Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Milestone: 24 weeks

Wow! I can't believe we made it to viability! Paul can't, either...he called me on his way home from work, sounding a little stunned. Next milestone: 28 weeks, our personal goal. We both hope this will be an amazingly fast 4 weeks. :)

How Far Along: 24 weeks today. E2 is the length of an ear of corn (over 12") and over a pound in weight.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: This gave me a slight panic attack yesterday, when, at 23w6d, our scale told me I'd gained almost 6 pounds in a week. That would NOT be good. My mind went worst case, and I found myself Googling the symptoms of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Thankfully, I had a 1:00 OB appointment yesterday. According to their scale, I'd only gain 5 pounds in TWO weeks. What the what? (And then Sierra fed me a piece of fabulous chocolate cake!) I reweighed myself this morning, and was only up a total of 16 pounds (two pounds more than last week), which is about on track for a weekly gain. I'm stumped...but I'll take it!

Maternity Clothes: Yep.

Movement: Yes! This was a great week for movement. Paul felt the baby move (FINALLY!) for the first time on Wednesday night (23w1d), and saw him move in my belly on Saturday (23w4d)! I couldn't stop grinning!

Sleep: Ugh. Not good, but in a normal sort of way. I think it's what I've read about, how our bodies change during pregnancy so that we're spending more time in REM sleep with shorter sleep cycles. Needless to say, I wake up a gazillion times a night (and pee each time, because not peeing = Braxton Hicks contractions), turn over each time, and have weird dreams.

Gender: A baby brother for Aliya and Bennett.

Symptoms: I'm finally starting to feel as good as they tell us we will in the second trimester. This past week I had less nausea (knocking on wood!!), fewer aches and pains, more energy, etc. Yay! I'm still fatigued and sleeping poorly, my skin's still a hot mess, and I'm still running really warm. I'm also waddling a bit, although I blame that partly on the sore butt I gave myself on Sunday during a fit of pruning perennials.

Cravings: None.

Belly Button In or Out: Still in, still shallow.

Freak-out of the Week: No real freak outs, other than a worry that something bad would happen before we made the 24-week mark. Turns out, Paul felt the same way. We made it, though!

Looking Forward To: Our next milestone, 28 weeks. :)

Next Appointment: Monday, March 25th for another cervical length ultrasound.

Miscellaneous: Tonight one of my oldest friends (ha ha, EJ, but I know I'm still older than you!) is having her baby boy, in the same hospital we delivered in (and will again), two doors down from the room I had the twins in, AND with one of our nurses, Nurse V, the only one we had never run into during any of our support group meeting trips to the hospital! I didn't really recognize her, and I didn't get the sense she really remembered me (or, if she did, she didn't react the way our other two nurses did), but it was good to see her anyway. She's taking good care of my friend, who will deliver (if she hasn't already!) E2's future playmate! I'm sending all my positive vibes and love her way tonight. I visited earlier and she was doing great! I can't wait to see her baby boy!

This week's appointment was good. My cervix is STILL long and closed, although shortening little by little (to be expected, according to Dr. M.). It measured 4.1 cm. Even though my belly looks sort of giant right now (Dr. M. even said, "My, you're looking very pregnant today!"), my fundal height is right on track for 24 weeks. Baby looked good...and is still a boy (not sure why Dr. M. has to check each time, but there you go). He did print me off a new picture, but it's not very good. E2 was head down and, I think, sort of facing my back, so Dr. M. had a really hard time trying to get a nice profile shot. He settled for a (not so nice) straight-on head shot, which looks kind of creepy. It went behind the others in the stack pinned to the refrigerator. :)

The belly at 24 weeks

10 comments:

  1. These updates are so wonderful to see. I'm so glad you guys were able to enjoy lots of movement from the baby. Hooray for hitting a milestone! Now onto 28 weeks!

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  2. Hooray for 24! You look great! I was a whale already at this point

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  3. I so loooove this. What a wonderful, geeky, pregnant mama you are! #readseverythingaboutpregnancy #knowsALLtechdetails #worriesmorethanany3mamas #hugshugsugshugs


    Love ya,

    Deane

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  4. Look at your belly! So glad you made it to 24 weeks. Hoping the next month flies by.

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  5. What a wonderful milestone to reach! You know I have been rooting for you and little E2 so this makes me smile very wide. I KNEW he would make it to viability so not surprised at all.
    Congratulations my friend. I know how much this meant to you because I was there too.

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  6. Wahoo 24 weeks!!! I hope time just keeps flying and baby boy just keeps growing! I'm so happy that movement is getting bigger and Paul could feel AND see it. It really is magical. I hate that you were robbed of that with the twins, but I am glad you were able to feel Bennett. Lots of love sent your way my friend!

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  7. Good job momma. Now let's see these next few months skitter on by!

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  8. So happy you have hit 24 weeks. I love reading your posts and knowing your little boy is growing and reminding you that all is well. Hope the next few months fly by for you. THinking of you!!

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  9. Congrats Sweetie!!!! Here's to making it to 38!!!

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