Week 23!

118 days to go… 57.9% of the way through! Third trimester begins in 27 days (ahhh!!!!)

The Baby:

*Time to start dancing! His sense of movement is well developed now (as well as his hearing) so I should turn up the music and start to move.
*11+ inches long, weighing about 1+ pound
*The size of a large mango
*I may be able to see him squirm under my clothes –?!?! No way!! Definitely haven’t seen that yet.
*Loud noises are becoming familiar to him (like voices and my cats meowing).. so I should probably start vacuuming! It will make him used to the sounds outside the womb.
*He’s now gaining about 6 ounces a week!! No wonder my belly seems bigger every day!
*Pigments that are giving his skin color are now being deposited
*Survival rate for babies born at 23 weeks is about 10 – 20%.. of those that survive, the rate of serious medical complications is about 90%. (I don’t know why I included this.. it’s on my iPhone iPregnancy app… but it’s sad!)

The Mom:

*Wow… it really seems like a LOT has changed in just the last week. All new symptoms.
*Leg cramps! It first happened when I was stretching after I woke up in the morning – my calf muscle tightened up. Today it happened after a lot of standing and bending (helping pack up my grandparents’ apartment).. at the top of my leg, right below the butt. Ouch! And very weird feeling.
*It is suddenly very hard to get out of bed. It’s hard to roll over, it’s hard to move, it’s hard to get up.
*Speaking of moving… it’s hard/almost painful to bend over now as well. I feel like an old lady!!
*Belly button nearly gone. Still no stretch marks.
*I think I had a Braxton-Hicks contraction.. it woke me up in the middle of the night and only lasted for a couple seconds. A lot of women never feel them, but the women that do can start feeling them at mid-pregnancy. I’m past mid–pregnancy so it makes sense.. it was quite painful. I’m thinking.. if those are the “fake” contractions and real ones are worse… I might have to rethink that epidural usage! Eek.
*Nausea is pretty much gone. I notice how much more I can eat at one time and I must say… it’s fun
*Weight gain.. normally around 15 lb at this point. I’d guess I’m at about 8 – 10 lb… we’ll see what the doctor’s office says.
*Kicking is more often, but mainly at morning or night… usually when I lay down. They’re mostly still small, soft kicks/movements, but sometimes he gets some good punches in. Or some hiccups. Steve has been able to feel them!!

The Dad:

*He’s home!!! We spent a month apart while he was finishing his job in Iowa. It was HARD. He ended up coming home a couple days early… maybe because he called me and I was crying…
*Every time Steve looks at me and catches a good angle on the belly, all he can say is, “Wow, that looks painful.” Haha.
*He’s helping me get out of bed.. rubbing my feet.. buying me milk … ohhh thank goodness he is home!

What we’re working on:

*Touring the hospitals next week.. we need to pick one!
*Creating a registry
*Meeting our new doctor!! Next appt: Monday the 24^th @ 9:30am!

Btw.. this is hilarious. Our good friends Cory and Bre got it for us at a Cubs game– love it!! Thanks guys