Week 23-24 update

I am so far behind with my updates! I often think that I will go home from work and write away but my couch & comfy blanket win. I love naps right now!


We have had an uneventful two weeks! Thank God!

Wanna recap?
Mother’s Day; Beautiful day but there are always people who really just don’t know what to say. More times than I could count, people ( who knew of our daughters) said, “ Happy Mother’s Day TO BE”. I just had to thank God for the grace to simply smile & say thank you. I really wanted to say, “TO BE”???, where have you been? I’ve BEEN a mother since 2007. This really made me question WHAT IS A MOTHER? Are you a mother only if you have living children? Certainly not! I came to the realization that everyone may not view me as a four, I’m JUST an expectant woman/mother. No matter the thoughts of others, I know that I am a mother and that’s all that matters. I said happy Mothers day to my friends who have ever had a + HPT, those who have had one or multiple losses, those with no living children, those with empty arms but full hearts and those with children. Those are the mothers that I recognized!

I had my gestational diabetes test last week . It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but nothing that I’d really WANT again The glucose drink was a tropical flavor, which made drinking it a little easier. I had my labs checked one hour post drinking and still felt fine. By mid afternoon, I just wanted to go home and “get rid” of that tropical junk by any means ( or end) necessary. :0) The office was to call me back ONLY if my lab work was abnormal….It’s been over week and no call!!! YAY

I had my 2 week follow up with Dr. G on Thursday. There was a different ultrasound tech that scanned us. She remembered me from an U/s with Madison. She is known for getting the sweetest 4D pictures…until that day! She was so chatty and wanted to know all about Ethan, my cerclage and everything. She was anxious to scan him, so much so that she opted to check my cervix last. Ethan was laying face down and had absolutely no intentions of looking at her. She tried everything that she knew to get him to roll over so that she could get a good shot of his face. He was awake but perfectly content with showing us his butt & his feet only. She managed to get a few side profile pics but you still can’t see much in those because his hands are in front of his face, cupped together as if he is praying that she’d leave him alone. :0) After 30 minutes of noncompliance, the tech finally surrendered and declared Ethan the winner of THIS round. He weighed 1.3 pounds as of Thursday and everything was perfect.

We were informed that Dr. G was off & we’d be seen by his partner. No one bothered to say that he was such a handsome OB!!! He was great and did a thorough review of my history and the ultrasound findings. He said, “ there are ppl with an average cervix of about 2.5-2.8, above average is about 3, and then there’s YOURS! Girl, your cervix measures 5.4, that’s like in HOLY MOLY range”. So, I take it that he was impressed. He was also curious as to why I went to Chicago for my cerclage when there are a few doctors that have experience with them. I told him of my research with Dr. Haney, his success rate, and years of practice. His numbers couldn’t compare…he does 2-3 a year & Dr. Haney may do 2-3 a day and has been for 25 years. He did proudly say that there has been a 100% success rate in the procedures. This makes me wonder why OB’s just don’t do the abdominal cerclages all the time rather than taking the risk of cervical failure with the vaginal.

Chris & I registered over the weekend. That was fun but it wore me OUT! It seemed as though we walked up & down each isle registering for items that we’d possibly need. I looked at the registry online after we got home only to find that we had scanned 77 items. It felt like we had scanned 777 items! There was still so much that we missed,s o we’ll have to do several updates prior to our baby showers!

On Sunday, we arrived at the 24 week/6month mark!!! :0) This is also considered the age of viability. :0)  We're over 1/2 way thru this remarkable journey and Chris & I could NOT be any happier.

Here’s what going on at week 24.

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.

21 week update:

We had our bi-weekly visit with Dr. G. today. My award winning cervix continues to make us extremely proud. Today’s cervical measurement was 5 cm…AWESOME! Thank GOD!

We only had a very quick scan of Ethan today. The Tech was only going to check his heartbeat until I asked how much he weighed. His heartbeat was 145 and he weighs 1 pound!!! Usually, we have some really good pics to show but that isn’t the case today. Ethan is head down & facing down with his lil butt arched to the left and his lil’ feet are right at my navel. I can’t imagine that being a comfortable position but if it works for him, it works for me. So, based on his awkward positioning we have a good shot of a foot!

Dr. G. wanted to know if I was ready to see him weekly and my answer was NO!!! Actually, I think I could handle moving the visits out to every 3 weeks but he said that he’d miss seeing us, so we’d just leave it at every 2 weeks!!! I heart him!!!! :0)

So….here’s some preggo info:

• What are my cravings?

   o Cabbage (my husband makes the B*E*S*T) and homemade coleslaw
   o Strawberry smoothies
   o Fresh Pineapple! YUM!

• What are Daddy’s cravings?
   o Frosted flakes & cheese toast ( yes, together)
   o It was an Ice cream float (vanilla bean ice cream & Pepsi) but that craving has ceased.

• How much weight have I gained?
   o 7 pounds ( I’m happy with that…I can still wear some of my regular pants)

• Symptoms/sickness?
   o Thankfully, absolutely NO sickness or even nausea!!!!
   o Heartburn for both Mommy & Daddy!
   o OILY FACE…OMG….I am shining like the STAR OF DAVID *****

• How much longer?
   o We’re 21w4d which means only 129 days until the due date!
   o 3rd trimester begins on Father’s Day, June 20th
   o I’m not in a rush…I want to enjoy each day …each moment of this wonderful pregnancy!


• Our thoughts?
   o I often daydream about Ethan. I have already hit the fast forward button in my mind and I picture the moment that Ethan cries to announce his arrival to the real world. I see the deep, warm grin on Chris’ face and feel the waterfall of tears that we’ll both release at the very sight of our love child.

   o Daddy’s thoughts:” I just think about him being HERE and arriving safely” …