24 Weeks

(Click to enlarge) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- An important milestone this week: baby is now viable. In other words, he’d have a good (around 40 percent) chance of survival, with medical help, if he was born right now.
- Baby is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week.
- That puts him at just over a pound and almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn).
- He cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up.
- His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop.
- His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world.
- His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
- He is very active because he still has plenty of room to move around there.

Mom:

- Recognizing baby's pattern of movements now. He is usually more active in the late morning, anytime I’m sitting still for a while and again in the evening.
- Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. I have my test scheduled for my 29 week appointment on 7/2. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition.
- I have on and off swelling in my hands, arms, ankles and feet. It mostely occurs in my feet and ankles as the day goes on.
- A sad sad thing happened on Wednesday...my fingers EXPLODED swelled like little sausage links and I had to take my oh so pretty wedding rings off. It was a tragic event.
- My weight: 142 lbs according to the wii. Wow, 4 lbs in 1 week, I wonder if our wii is off again.

Other News:

- Progress on turning the girl room into a jungle is coming along, the room is almost all cleared out and I think I know which paint color I want.  

Wordless Wednesday

She left the suds in the bucket and the clothes hanging out on the line...

23 Weeks

(Click to enlarge) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby is now more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango).

- With his sense of movement well developed by now, baby can feel me dance and move.

- Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that his increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world.
- Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

Mom:

- I am able to see him squirm underneath my clothes now.
- Sluggish circulation in the legs — coupled with changes in blood chemistry that may cause some water retention — may result in swelling, also known as edema.

- Yep, ankles, feet and hands have started to swell a bit, especially at the end of the day or during the hotter days. My left ankle is worse right now but that’s because I slipped on Wednesday and twisted my ankle (thanks to the cleaning lady not using the “caution wet floor sign”, Ouch!

- While a certain amount of edema in your lower extremities is normal during pregnancy, excessive swelling may be a sign of a serious condition called preeclampsia. Yeah, had that last time and not planning on doing it again.

- My weight: 138 lbs at my 23 week appointment (5/21).

- Blood pressure: 116/68

- Baby’s heart rate: 158 bpm

Other News:

- We have acquired quite a few more items since last week. It’s funny how such a tiny baby needs so many big things.

Nursery Theme

Jungle Babies!

We are not going to go with tan walls (like in the picture), we already have a tan school room, hallway and bathroom and we wanted this room to stand out a little more so we are going with a light green.

We are looking to go with one of these paint colors, they probably aren't showing true to life on the computer but it gives you an idea anyway, they seem a little dull compared to what they look like in real life. I think I like Pooh Corner the best. Skipping Stones is a little too "sandy" and I think Tinker Bell is a little brighter than we wanted.

Here are the matching accessories for this set.

The “nursery” currently has purple walls with a pink kitten border going around the room (it came that way).

The house actually came with a "girl room" and a "boy room", both already painted and themed. The current "boy room" worked out perfectly because it's mostly white with one wall painted blue half way up, with a sports border going all the way around and Tim loves sports of all kinds so it worked out well. The "girl room" would have gotten changed whether we were having a girl or a boy because I don’t like the purple walls or the kitten border.

The room is currently occupied with things we haven’t done anything with yet (pictures in frames that need to be hung, pictures not in frames that never will be framed or hung, scrapbooking stuff, boxes we never unpacked and other miscellaneous items) . I have taken before pictures and will also take during and after pictures and make another post once things are more underway.

Let's Play Ball!

This is Tim's 5th year playing baseball, and this year he is #7 on the Phillies Team!

Up to bat

Pitching

Up to bat again

22 Weeks

(Click to enlarge) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby is now about 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound; he is starting to look like a miniature newborn.
- His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums.
- His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.
- Fine hair (lanugo) covers his body and he has deep wrinkles in his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in.
- Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Mom:

- May start to notice stretch marks on your abdomen as it expands to accommodate your growing baby – yep, they are there.
- The swelling in my feet and ankles hasn’t been as bad this week although I do expect it to get worse as the weather gets warmer and stays warm.
- Feeling lots of strong baby movement!
- My weight: 136 lbs according to the wii. I think we needed new batteries last time I checked it on there because my weight went down but now it’s back up.

Other News:

- Nursery plans are coming along, we have the theme picked out and we think we may have the wall color picked out also.
- We have acquired a few items already also: a bassinet, crib, mattress, bouncer seat, a play mat and some clothes.
- Also, Alex and Tim like to talk to my belly and explain what's going on around us, as if the baby has a clue what they are talking about, but it's funny anyway.

21 Weeks

(Click to enlarge) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot.
- Initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges.
- Baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Mom:

- Still hungry, I guess that’s the new normal for right now.
- Apparently I’m more prone to varicose veins now. As pregnancy progresses, there's increasing pressure on the veins in your legs; higher progesterone levels, which may cause the walls of your veins to relax, can make the problem worse.
- My feet and ankles are now swelling as the day goes on and by evening they feel like little balloons ready to pop with each step I take.
- Feeling stronger baby movement now!
- My weight: 131 lbs according to the wii.

20 Weeks

(Click to enlarge) (Above photos courtesy of http://www.babycenter.com/)

Baby:

- Baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. Around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against the torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of the head to the bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, it’s measured from head to toe.)
- He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system.
- He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Mom:

- I’ve hit the halfway mark in the pregnancy!!
- The top of the uterus is about level with the belly button.
- They say to expect to gain a pound or so each week from now on.
- Still getting lots and lots of headaches, at least 3-4 times a week. Some days I wake up with a pounding headache that just gets worse throughout the day. I am prone to migraines anyway and they say headaches are normal during the 2nd trimester. Sometimes I take Tylenol but it usually doesn’t do any good so most of the time I don’t even bother taking it.
- Lots of movement going on, and it seems to be higher up now too!
- My weight: 131 lbs according to the wii.