Morning antics..

Try rationalizing with a 2 1/2 year old why a pregnant butt of 23 1/2 weeks cannot feasibly fit on a ride on toy suited for a toddler...good morning fun! Yes, Greyson wants me to "race" him on a ride on toy of his choice, all which didn't really fit me when I wasn't pregnant, but with this newly acquired figure, it sure as heck isn't going to fit me now!

Pumkin on the other hand has become increasing noticeably active. Sure he/she has been moving like crazy for awhile now, but now I can feel it in a noticeably regular pattern. Favorite times of activity are at about 8pm at night and then again when I lay down to go to sleep. If Greyson wakes up in the middle of the night or I get out of bed to hit the restroom, then I lay back down I also feel an active baby. Pumkin must be disturbed by this too. I just love feeling it. The real kicks, not the tickly movements. Brian hasn't tried to feel it yet, but he isn't really patient enough to feel it yet.

24 weeks... what's happening inside

Week Twenty Four: Practices breathing

You are 24 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 22 weeks)

• The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week.
• Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long.
• Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long.
• The eyelids can be seen very clearly.
• If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive.

Your baby is producing surfactant. This is stuff that keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs.

Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste.

Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

After this week your baby is officially considered viable. 36% of babies can survive premature birth at 24 weeks - However, serious complications are still possible. Baby now weighs about 1.3 pound (600gm) and is around 12 inches (30cm) long.

23 weeks...what's happening inside

Week Twenty Three: Sense of balance develops

You are 23 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 21 weeks)

• He or she measures over 28cm and weighs up to 550 grams.
• The baby is over 11 inches tall, weighs about a pound.
• The eyebrows are visible.
• The child can successfully suck.

Bones located in the middle ear harden.Your baby does a regular 'workout' inside your womb. He or she turns from side to side and head over heels. Thanks to a fully developed inner ear, which controls balance, your baby may have a sense of whether he or she is upside-down or right side up in the womb.

Skin pigment is now forming. The fetus is now proportioned like a newborn except it is a thinner version of a newborn baby since its baby fat has not developed much yet. The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. Baby has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.

If born now, your baby would have a 20% chance of survival, the odds going up with each passing day. By this week, your baby weighs a little over 1 pound (500g). Its crown to heel length is 11 inches (28cm).

Dr Appt....22 weeks

Had my 22 week appointment today. Found out that baby pumkin is perfect, so despite the disappointing ultrasound, he/she is perfect. "No fetal abnormalities indicated" is a beautiful sentence.

On another good note, blood draw one for fifth's disease....negative. Yes, I have to do another, hence the name blood draw one, but that will be in another 2 weeks, so although not completely out of the woods, getting closer.

Of course, it wouldn't be possible to time it so that I could do the nasty glucola screen at the same time, instead, I get to be a human pin cushion...yee ha. Oh well, what mommy's do for their babies...we all know it.

Heart beat was right at 150 today. My weight, blood pressure and everything looks great. All is well and good on the baby front! In fact baby is moving like crazy lately. Loving it!

New belly pic...

So here is the latest belly pic. Definitely have one now. Not just bloat, not just fluff, full fledge baby belly. This is pumkin at 22 weeks. Be sure you vote on the latest poll...

I just had dinner and baby must have enjoyed it, pumkin is kicking up a storm and I am just basking in the joy of feeling it all.

One more thing to worry about...

So Greyson has been sick. Icky nasty sick since Thursday (didn't know this till Saturday). Of course, it happens over the weekend when the dr's are closed. So we got in today, he is feeling better of course. But he was diagnosed with "fifth disease" which to him means nothing. It is just a minor virus that causes a rash. However, now I had to get a blood draw today and most likely again in another 4 weeks due to the possible risks to Pumkin...darn germs!

More Belly Pic Fun....A comparison for you gender hounds

Here are some side by sides of how Greyson was carried and now how Pumkin is riding. Greyson's belly is on the left, Pumkin on the right.

14 weeks for Greyson, 13 weeks for Pumkin:

Then, Greyson at 20 weeks and pumkin at 18 weeks

Belly pic time...

So I have been promising belly pics...and I have actually been taking them, but haven't gotten to posting them yet. So if I can figure it out, I am going to post a few on here in sequence so you can see how pumkin is growing!

Here is pumkin:

At 13 weeks ( left) 18 weeks (middle) and then At 15 weeks (right)...reference these for the new poll!

More U/S reckenoings

So I forgot to mention some of the u/s info...product of blogging when tired. I have been convinced that something is weird with this baby, in comparison to Greyson when it comes to movement. This baby just seems lazy. It appears the position has something to do with it, although all of the owt say that females are less active than males in the womb.

The tech told me that at this point, the baby is breech. Exact positioning being, head on right side, back across the belly and then has his/her feet curled up or more accurately hanging down into my girl parts. This explains my feeling that this baby just feels low. Pumkin's feet are just sitting on or sometimes tapping on my bladder and cervix. This also explain how the majority of movement I feel is tickly stuff...Pumkin's hands and only the kicking down real low.

The baby is definitely mine, it spent the entire u/s with it's hand over it's face, which is very often how I sleep, which is what Pumkin was doing as we interrupted the nap.

Ultrasound Info...

Well, despite this little one being very uncooperative during the ultrasound, it was still amazing to see the little pumkin in there. Unfortunately, the techs don't really tell you anything. They are not supposed to. So next Friday, I will hear from Dr. J that all is well.

The little one spent the entire ultrasound with his/her hand over it's face. The tech was trying to get a picture and instead of the 5 we left with of Greyson, which were 5x7's (profile, face, waving, feet, etc.) we got 1 3x4 that really doesn't look like much.

It was really hard to see much. I could tell that the , spine looked good, other than that I couldn't tell much. She also showed us the gender, but didn't tell us, and didn't confirm our guesses. Again, it was hard to tell anything. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with whole thing. We didn't get our normal tech, had to drive to the hospital instead of our comfortable clinic, and then the baby just wasn't into being photographed...

Oh well, 19 more weeks and we will have a little one to love...

Week 21 Baby Development

You are 21 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 19 weeks)

Length is now measured crown to heel.
The fetus has grown to 10.5 inches (27 cm) - 12.7 ounces (360 grams).
It is now gaining weight steadily, with fat being added to the body.
Bone marrow has started making blood cells.

Their small intestine is starting to absorb sugars.Your baby's bone marrow has started making blood cells, a job done by the liver and spleen until this point. The placenta has provided nearly all of your baby's nourishment, now your baby will begin to absorb small amounts of sugar from swallowed amniotic fluid.

Based on the size of baby's head, which is about 2 inches (5cm), the date of birth can be determined to within one week. The fetus is steadily gaining fat and has grown a whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance to protect skin in amniotic fluid and to ease delivery.

In girls, the vagina is formed and the ovaries already contain over six million eggs which will be reduced to about 400 by the time of puberty. For boys, the testes begin to descend from the abdomen this week. (Boys don't produce sperm until puberty).

The baby can hear and recognize the mother's voice, and may respond to some types of music.

Pumpkin likes...

Mexican food, coke floats, and chinese.

A baby after my own heart...well at least with some of my food preferences. I noticed a lot of movement in response to eating these items while on vacation. The Mexican I think is the favorite of the list. It was that night, Tuesday, March 3rd, when I felt the first very distinguishable kick from the inside and out!