Twenty-Three Weeks, 2 Days - The 24th Week

My Symptoms
I have a doctor's appointment this week, so I'll have to update about that. I'm still feeling good except that this past week I was hit with a nasty cold. I had a sour throat two days last week, followed by a headache for two days. All the cold symptoms (runny nose, stopped up nose, sinus pressure, watery eyes) showed up Saturday. I've actually felt a bit better today with only 2 doses of Sudafed, so I think that's a step in the right direction. I usually am not sick too long, so I hope this passes quickly. I was a little concerned about Grace yesterday. She was very quiet. I didn't feel her move during church, which she usually does. I think the music wakes her up and then I am sitting for an hour or so and can really pay attention to movement. She also wasn't moving during the drive home in the car. Thankfully, I felt her a bit after we got home and I was resting on the couch, not a lot, but enough to know she was still in there and ok! Today, on the other hand, she's made up for it. I've felt her all day long. I noticed while I was working all morning, and when I was at lunch, and then in this meeting after lunch, then while I was working in the afternoon, then in the car, then while I ate dinner, then while I've been on the computer (you get the point?). I wonder if my cold plus the medicine made yesterday a "down" day? Either way, I know she's still ok. We had a message from the furniture store on the phone tonight. I'll call tomorrow, but I'm guessing the crib and dresser are here! Yeah! I'll be excited to see when we can get it delivered. We may go and order our glider this weekend too. Mom gave me the money for it over the weekend. Soon the nursery will really look like a nursery complete with furniture! So exciting! As to things mentioned below. I'm still an innie and no stretch markes that I've seen yet. Ok here's the rest of the update.

The Baby
By this week, your baby weighs about 1.2 pounds. Its crown-to-rump length is about 8.4 inches. Your baby is filling out. Its face and body look more like that af an infant at the time of birth. Although it weighs a little over 1 pound ath this point, it is still tiny.

Rapid eye movements are beginning! The eyes open and shut frequently, and his eyebrows and eyelashes are present. This eleven-inch wonder is moving a great deal these days. Take a bath and watch your belly roll!

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are forming. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Your baby is almost completely formed, and is beginning to deposit brown fat on his or her body. The purpose of the brown fat is to retain body heat. Newborns are notoriously bad at regulating body temperature at first. This is particularly a problem for a baby born early.
Babies born at this point have some chances of survival with very special care. They will be in the Intensive Care Unit, probably for many weeks. Usually we say that you can expect them to stay in the NICU until their due date. A major problem with premature babies is lung development. If preterm labor is detected early enough a steroid shot, called Betamethasone, can sometimes be given to enhance lung development. S/he weighs in at 1 lb 5 ounces (595 grams) and 30 cms or 11.8 inches total length!

The Mom
Your uterus is now 1.5 to 2 inches above the bellybutton. It measures almost 10 inches above the pubic symphysis.

You may begin getting stretch marks and forming a linea negra (the dark line between your belly button and pubic bone). The linea negra will disappear and the stretch marks will eventually fade... wear them proudly -- they’re your badges of honor!

The top of your uterus is now an inch or so above your belly button, which means it's about the size of a soccer ball. With the skin on your abdomen and breasts stretching, you may feel a little itchy now and then. If your skin is dry, keeping it well moisturized may help. Also, your eyes may be sensitive to light and feel gritty and dry. This is a perfectly normal pregnancy symptom known as dry-eye. To ease your discomfort, use an artificial tears solution to add moisture.Most women will have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between 24 and 28 weeks. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a high-blood-sugar condition during pregnancy. Untreated, high blood sugar increases your risk for having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow overly fat, especially in his upper body. It also increases your baby's risk for complications like low blood sugar at birth. A positive result on your GCT test doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean that you should have the more involved glucose tolerance test (GTT) to find out.It's also a good idea to be aware of the signs of preterm labor. Contact your caregiver immediately if you notice an increase in vaginal discharge that is watery, mucus-like, or pink or blood-tinged; any vaginal bleeding or spotting; abdominal pain or menstrual-like cramping or more than four contractions in an hour; an increase in pelvic pressure; or low back pain that you haven't had before.

Your fundus (top of the uterus) reaches just above your navel! You are now aware of your baby's movements and may even be able to tell the sleep/wake cycles of your little one.