What Your Baby Hears
Amazingly, babies begin to respond to sound at around five months. We know from ultrasound techniques and heart-rate measurements.

When she hears a sudden noise, like a firecracker, your baby will blink and hold still for a moment. Her heart rate will decrease. She's listening. She acquires this new skill when her inner ear, or cochlea, begins to function.

Experts aren't sure if or how long your baby will remember prenatal sounds. But many parents believe that the stories or lullabies their babies heard frequently in the womb are comforting. When heard again after birth.

What are Borborygmi?
Your baby lives in a noisy environment. The sound level in the uterus can reach 70 decibels. Some people compare the sounds of the womb to those of a vacuum cleaner.

Doctors call the loud, swishing sounds of your intestines borborygmi. This month your baby will begin hearing borborygmi. Also the noise of your heart. Your tummy rumblings. And the vibrations of your voice. A full month before her birth, your baby will start making sense of these sounds, distinguishing between music, heartbeats and conversation.

First Flutters
Your baby's movements will become smoother and more coordinated this month. She may try sucking her thumb for the first time. She'll also hiccup a lot, as she practices the movements that will allow her to breathe air outside the womb.

Don't ignore the feeling of butterflies in your stomach. It may be quickening. The first time you can actually feel your baby's movements.

Growth Update
By the end of this month, your baby will pass the one-pound mark. She'll be between 10-12 inches long. Her heartbeat will be loud enough to hear with an ordinary stethoscope. Ask your doctor if you can listen for yourself.

Kate finally broke down and posed for a belly picture (you can click on the image to see a larger version).

If all goes well, this will be a regular thing, and you'll be able to watch her belly get gradually bigger by going to Images.

The latest ultrasound pics are up and on the website! Click here to see Baby Girl Marseglia's latest photo shoot.

And while you're looking, check out The Crib for updated pictures of the ongoing kitchen construction project...

This mornings ultrasound provided conclusive evidence that our first child will in fact be a little girl! (Please hold, I'm filling my cup with scotch, ok) Everything else also looked good. We have seven ultrasound pictures that will be available soon here on the blog. Stay tuned! And despite my previous feelings I found out that it didn't matter after all what the sex is. Sitting there watching her beating heart and watching her dance around in Kate's belly made me melt a little bit. Odds are she'll be running our little house really soon.

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery). • Note: Experts say every baby develops differently — even in the womb. This developmental information is designed to give you a general idea of how your baby is growing.

How your life's changing: You've made it to the halfway mark — Congratulations! The top of your uterus is at the level of your belly button now, and you've likely gained about 10 pounds. Expect to gain an average of about another pound each week from now on. (If you started your pregnancy underweight, you may need to gain a bit more; if you were overweight, perhaps a bit less.) Make sure you're getting enough iron, a mineral that's used primarily to make hemoglobin (the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen). During pregnancy, your body needs more iron for your developing baby and the placenta, and to keep up with your expanding blood volume. Iron-rich foods include lean red meat, poultry, fish, lentils and other legumes, spinach, and iron-fortified cereals.

If you haven't already signed up for a childbirth education class, you may want to look into one. Whether you're a first-timer or a pro, you can benefit from a structured class that helps prepare you for the rigors of labor and delivery. Most hospitals and birth centers offer classes, either as weekly meetings or as a single intensive, all-day session. Ask your doctor or midwife for a recommendation. At 37 weeks, you'll be considered full-term, so plan to be done with classes by then.

Don't forget -- Wednesday, January 25th is the day Marc and Katie find out the sex of the baby! Check back here between 11 and noon tomorrow for updates!

Here we are less than 48 hours away from potentially finding out what sex our first child will be and I am surprisingly calm. For the better part of the last six years I have heard from several friends and a few family members that I was going to be the guy who had four daughters and no sons. They came to this rationale by saying that I had been a bit of a jerk to the female gender far too long. That I was the first guy to make a disparaging comment about a girl’s appearance. And that I was always insensitive when I was needed most by past girlfriends and other female acquaintances. Basically god would grant me all girls to soften me up, force me to learn how to treat a female right, and to pay me pack for my previous transgressions.

Years back when I began hearing these blasphemous comments it got me thinking. Maybe they weren’t blasphemous at all. So I began to re-assess whether or not I had acted appropriately in certain instances of my life involving the ladies. And after endless nights of being unable to sleep I came up with a few individuals who I should have done a better job at treating. Therefore I decided that for myself and more importantly for some other certain individuals out there I needed to make up for the past. I’m not a bad person by nature I’ve just made some shitty decisions at some bad times.

When this realization was made I decided that besides making good on the aforementioned transgressions I also needed to change for the better. So for the past few years I have altered my ways the best I can. I have also been mending fences and repairing wounds while most people weren’t looking. In an Earl Hickey type of way I feel that I have changed this bad vibe and aura and have subsequently altered my destiny. I’m not saying I’ll have all boys, all girls, or the more common mixture of the two. I’m not even saying that any of my “fence mending” necessarily has anything directly to do with what lies ahead. I’m just saying that I’m going into this whole phase of my life with what I feel is good karma. And a sense that I have truly done my best over the years and that I will be rewarded with good, healthy children. And if I’m not, well, I feel Kate and I will be able to handle what god gives us.

NOTE: As a reminder check back right here between 11-12noon Wednesday because the results of the ultrasound will be posted.

At 15 centimeters crown to rump, and weighing eight ounces, your baby is getting big! This week, permanent teeth buds are forming behind the milk teeth buds.

Organs of reproduction are developing rapidly, getting ready to sustain future generations. The uterus is clearly visible in the female and the testes are apparent in the male fetus. If your baby is positioned just right on an ultrasound scan, the tiny penis is easily identifiable. So, if you don't wish to know the gender of your baby, ask the technician to alert you before your baby's lower body comes into view.

And as for mom, heartburn is more likely to occur as your uterus pushes up against your stomach. Because the movement of food through the digestive tract has slowed, nutrients reach the fetus more efficiently -- generally within one or two hours after meals. Hang in there. When your baby "drops," (first-time moms only), usually in the final month of pregnancy, there will be considerably less pressure on your stomach. Eating several smaller meals throughout the day can work well if you are troubled by heartburn.

Try not to eat right before bed. Sleep with your upper body slightly elevated. Antacids that contain calcium will provide heartburn relief, as well as this essential nutrient. Be sure to check with your care provider before taking medications such as Pepcid AC or Zantac.

With the help of a special stethoscope, you can now hear your baby's heartbeat. There's almost nothing more comforting or exciting than hearing your baby's heartbeat galloping along.

On days when you're worried about how your pregnancy is progressing, hearing the heartbeat lets you know that your baby's developing and growing.

For times when boredom strikes and you feel as if you'll be pregnant forever, it can be a pleasant reminder of what will come at the end of 40 weeks of waiting.

• Vernix (a white cheese-like protective material) forms on baby's skin with the lanugo (soft, lightly pigmented hair covering the body and limbs); both serving to protect your baby's skin during the months in water.

• Your placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby. Don't forget those prenatal vitamins!

• Tiny air sacs called alveoli begin to form in lungs. He'll be putting these lungs to good use in just a few months!

• Her vocal chords are formed. She goes through the motions of crying but without air she doesn't make a sound.

• Features of your baby's heart, including ventricles and chambers, should be visible during an utltrasound.

• Your baby measures about 5.59 inches (14.2cm) this week and weighs about 6.7 ounces (190gm).

Your baby is now about the size of an avocado (about 5 inches / 12.7 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighing approximately 6 ounces / 170 grams). In the next three weeks he'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, doubling his weight and adding inches to his length. The placenta, which nourishes the fetus with nutrients and oxygen and removes wastes, is growing to accommodate your baby. More than an inch thick, it now contains thousands of blood vessels that exchange nutrients and oxygen from your body to your baby's developing body.

In or out of the womb, babies are playful creatures. Yours may already have discovered his first toy — the umbilical cord — which he'll enjoy pulling and grabbing. Sometimes he may even clutch it so tight that less oxygen gets through, but don't worry — he doesn't hold onto it long enough to harm himself. The circulatory system and urinary tract are in full working order, and he's inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid.

Sometimes, when you move suddenly, you may a feel a slight pain in your sides. Ligaments on each side of your uterus and pelvic walls are stretching as your baby grows. It's normal to feel some pain, but if it continues for a few days or escalates, talk to your doctor.