23 Weeks

Baby now weighs as much as a mango!

Baby's little face is fully formed...minus the baby fat, of course. The next task at hand for baby: sprouting two teeny-tiny nipples! Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's 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.

How far along? 23 weeks 2 days

Pregnancy Symptoms: I think Ryan moved off my bladder! I don't seem to pee nearly as much as before, and my bladder doesn't constantly feel full like it used to. This is just for the past 2 days, so we shall see. I don't feel kicks as much as i was a couple days ago either, they're muted again. I got the best sleep of the whole pregnancy Monday night, an entire 6 hours without a pee break. Now i remember why i loved sleeping so much. And just because i haven't mentioned it yet...when pregnant you bleed a LOT. I get a bloody nose every day, and my gums bleed super easily too. This is normal and common, just annoying.

I Wish I'd Known...: Exactly what was meant when people told me "Pregnant women pee a lot" That's a huge understatement. At least it was, hopefully that has changed now!

Best moment this week: Ryan kicking up a storm to Daddy's harmonica skills.

Worst moment this week: Rough days at work suck (but there are plenty of good days too.)
Movement: Oh my gosh, Ryan's movements have exploded! I feel him *all* the time now and Jake can too! In fact, Jake jiggled my belly really fast because the baby wasn't kicking and Ryan got MAD! He kicked right back. Ryan also seems to like dancing a lot. Jake played the harmonica the other day and Ryan immediately started dancing away! I wish he would kick on command sometimes because although I can feel him kicking off and on throughout the day, it seems like whenever anyone else wants to feel him he's still.

Food cravings: Trying to ignore them because they tell me to eat bad, bad things.

What I miss: Shoes. My feet start hurting so easily now that i don't even bother with anything other than flip-flops and tennis shoes.

What I am looking forward to: On Sunday Jake and i will celebrate our 6th Anniversary! It's crazy to think we've been together for ELEVEN years altogether. Then Tuesday is finally Ryan's viability day!

In Other News:

   Viability is generally considered to be at 24 weeks. At this point the hospital will do whatever is necessary for the baby to survive. I'm personally holding out for full-term, but it's comforting to know we've made it this far already!
Completed Weeks of Gestation at Birth       Survival
21 weeks and less                                          0%
22 weeks                                                    0-10%
23 weeks                                                   10-40%
24 weeks                                                   40-70%
25 weeks                                                   50-80%
26 weeks                                                   80-90%
27 weeks                                                    <90%
30 weeks                                                    <95%
34 weeks                                                    <98%
   Half the time the picture of the week is based on length and the other half is based on weight. Now that it specifies which, i'm updating the intro to "weighs as much as" or "is as long as". It makes comparisons a lot easier, but i don't know why they keep flip-flopping!
   I just realized Ryan will be arriving right in the middle of Fall TV Premier season. That's just not going to work for me. Please oh please let the new Tivo come out before September!
   I used Jake's ipod to play some tunes for the baby. So far his favorites are Jimmy Buffett and Neil Diamond. To be fair, though, there wasn't any Lady Gaga or Britney Spears for him to try out. I think on the way in to work tomorrow maybe we'll rock out to some Journey (from my Glee CD, of course). Apparently he's excited about this idea because he just started dancing around my tummy!

   Congrats to everyone ending their school year! I've got 2 doctors, a nurse, and a teacher in the making. I foresee this being very beneficial!