday I will use it to sing God’s praises and to tell my mom and dad, I love them. Keep me in your prayers!

This week I have almost doubled in size. I am nearly one inch long. Guess what? Most of my joints have formed. My fingerprints are already evident and no one else will ever have fingerprints exactly like mine. I can move my arms, legs, fingers and toes! I’ve discovered I can curve my fingers around things like my toes, ears, nose and my other fingers! One day I will hold on tight to my mommy’s finger! Wow! God has blessed me with a truly amazing body. Thank you for praying for me.

My tiny body contains all the organs an adult has. My kidneys are working, and my stomach is producing digestive juices. Yum! Yum! My heart has been beating for a month now. The number of muscles working in response to my nervous system has tripled since last week. My body is growing stronger as my cartilage becomes bone. Get ready Mommy and Daddy! Someday these bones and muscles will work together so you can chase me around the playground! Only God could create someone as remarkable as me! Please keep praying.

I weigh a whole half of an ounce. Since I’m gaining so much weight, I need a lot of food. I’m practicing my breathing now so my lungs will be in shape when I run and play. My fingernails and hair are developing. I bet my mom and dad are wondering what color hair I have, but that is my little secret. Please keep praying.

My eyelids have fused shut to protect my sensitive eyes. I know what color my eyes are now. I can lift my head and make funny faces by squinting and wrinkling my forehead. I can swallow too. My vocal cords are beginning to form, but I’m not ready for the opera yet! Please keep praying the Spiritual Adoption Prayer and a Hail Mary each day for my mom and dad.

I am practicing my “breathing”. When I inhale and exhale a salty fluid goes in and out of my lungs. I don’t drown though because I get oxygen in my blood through the umbilical cord, not from the air. I can’t wait until I take my very first breath of fresh air! Every day I get better at using my hands and lately I like to play with my fists! Thank you for your prayers.

I can open and close my mouth now. I’ve also discovered why God made my fingers — so I can put them in my mouth and suck on my thumb, of course! It is very comforting! Besides, it will also help me to know how to nurse after I’m born. Can’t talk anymore – – I have to go suck my thumb now. Don’t forget to keep praying for me and my mom and dad. Thank you!

[Job 10:11 – “Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh; Thou has put me together with bones and sinews.”]
It is amazing how much I am growing and developing. I am already four inches long and weigh a whopping two and a half ounces. My skin is so thin that you can see my blood vessels. Lanugo, from the Latin word meaning “down,” covers my body to protect my skin from the water. The three tiny bones in my middle ear are hardening, and my ability to hear is developing. My legs are finally longer than my arms, and my body is now bigger than my head! I can twist and turn and kick. As a matter of fact, if I kick really hard my mom might feel a little flutter. Time to get back to my water aerobics! Thank you for all your prayers!

[Psalms 138:15 my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.”]
I am four months old now. My reflexes are working great! I can suck, swallow, and blink. Fat is forming under my skin to keep me warm. I need to keep practicing my breathing so that my lungs can develop and grow. See how wonderfully God takes care of me—with the help and protection of my mom—while I’m hidden here, safe and warm. Thank You, God! Thank you, Mom! And thank you to all of you who are praying for me!

I weigh about 5 ounces and am about 5 inches long. My head use to be bigger than my stubby arms and legs, but now my arms and legs are longer in proportion to my head. I can hold my head up better now. My eyes are looking forward now, but they are still closed shut. It’s dark in here anyway, but I can perceive light. I am getting stronger each day as my skeleton, made of soft cartilage, is getting harder as it turns to bone. P9OX, here I come! Keep praying for me! Thank you!

So much is happening as I keep growing. My nervous system is maturing, especially the nerve cells in my brain that serve my five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. That means I can feel pain. (It’s a good thing I am safe in here). I can get a taste of what my mommy is eating. (More ice cream please!) I can hear sounds in the outside world. This will help me get use to the sounds I will hear after I am born, so I will be able to sleep right through them. Most of all, I hear Mom and Dad’s voices so I will know them, and feel right at home hearing them, once I am born. I like hearing my mom sing and pray the rosary for me. Please keep praying for me too.

Thank you for your prayers. They are really paying off. I am halfway to my birth date. My mom and dad can find out now, through an ultrasound, whether I am a baby boy or girl. I have a special covering over my skin to protect it from the amniotic fluid surrounding me. Without this protection, I would look as wrinkled as a raisin at birth. I have more control over my movements now, and my kicks are getting stronger! I like to wait until my mom is really still, and then I give her a big kick. It’s nice to remind her that I’m here and I’m getting my exercise! Sometimes, when there is a loud noise, I become startled and kick. Then I realize I shouldn’t be afraid because my mom is keeping me safe! Keep those prayers coming!