WEEK #3 Terese Cloonan

First thing that chapter 3 talks about is DNA and all the things that make a baby. I instantly thought of a baby that I watch who is currently fighting cancer. The cancer is called neuroblastoma which starts out in very early forms of nerve cells found in an embryo or fetus. The baby that I know is only 2 years old and has been fighting his cancer for a year and a couple of months now. When Beau was born his cancer cells were already in his but nobody knew because he was still growing normally. Around the age of 1 Beau began having stomach issues and finally the doctors found an 8 pound tumor in his belly. Beau has survived all of his treatments and is currently at home living the normal life of a 2 year old. We pray every day that he does not relapse. Beau is already low risk for relapse and is beating the odds. I could not help but think of Beau when first reading chapter 3.

The fertilization process starts out with a woman and her menstrual cycle.  A woman needs to ovulating so that the eggs will ripen. Once an egg is released it is passed into one of the fallopian tubes. Fertilization takes place in the first part of the fallopian tube where the sperm and the egg meet. The fertilized egg then travels and attaches itself to the uterine wall for implantation.

The stages of the prenatal period are divided into three stages. The germinal, embryonic, and fetal. The germinal period extends through the first 2 weeks. The embryonic period is cellular differentiation. The fetal period extends from the beginning of the third month to birth. It is very important for woman not to do any drugs or drink alcohol during their pregnancies.

The birth process is such a crazy thing. Normally and naturally the woman's water will break and the birth process will begin. There is no telling how long labor will be. The first stage is called the dilation stage which is the opening of the mothers cervix increasing in diameter so that the baby can pass. The second stage is the expulsion stage. The mothers contractions push the baby through the birth canal. The third stage is the afterbirth. The final stage is the delivery of the placenta the remaining umbilical cord and other membranes. There are many ways to birth a child. Some mothers do in in the comfort of their own home, while others need to have C sections. From the moment of birth until about one month the newborn baby is considered a neonate. A neonate infant has many different reflexes.

Infancy is a time of rapid physical development. Good nutrition is very important for a baby. A huge discussion is whether a baby should be bottle fed through formula, or breast fed. Many woman do not produce enough milk for the baby so they take the bottle formula fed route. Motor development is a huge deal for infants. Being able to lift their heads up and grab their toes. Further more, you have the crawling stage and then not far after the baby is walking. For the past 5 years I have watched a family of 4 children. When the youngest was born, I was his nanny for his first three years of life. I bottle fed him formula. I watched each day as his little body did something new. He was the happiest baby I had ever met, he still is. I remember the first time he rolled over, crawled and walked. I even remember his first word being light and the first time he said my name. Babies are so intelligent. Me and the baby were very attached. There were times only I could make him fall asleep, and I was not his mother. We spent everyday for endless amount of hours together.