First Alcoholic Drink By TV Compared to Computer

It appears that computer users have the edge on early drinking.

Age At First Alcoholic Drink by Family Wellness

Adolescent and Adult Mental Health Comparison

FASD is the #1 cause of mental retardation in North America.

In the past year (2007), one in eight (12.5 percent) adolescents (i.e., youths aged 12 to 17) received treatment or counseling in a specialty mental health setting for problems with behavior or emotions, 11.5 percent received services in an educational setting, and 2.8 percent received services in a general medical setting.

One in twenty (5.1 percent) adolescents received services in both a specialty mental health setting and an educational or general medical setting in the past year.

Feeling depressed was the most common reason for receiving mental health services in a specialty mental health setting (50.0 percent), a general medical setting (44.3 percent), or an educational setting (38.0 percent).

Table 1. Estimated Numbers (in 1,000s) and percentages of Adolescents Receiving Mental Health Services for Emotional or Behavioral Problems in the Past Year, by Service Setting: 2007.

Service Setting	Estimated Number (in 1,000s)	%
Specialty Mental Health (Inpatient or Outpatient)	3,113	12.5%
Outpatient	2,781	11.1%
Private Therapist, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Social Worker, or Counselor	2,362	9.4%
Mental Health Clinic or Center	579	2.3%
Partial Day Hospital or Day Treatment Program	416	1.7%
In-Home Therapist, Counselor, or Family Preservation Worker	703	2.8%
Inpatient or Residential	628	2.5%
Overnight or Longer Stay in Any Type of Hospital	510	2.0%
Overnight or Longer Stay in a Residential Treatment Center	199	0.8%
Overnight or Longer Stay in Foster Care or in a Therapeutic Foster Care Home	112	0.4%
Educational	2,862	11.5%
School Counselor, School Psychologist, or Having Regular Meetings with a Teacher	2,428	9.7%
Special Education Services While in a Regular Classroom or in a Special Classroom or Placement in a Special Program or Special School	811	3.3%
General Medical	692	2.8%
Pediatrician or Other Family Doctor	692	2.8%
Specialty Mental Health and Educational or General Medical	1,278	5.1%

In 2007, 10.9 percent of adults aged 18 or older (an estimated 24.3 million persons) experienced serious psychological distress (SPD) in the past year, and about two fifths of these (44.6 percent) received mental health services in the past year. Young adults aged 18 to 25 with SPD were less likely than their older counterparts to have received mental health services (29.4 vs. 47.2 percent among those aged 26 to 49 and 53.8 percent among those aged 50 or older). Of those receiving mental health services, an estimated 6.9 percent received all three types of services (inpatient, outpatient, and prescription medication), 43.3 percent received only outpatient services and prescription medication, and 34.6 percent received only prescription medication. Prevalence of SPD In 2007, an estimated 24.3 million adults aged 18 or older experienced SPD in the past year, representing 10.9 percent of the adult population. Past year SPD was higher among young adults aged 18 to 25 (17.9 percent) than among those aged 26 to 49 (12.2 percent) and those aged 50 or older (7.0 percent) (Figure 1). Females were more likely than males to have past year SPD (13.4 vs. 8.2 percent). Rates of past year SPD ranged from 14.0 percent among persons of two or more races to 6.4 percent among Asians (Figure 2). Figure 1. Percentages of Adults with Past Year Serious Psychological Distress, by Age Group: 2007 Figure 1 Table. Percentages of Adults with Past Year Serious Psychological Distress, by Age Group: 2007 Age Group Percent 18 to 25 17.9% 26 to 49 12.2% 50 or Older 7.0% Source: SAMHSA, 2007 NSDUH. Figure 2. Percentages of Adults with Past Year Serious Psychological Distress, by Race/Ethnicity: 2007 Figure 2 Table. Percentages of Adults with Past Year Serious Psychological Distress, by Race/Ethnicity: 2007 Race/Ethnicity Percent Two or More Races 14.0% American Indian or Alaska Native 13.7% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 11.9% White 11.3% Black or African American 10.5% Hispanic or Latino 10.2% Asian 6.4% Source: SAMHSA, 2007 NSDUH.

More Pics - An Actual 9-Month Pregnancy Feeling Not To Be Missed

To all who read this: As I was forced by my own admonition to get through every word of this particular pregnancy calendar, I actually felt like "I" was having the baby.

With 37 pics along the way, I recommend this read to every man and every woman whether there is a plan for pregnancy or if an unplanned pregnancy happens. It is truly gripping, the pinpoint accuracy at which the healthy fetus evolves.

Even though in this read I have skipped pregnancy days that dealt moreso with the mother’s discomfort or may have had a slower growth time (116 days), they are by no means any unimportant birthing days. I have accompanied graphics that I had sitting on a different burner in my computer but the words really do say it all.

After being in front of this computer for over 4 hours I was literally forced to walk away from it several times. Well, moms, I now fully appreciate that you cannot just walk away from your pregnancy.

So, a must read for everyone if not for mom, but for dad also:

1st 2 Weeks

This is actually the two week time span between your 'last normal menstrual period' (LNMP) and ovulation (or time of conception). The maturation process of the egg and the building of a new lining for the uterus take place at this time.

Day 15

Today, a single-cell organism forms from the union of your ovum, or egg, and your partner’s sperm. Over the coming months, your daughter or son will develop from this barely visible single cell called a zygote. This beginning is called conception or fertilization.

Day 17

In the last twenty-four hours, the two identical cells have undergone three or four additional cell divisions.

Day 19

An important change takes place in the cell ball. Fluid secreted by the cells passes into the center of the cell ball and divides the cells into two groups: Those on the outside will support the pregnancy, and those on the inside (called the embryonic disc) will form the baby.

Day 20

The cell ball now contains several hundred cells, some of which group together to form a bump on the inside of the wall. When the cell ball comes to rest on the surface of your uterus, the process of implantation begins.

Day 22

Once implantation is complete, the developing baby is called an embryo, from the Greek words meaning “to grow in” (en = in and bruein = to grow). Congratulations! You (actually, your body) have finally officially met your developing baby.

Day 24

Implantation is now complete and the placenta begins to function. Your embryonic baby grows rapidly. The amniotic sac, amniotic cavity, primitive umbilical cord, and yolk sac continue to develop.

Day 28

The chorionic villi are now fully formed. The amniotic sac, amniotic cavity, umbilical stalk, and yolk sac have also completed their development. The cells that will form the baby have flattened into a structure called the embryonic disc.

Day 29

The primitive streak appears (this is the forerunner of the brain and spinal cord). It is now possible to identify the head and tail sections of your baby’s body.

Day 30

The flat embryonic disc now has three distinct layers of tissue [and] all of the baby’s cells and organs will form from these three tissue layers.

Day 31

The top layer of cells, or ectoderm, compress to form a groove called the notochord, which gives rise to the vertebrae, or the bones of the spine, and the discs of tissue between those bones.

Day 32

The heart tubes are fusing together—the first step in forming a primitive version of the baby’s heart that will begin to circulate the blood cells throughout its body by the end of this week.

Day 34

Today was a big day in the development of your baby’s muscles, bones, spinal cord, and heart. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium are nutrients that directly affect the development of the baby’s heart. These elements are essential to nerve impulse conduction, heart-muscle contraction, and muscle relaxation and contraction.

Day 35

The first system to function in your developing baby is its cardiovascular system (the heart and blood vessels.)

Day 36

Between week 4 and week 8, the development of your baby’s facial features takes place.

Day 37

Right now, stem cells are migrating from the yolk sac to the back wall of the baby’s body, where they will form the reproductive tract. By the end of this month, your baby will have completed a period of growth that involves the greatest size and physical changes of its lifetime. In five days, it will be 10,000 times larger than the fertilized egg though, in actuality, not much bigger than a grain of rice!

Day 38

Within a few hours, the tiny buds that form the arms will suddenly appear. Your baby’s heart is actually beating!

Day 39

The aorta of your baby’s heart is forming. In addition, the tissue that will form your baby’s eyes is present, and a tiny depression now marks the place on either side of the head where the baby’s ear canal and inner ear will form.

Day 41

By now a tiny liver has formed. The gall bladder, stomach, intestines, pancreas, and lungs are also beginning to form.

Day 43

The arms look like flippers; leg buds are visible. The baby’s body cavity contains all the tissues needed to develop the baby’s reproductive structures, beginning with the ovaries (if your baby is a girl) or testes (if your baby is a boy). During the next six days, the baby’s brain, body, and head will undergo a period of rapid growth.

Day 44

By this time, 38 pairs of somites have formed (the somites form the bones and muscles of the head and trunk). Your baby’s brain has differentiated into the three main parts possessed by all human brains: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain.

Day 45

The hypothalamus — a structure critical to the regulating of eating, sexual behavior, and temperature—begins to form today or tomorrow. Cups are formed that will cradle the eyeballs, a primitive version of the mouth appears, and the larynx or voice box has begun to develop.

Day 47

In the next four days, the hand plates will appear (each hand plate contains the tissues that will form the hands and fingers).

Day 48

Because of the rapid brain growth that has been occurring, your baby’s head is much larger than its trunk. The nasal pits are easily seen and the muscles that control the baby’s eyes are forming. Your baby’s legs now resemble paddles.

Day 49

By now, the division between the cerebral hemispheres (two halves of your baby’s brain) is well marked. The upper and lower jaws are present.

Day 50

The cerebellum, the area of the brain that coordinates muscle movement, is beginning to develop. The elbow and wrist regions of the arm are becoming identifiable. The liver is now large enough to produce a bulge in your baby’s abdomen.

Day 51

Your baby now measures .3 to .43 inch long (8–11 mm), having doubled in length in just eight short days. Your baby is growing at a phenomenal rate.

Day 53

Tomorrow, your baby’s lower limb paddles will have developed foot plates and pigment will be present in the retina of your baby’s eye. Several small swellings, which will become the auditory canal and the grooves of the outer ear, are present on each side of baby’s head. If you cannot eliminate caffeine completely during pregnancy, at least cut back to one cup of coffee or its equivalent per day.

Day 54

The baby’s eyes look pigmented (eye color won’t be established until after birth). The baby teeth (or first teeth) are developing beneath your baby’s gums.

Day 55

Within the next two days, the hand plates will develop ridges indicating where your baby’s fingers and thumbs will be. Your baby now measures nearly 1/2-inch long (11–14 mm).

Day 56

Today, the critical period for your baby’s arm development has ended. The arms are now at their proper location and proportional size for this stage in development.

Day 57

Over the next two days, indentations will form where your baby’s knees and ankles will eventually develop. The gonads are forming in the pelvis and, over the next week or so, will become either testes or ovaries depending on the sex of your child. Baby’s eyelids are also forming.

Day 58

The baby now displays a reflex response to touch — if an object touches the baby’s head, your baby will turn away. Semicircular canals that sense balance and body position are beginning to form in your baby’s inner ear. Today marks the day when the earliest recordable brain waves will occur.

Day 60

The cells that will form your baby’s nose develop around the nasal sacs as the facial tissues fuse to form the rudimentary parts of the face. By today, the toe ridges have appeared on each foot plate. The skin on the foot plate folds down between the future toes, distinguishing each from the other.

Day 63

Over the next three days, your baby’s arms will lengthen somewhat and begin bending at the elbow. The fingers and thumb have appeared, and are short and webbed with folds of skin in between. The baby’s arms at this point are only as long as this printed 1.

Day 65

The retina of the eye is now fully pigmented. The baby’s tail is still visible, but stubby, and disappears by the end of this week. The muscles of your baby’s arms and body can already be “moved” by its brain.

Day 66

Your baby: By today or tomorrow, the external ears will be completely developed.

Day 68

The head now looks rounded and is disproportionately large, making up almost half of the baby’s length.

Day 71

Over the next four days, fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles will appear (these are all specialized parts of the top layer of skin) and your baby will assume a more upright posture. Your baby’s growth period as an embryo has just ended. From now until birth, your baby is technically called a “fetus.”

Day 72

Your baby’s head now makes up more than half of its length. For the time being, the face is broad, the eyes widely separated, the lids are closing, and the ears are low-set.

Day 76

Ossification centers are established in the skull; those in the long bones continue to develop as your baby becomes more solid. The baby’s bones and muscles are growing rapidly. The baby’s developing body begins to attain proportions more like a newborn baby.

Day 77

The skin has become thicker and less transparent. The vagina is beginning to develop in females; the penis is now distinguishable in males.

Day 80

Your baby’s brain now has the same structure it will have at birth, but it’s just a smaller size. With rare exceptions, you won’t feel your lively baby move yet. The baby’s newly formed muscles are weak, and your baby is so small that the womb has barely expanded and is still contained within the framework of your hips.

Day 81

A new reflex is present: Now when your baby’s face is touched, it will open its mouth. This is called the rooting reflex and helps babies find the food source.

Day 82

Within the next three days, the hard, bony part of the palate is completely formed and the pancreas begins to secrete insulin. In addition to occasional headaches, you may notice some dizziness and faintness.

Day 84

The muscles in the walls of the digestive tract have become functional and are beginning to practice the contractions they will make when they have food to digest.

Day 89

By today, all of your baby’s 20 baby teeth and their sockets have formed in the gums. Over the next three days, the intestines will form into folds and become lined with villi (small, fingerlike projections in the lining of the intestines that absorb certain nutrients).

Day 91

Your baby’s liver will have begun to secrete bile and the pancreas will have begun to produce insulin. By this time, you may have experienced some back pain. The chief cause is the production of relaxin, a hormone that allows your pelvis to expand to accommodate the growing uterus and encourages the joints connecting the hips to the backbone to loosen to make childbirth easier.

Day 93

Your baby practices inhaling and exhaling movements in the womb that send amniotic fluid in and out of its lungs. The presence of the fluid is essential to the proper formation of the air sacs within the lungs.

Day 95

Over the next three days, your baby’s spleen will assume functions supervised by the liver: the removal of old red blood cells and the production of antibodies.

Day 96

The bony palate, or roof of the mouth, has been complete for some weeks, the sucking muscles are filling out the cheeks, the tooth buds are present under the gums, the esophagus and windpipe are present, and the larynx, or voice box, is present. By today, the baby’s salivary glands will begin to function. Over the next three days, your baby will begin to make breathing, sucking, and swallowing motions.

Day 97

[Your] baby’s arms have almost reached their final proportions relative to body size, but the legs are still quite short. The spleen is now fully functional. During your pregnancy, your uterus will increase in weight from approximately 1 ounce (28 g) to more than 2 1/4 pounds (1.13 kg) — more than 360 times its original weight.

Day 98

This day marks the end of the third full month of pregnancy.

Day 99

During the next month, your baby will grow faster than it ever has or ever will. In addition, your growing uterus is getting big enough to press on a major blood vessel just to the right of your spine (the vena cava) when you lie on your back.

Day 101

The rapid and sustained growth experienced by the baby this month enables it to be more agile than before. For example, your baby can now turn its head, open its mouth, and press its lips together. Not bad for somebody who only weighs 1 ounce (28 g) and stands only 33?8 inches (8.5cm) tall!

Day 103

Your baby now displays more sophisticated hand and arm movements, such as making a fist, moving the thumbs, bending the wrists, and grasping. All the body movements that the baby engages in right now constitute practice.

Day 108

During this month, your baby’s body will begin to grow faster than its head. By this time, your baby’s external genitals are distinctly male or distinctly female in appearance.

Day 111

Your baby’s head now appears upright—the chin no longer seems to rest on the chest. You’ll probably feel most comfortable now that you’re in your second trimester. With any luck, morning sickness (if you had it) may be past and your energy level is likely to be up.


Day 112

Day 113

During this entire week, the baby grows rapidly, with growth setting the stage for development later this month. Your baby’s weight will increase six times during this fourth month of pregnancy. Even then, the baby will only weigh 6 ounces (168 g), not even half a pound.

Day 114

Blood travels with considerable force through the umbilical cord, giving the cord the same kind of tension as a water-filled hose. The cord resists knotting and tends to straighten itself out as your baby moves about.

Day 116

Your baby is adding to its list of reflex behaviors: blinking helps keep foreign objects out of their eyes and keeps their eyes moist, sucking and swallowing provide for the ingestion of nutrients. Right now, your baby is practicing all three of these reflex behaviors. It is also working on incorporating some additional reflexes, so that by the time it is born, the average full-term baby will display more than seventy different reflex behaviors.

Day 119

This was a week of rapid, whole-body growth for your baby. Existing structures became larger and more well-developed, but no new structures were formed. The chances are good that this week’s growth spurt for your baby also resulted in a growth spurt for you.

Day 121

By today, meconium (the early fecal waste material) will begin to accumulate in your baby’s bowel. This material is the product of cell loss, digestive secretions, and swallowed amniotic fluid and is the result of the digestive system practicing digestion while still in the womb.

Day 122

Day 123

Baby’s external ears now stand out from its head, and its eyes look forward rather than to the side.

Day 125

Over the next two days, the ears will move to their final positions. From this week on, your heart has to work 40–50 percent harder to support your pregnancy.

Day 126

Sometime during this week the process of myelinization begins. Myelinization involves coating the nerves with a fatty substance called myelin to speed nerve cell transmission and to insulate the nerves so messages are uninterrupted. The baby that has been growing so rapidly inside you now measures 5 1/2 inches (140 mm) in length, big enough for you to cradle in the palm of your hand.

Day 128

Over the next two days, lanugo (temporary downy hair) will begin to appear on your baby’s head and body. The lanugo helps hold the protective vernix on the skin, and by the time the baby is born, most of the lanugo will have disappeared.

Day 130

If your baby is a girl, miniature egg cells now exist in her ovaries. Baby girls are born with all the eggs they will ever have in their ovaries — about 2 million! By the time she is ready to have a family of her own, your daughter’s eggs will be as old as she is.

Day 136

The baby sleeps and wakes as much as a newborn does now. When your baby sleeps, it characteristically settles into its favorite position or “lie.” Some babies always sleep with their chins resting on the chest, while others tilt their heads back.

Day 139

By today, hair will have begun to form on your baby’s head. In another month, the head hair may be up to an inch long.

Day 140

The baby weighs about 11 ounces (308 g) and measures about 6 1/3 inches (160 mm) in length. Most women feel movement for the first time between weeks 17 and 20. Feeling movement helps form the attachment or emotional bond between you and your baby that will last a lifetime.

Day 142

The amniotic fluid is the perfect substance to support your baby’s movement. The baby can move in any way their brain and muscles direct: spinning, jackknifing, turning, and somersaulting.

Day 145

The umbilical cord is so well engineered that the blood stream travels at four miles an hour and completes the round-trip through the cord and through the baby in only thirty seconds.

Day 147

Right now your baby looks like a miniature newborn. Its face looks peaceful with closed eyes, nostrils, and a nicely formed mouth. Every once in a while, its thumb or finger will slip into the mouth and your baby will practice sucking.

Day 148

During this week, your baby’s brain will begin to grow rapidly. This rapid growth continues until your child is five years old.

Day 152

If your baby is a boy, by today the testes will have begun their descent from the pelvis into the scrotum. Remember that ovaries and the testes are formed from the same tissue. The same tissue that forms the external larger labia in girls comes together and fuses to form the scrotum in boys.

Day 153

Even though its eyelids are fused, the baby is now making blinking movements. The spine, ribs, and long bones of the arms and legs have hardened into bone. At this point, the skull plates that cover the forehead, temples, and top and back of the skull are present and made of cartilage.


Day 154

Day 155

The bones of the middle ear (the three smallest bones in the human body: the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup) are beginning to harden to make sound conduction possible.

Day 156

The baby will gain considerable weight within the next four weeks.

Day 161

Fine, downy lanugo covers the baby’s entire body, including the head. During the next six weeks, the baby will grow in ways that will safeguard its survival if born prematurely. Every day the baby spends growing in the womb is a day filled with developmental progress!

Day 165

Your baby continues to grow at a steady pace. More than 6 ounces (168 g) of weight will be gained during this week alone. This growth spurt helps your baby prepare for life outside your uterus.

Day 167

Sounds that are heard daily by your baby include the beating of your heart, the sound of your voice resonating as you speak, the sound of air filling your lungs and being exhaled, and the growling noises made by your stomach and intestines.

Day 171

The baby will develop a strong grip during this month—far more powerful than that of the infant soon after birth.

Day 174

The baby’s nostrils (which until now have been plugged) begin to open. By today, blood vessels will have developed in the lungs. After birth, these vessels will allow blood to flow through the lungs to intercept oxygen and circulate it to your baby’s tissues.

Day 175

During this month, the buds for your baby’s permanent teeth will come in, high in the gums behind the baby teeth. The baby’s spine will be made up of 33 rings, 150 joints, and 1,000 ligaments, all of which are used to support the body’s weight. All of those structures will begin to form during this month.

Day 179

Over the next four days, brain wave activity will begin for your baby’s visual and auditory systems. The sensory systems are developing the kind of connections with the brain that will be useful for interpreting input after birth. While the presence of brain wave activity indicates that your baby’s eyes have encountered a light source or that your baby’s ears have intercepted a sound message, no comprehension is possible yet.

Day 182

At this point, [your baby] has completed two-thirds of its stay in your womb. In the next three months, the baby will be progressively able to survive without such an intimate attachment.

Day 183

Today is a very significant day: Your baby’s lungs are now capable of breathing air. Now that your baby can breathe air, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Day 185

Your baby’s lungs continue their rapid growth. You will need about an extra 300 calories per day now, as you enter the last three months of your pregnancy. This week marks the beginning of your third — and last — trimester of pregnancy.

Day 187

By this time, your baby’s brain wave patterns are similar to those of a full-term baby at birth. Activity is beginning in the portions of the brain that process visual and auditory information.

Day 191

Day 193

In the next day or so, your baby’s eyes will be completely formed and lashes are forming.

Day 194

The baby’s sucking and swallowing skills are improving. During pregnancy, a number of conditions can cause fainting: particularly hot weather, sudden changes in posture, standing for long periods of time, fatigue or excitement, stuffy rooms, and crowds.

Day 195

By today or tomorrow, eyelashes are present on your baby’s eyelids. At birth, a major valve must close inside the baby’s heart to keep the used blood and the fresh, oxygenated blood separated.


Day 196

Day 198

The baby’s brain can now direct rhythmic breathing and control body temperature. This means that if your baby is born now, its brain can usually stimulate it to breathe and sustain that activity without medical intervention. It also means that the baby’s body can help regulate its own temperature, taking steps to cool down when too warm or warm up when too cold.

Day 200

Over the next three days or so, your baby’s skin will become smoother and less wrinkled as more fat is deposited underneath its surface. Contact your practitioner immediately if you experience severe headaches, blurry vision, sudden weight gain, or severe swelling in the hands, feet, ankles, or face. These symptoms can indicate high blood pressure, which can be dangerous for both you and your baby.

Day 201

Your baby’s body is preparing to see you, hear your voice, recognize you by your distinctive smell, and taste the liquid nutrition you will provide. Your baby’s birth is not very far away. Each square inch of the baby’s skin will ultimately contain 700 sweat glands, 100 oil-bearing glands, and 21,000 cells sensitive to heat.

Day 204

Within the next three days, your baby’s brain begins to take on a wrinkled appearance because of its rapid growth. The wrinkles are called convolutions. A convoluted brain contains more brain cells than a smooth, nonconvoluted brain and is potentially more powerful.

Day 205

Your baby will put on more than 1 pound (448 g) during this month. By the end of this week, baby’s crown-to-rump length will be about 11 inches (28 cm) — almost the size of a standard ruler.

Day 206

By this time, red blood cell production by the spleen ends and is entirely taken over by the bone marrow.

Day 208

The process of myelinization begins to speed nerve cell transmission. Myelin is a fatty substance that coats the outside of nerve cells and makes nerve cell transmission faster, easier, and more efficient.

Day 210

Your baby’s toenails may be visible, and a good head of hair is often present by this point. When this day ends, you will have been pregnant for seven complete months.

Day 213

If your baby is born now, it may have a callous on its thumb from sucking it in the womb.

Day 216

The baby’s brain is still developing rapidly, increasing the number of interconnections between individual nerve cells and identifying groups of cells that will perform complicated functions throughout your baby’s lifetime.

Day 218

At this point your baby can register information from all five of its senses.

Day 224

Because of the rapid brain growth of the last few weeks, the circumference of your baby’s head has increased by about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm). The developing brain pushes outward on the skull, but it also folds in upon itself to create more of the convolutions mentioned earlier.

Day 225

As you begin [this week], your baby is continuing to grow at an amazing rate. Right now it measures around a foot long (305 mm) and weighs about 3 – 3 3/4 pounds (1,700 g—the weight equivalent of 7 cups of water).

Day 228

Sometimes babies at this stage practice sucking by sucking their thumbs or fingers. Although you may be quite tired, you still may have difficulty sleeping because of backache, baby movement, feeling too hot, headaches, leg cramps, or trouble finding a comfortable position.

Day 231

At the close of this week of pregnancy, the circumference, or distance around, your baby’s head has increased by about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) due to its rapid brain growth.

Day 233

Your baby’s eyes will open during the alert times of its daily cycle, and close when it sleeps. The eyes are usually blue at this time, regardless of the final color they will become, because the pigmentation that colors the eye is not fully developed. Final formation of eye pigmentation generally requires a few weeks’ exposure to light.

Day 235

At birth, the baby’s umbilical cord is closed naturally by a special jellylike substance that surrounds the vessels of the cord throughout pregnancy. Some naturally occurring hormones in the jelly also help to prevent bleeding. The surface of the umbilical cord contains no pain receptors, so cutting the cord at birth is not painful for the baby or you in any way.

Day 239

Right now, your baby weighs at least 4 1/2 pounds (2,100 g) and measures almost 12 inches (300 mm) crown to rump.

Day 241

The baby might “drop” (settle down into your pelvis) before labor begins, but not all babies drop prior to the onset of labor. If the baby drops (this is also called settling or lightening), you will begin to notice a decrease in lap space when seated, a sudden ease of breathing, more stomach capacity (since the load has shifted down), more pelvic pressure, and more frequent urination, maybe even slight incontinence (difficulty holding your urine).

Day 244

By this time, your baby’s skin looks pink and smooth because underlying deposits of fat have masked some of the redness of the capillaries. You may notice stronger and more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions, some of which may even be painful. This is normal.

Day 251

Within the next day or so, the percentage of white fat in your baby’s body will have increased to 8 percent.


Day 252

Day 253

Eighty-eight percent of babies are born within two weeks of their expected dates of delivery (EDD), either early or late. You and your baby are two weeks from that time frame now.

Day 254

Fetal blood flows through two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein. During late pregnancy, a soft blowing sound called “funic souffle” can be heard over the location of your baby’s umbilical cord. Bright red discharge or persistent spotting should be reported to your practitioner immediately.

Day 256

Your baby will now automatically turn toward a source of light. This is called the “orienting response” and permits your baby to practice being more aware of its environment.

Day 260

Your baby’s intestines are accumulating considerable meconium, a dark green mass of used cells and waste product from the baby’s liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. False Labor vs. True Labor: With Braxton-Hicks, or false labor, contractions, the pain begins in your lower abdomen. The contractions that accompany true labor begin in your lower back and the pain spreads to your lower abdomen.

Day 265

If your baby is a girl, over the last three or so days the larger, external labia or lips have formed over the smaller covered labia. Frequent urination can help labor progress: A full bladder will push against the uterus, causing discomfort.

Day 267

Contrary to popular understanding, human gestation actually requires nine and a half lunar months, not nine. These last two weeks are part of that additional period.

Day 268

Over the next couple of days, your baby’s lungs will begin to increase their production of a surfactant, which will keep the air sacs in the lungs open. Your uterus is highly muscular and weighs 2 1/2 pounds (1,134 g) now that the baby is fully developed. During a contraction, the uterus feels hard to the touch.

Day 271

There are many reasons why you might have more difficulty sleeping from now on. The baby may be much more active, you may be experiencing periodic contractions, and you’re probably anxious and anticipating the birth. All of this is very predictable and common.

Day 272

The average length of a newborn’s umbilical cord is 2 feet (610 mm), but the cord can vary from 5 inches (127 mm) to more than 4 feet (1,219 mm) long.

Day 275

Don’t worry if your baby’s head becomes molded or elongated during the birth process. It will return to its normal, rounded shape a few days after childbirth. The molding is a safety precaution—the bones of the skull carefully slide over one another to reduce the skull’s diameter, so the pressure of the contractions and tight fit through the mother’s pelvis doesn’t damage the baby’s brain.

Day 276

Over the next three days, your baby’s chest will become more prominent. The breasts of both boy and girl babies may protrude because of the estrogen transferred from the mother’s system. A kick from the womb during this stage of pregnancy can almost knock a book off your lap!

Day 278

The first breaths your baby takes are the hardest. It has been calculated that the first breathing-in requires five times the effort of an ordinary breath, because fluid must be pushed out of the lungs before the air drawn in can expand the thousands of tiny uninflated air sacs in the lungs. It is an effort that can be compared to clearing a snorkel tube that has gotten water in it.

Day 280               HORRAY!!!  YOU MADE IT

                               WITHOUT DRINKING!!!

Is FASD Lead By Canada’s MLA’s, Re: Pumped Up Liquor Stores

Well not all MLA’s. There are a group who take the issue with urgency and just because of the name of any party, what needs to rise above the divisions of our parties is the coalition against our greatest birth problem: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). I must revert to my blog entitled: FASD Letter From Canada's Liberal Health Critic. I have had the pleasure of meeting Hon. Dr. Hedy Fry P.C., M.P. and I love her for her attentive, constant effort to bring a light to our House of Commons members regarding what I call, “the Great Problem.”

I walked into a liquor store in Richmond Centre, BC, and was amazed at what I saw. Let me tell you how this BC Liquor Store branch sells their alcoholic beverages:

How Spirits are Sold:

Over the “Spirit” section (Whiskey, Scotch, Vodka) I see “Get Into The Spirit,” written in neon letters 15-feet long and 18-inches high.

Prepared by distillation from fermented substances such as fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar cane, cactus juice, etc., containing at least 40% pleasure - the highest buzz for men and within the tempting grasp of pregnant women since "only a splash will do."

How Wine is Sold:

Over the wine section I see “A Get Away,” written in neon letters 13-feet long and 18-inches high.

Crushed grapes from the hotspots of the world fermented with cultured yeasts and sugars before racking, fining, filtering aging to a range of alcoholic percentages and bottled smartly for the taste buds of pregnant connoisseurs.

How Wine Coolers are Sold:

Over the cooler section I see, “Refreshments,” written in neon letters 15-feet long and 18-inches high.

Pre-chilled ingredients using a malt type of alcohol, filtering it until there's little taste left and then flavoring it heavily with sugar and juice to create a similar flavor to the perfect  gut-rot wine cooler especially made for poor alcoholics and pregnant friends and then of course high end coolers for women in general when “spirits” are "a little too much."

How Beers of the World are Sold:

Over the beer section I see, “Good Times,” written in neon letters 11-feet long and 18-inches high.

The worst of the worst for the cheap drunks and the group partiers through steeping cereal grains in water and then fermenting them with yeast creating frothy, sometime gut-rot beers at 8% for poor drunks and pregnant friends.

“Get Into The Spirit,” “A Get Away,” “Refreshments,” “Good Times,” all designed to allure and tempt experimentation and also to sell, sell, sell. How can our Canadian Government use these slick, sick ploys to engeander greater sales and then throw national ads on TV’s telling us to drink responsibly?

Wake up government of Canada. You play a great role in the FASD crisis our country faces. Maybe the greatest role because if you go to a government liquor store, all the pleasure is cheaper. Who’s pushing the booze and then hiding regret with “drink safe” ads? Our government. (Except the few.)

The vulnerable are being sucked in and once inside the feeling is soooo good. You know you are doing it. My question is, “Why?”

My proposal is to hike up those prices like the cold beer and wine stores and start spending money on FASD commercials. These are the ones that will reduce our number one cause of, as Dr Fry knows as, “mental retardation.”

My final words to the fetus: OK, the hunger strike failed as it was destined to do. I didn't mind though. I felt you then. When I was alone in front of the TV and tears came out. I felt you then. When I walked into that liquor store. I felt you then. Without the smarts and the resources, I apologize. And as I end this letter, I feel you now. I promise - others feel you too. Don't give up.

Hunger Strike Over - Find Out the Privy

It has been over 5 weeks that I have starved myself. It was only at week 4 that I finally inquired about a hunger strike via Internet. I found out hunger strikes, generally do not work. But what good did it to for me...

Well, first it taught me humility. I can only suppose that by striking I was making some meaningful statement when in reality most people probaby thought I was nuts. I thought I was going to be heard.

I only really learned personal things. I learned what it feels like to be hungry for a long time (a short time for African, Ethiopian, and other permanently starved children and dying parents from many REAL starving countries), that hunger is a very harsh, harsh reality. Yes, there are days you can lie in bed energyless, unwilling to care about important things and completely forget about hunger. That is real.

And I learned there are days where you feel like you could eat a large pizza, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other foods you might dream of whereupon you feel sick after eating too much of them. Bloated and full, yet unsatified from the guilt of selfish indulgence. It's true. There is nothing satisfying about that at all. I did it. I should know.

And then I blog to people who could care a less. When I thought people DID care, it was only I who really cared, thinking I was making some kind of meaningful statement. Then at the end, to find out, no one cared. Hunger strikes are useless and at the final realization, people are more likely to think you are crazy, not making much of a meaningful statement at all. And for all who are are on my friends list, I recieved nothing in the form of compliment or encouragement.

So what good came of it?

Well I'm hoping people will know that I took a measure of some kind of purpose. Maybe ending the strike I will get that because I did suffer at times. I'm only hoping that people will realize that I did at least something uncomfortable for my cause with FASD. Maybe that I was willing, even in my own mind, that I was making a statement. Well, I think I got the statement. It was mostly, "OK, we'll let you starve - period."

A different good thing that did happen: Even in my strike where I would eat every 3rd day or so, the truly hungry in the world never have had a bucket of chicken that make them sick after gorfing it down. I learned that rice is the best of the worst ways to pig out. Rice with small mixed vegetables mixed in. I think the profound moment came when I could barely get out of bed and that I could not wake up in the morning. I couldn't or wouldn't bother to even move my legs. And yet work to do.

Thanks for following me, not critisizing me, not dissing me or not leaving me. (Actually a couple people did leave.)

I'm back to where I should be but with a much better realization of the hungry in the world. I would more now than ever recommend those info-mercials on TV. I would go towards Save the Children and Unicef. Even the Red Cross and the Army. Unfortunately, I would suggest staying away from the Salvation Army. Sure they serve food - donated food and whatever they get, you get. Other orgs do more. Go to the others first.

Last word. When a drinking mom goes on a binge, she is literally putting the fetus in a comatose state with no food, or bad food. At 50, I've seen a lot in my life and even I admit I've had my own binges whereby bread and butter was the only thing available because the beer money always came first. A starved fetus is an under-developed fetus in a world where the #1 cause of mental retardation is an FASD child.

Peace and bless those little, tiny souls.