24 Week Bumpdate!

24 Weeks, 3 Days 

There it is! 24 Weeks! I remember when I used to say "I can't wait to look pregnant"....well, now I'm saying "I look pregnant enough. I don't want to get any bigger". 

Size of Baby: Approximately 12.5 inches long and weighs about 1.25 pounds. He is the length of an ear of corn this week! 

Symptoms: 

• Weeeeiiirrrd dreams. Very vivid and nearly every night. Definitely not going to miss those.
• Pregnancy Brain...Yes. It's real. Forget what I'm doing nearly every second of the day. 
• Back aches.
• Still some slight nausea. I had tried to stop taking the meds the doctor gave me to help, but it still appears to be lingering and I think I may need to continue taking them. 

Cravings: Most of my cravings have been pretty normal...apples and watermelon this week mainly. Oh, and ice cream! I did have a weird craving early this week, though...Orange Sherbet and BBQ Potato chips. I didn't want to dip the chips in the ice cream or anything, but I wanted to eat them together. Luckily, it wasn't a super strong craving and it passed :) Whew. That was close. 

Something I Miss: Easily bending over to put on my shoes and easily getting up off the couch. Both are getting harder every day and my tummy isn't even that big yet! :/ Overall, I just miss my body. The way I have always known it be....someday maybe it will be somewhat similar again, but I have heard you never completely get your body back. 

Milestones: 

• Baby's lungs are beginning to develop and are starting to move amniotic fluid in and out in practice for breathing
• Baby's senses continue to develop and he can now likely tell up from down
• My uterus is now roughly the size of a soccer ball!! And about 2 inches above my belly button. Yikes! I was reading on Baby Center this week that by the time baby is born, my uterus will weigh right around 1 pound and it will likely take up to 6 months for it to return to only a few ounces (right back to normal). 
• Continuing to add to Christian's wardrobe :) I can't help myself! I keep getting emails from Carter's with baby sales and seem to order an out fit or two here and there. Plus, Target had a baby sale this week and I caved...Trying not to overindulge :) 

Looking Forward To: 

• Final touches. Baby room is pretty much done but can't wait for the letters spelling "Christian" to get here so I can put them up! :) Then the nursery is D.O.N.E.! :) 
• Getting everything checked off my to-do list...hopefully by the beginning of March it will all be done! Minus shampooing the carpets...I'm waiting for some warmer weather for doing that so I can open windows to help with the drying. 
• My Baby Shower in March! Less than 2 months 
• Possibly taking Maternity photos...soonish? 
• Holding Christian :) 

Doctor Update: 

• I passed my Glucose Tolerance Test! Between 24-28 weeks, pregnant women have to take a 1 hour glucose test to determine if they might be developing Gestational Diabetes during their pregnancy. The test involves drinking an orange drink and then having a blood test done exactly one hour later. My doctor appointment was on Wednesday morning. We got there just before 9am and I went and got my drink. It tastes almost like orange Hi-C that you get from McDonald's with your Happy Meal...but MUCH sweeter. The first few sips were okay but then it started to taste really thick and sweet. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but you have to drink the whole thing in 5 minutes. I finished with 30 seconds to spare. Then you go about the rest of your appointment while waiting for a timer to go off for 60 minutes later when you go get your blood drawn. As easy as that. I didn't have to fast or anything before the appointment but did schedule it for first thing in the morning so I had technically been fasting and didn't have breakfast before the appointment. And the day before I was sure to really limit my sugars. I got my results back the next day and I wasn't even close to failing. What a relief! 
• I'm continuing to measure right on! Which means baby is growing as he should be :) But the doctor couldn't quite tell yet if he is head down. I have felt him move on both sides of my tummy at the same time, so something tells me he might be sideways...plus, haven't gotten any kicks in the ribs yet ;)
• Low-lying placenta - Originally we were supposed to go for another ultrasound at 28 weeks to check to make sure my placenta has moved up and we are good to go for vaginal birth. At my appointment this month, my doctor suggested we wait until 32 weeks instead. He said if the placenta is low-lying, it usually moves up between 28 and 32 weeks so he suggested we wait until 32 weeks so if at 28 weeks it hasn't moved up, we don't have to have yet another ultrasound. I had always thought I would want as many ultrasounds as they would give me so that I could see baby lots! But after my first medical ultrasound and having to drink so much fluid before hand, the ultrasound was very uncomfortable, and let's be honest, I almost peed my pants just walking into the clinic. So I am more than happy to wait until 32 weeks :) 
• Apparently I am doing perfectly fine on my weight gain...despite my feeling otherwise. Can't wait to have this baby and lose weight! 

Funny Story of the Week: My blood type is O-. Apparently if mom's blood type is negative, baby's blood could end up not mixing well with mom's during delivery. However, the way the doctor explained it, this is more of a problem with a second pregnancy than a first. In order to help prevent this, I had to get a shot of rhogham at my appointment this week. I had just finished having my blood drawn and was just in a tank top without my sweater on. When I went to put my sweater back on, I realized I probably should keep it off for my shot and commented about this to the nurse. The nurse then replied, "Actually, this shot goes in your cheek." I gave her a funny look and said, "Really?" I was thinking that if it were something that is given in your cheek that they would do some sort of a swab or liquid instead of a shot. I then noticed the bandaid she had sitting out and ready and asked, "So I'm going to have to have a bandaid on my face??" All the while I was thinking to myself, "Maybe this shot is optional...I don't want it any more!!" Then the nurse replied, "Nope. It's going in your butt cheek." Ha! Relief filled me. Although, I had never had a shot in my butt either....But much less scary non the less. All in all, the shot was a success :)