Thankful Thursday: 23 Weeks

In honor of Thanksgiving I've been sharing one or two things each Thursday that I am thankful for.  Although there are many things to be thankful for I'm trying to just highlight a few each week.  Check out my previous posts here.
Today I am thankful for this sweet (and wild) little baby growing in my belly.  I had another ultrasound on Monday and the perinatologist said everything looks "picture" perfect.  We had a few potential health scares with Phoebe, so I'm thankful this baby is healthy. Well so much for doing weekly updates.  But I guess if I get something posted monthly or every 4 weeks then I'm doing pretty well.  Check out my last (and first) update at 19 weeks here. So I didn't think about this when we were taking this picture, but apparently black isn't the best color to show off a growing belly...  Black really is slimming.

23 Weeks- A window into your womb would reveal that you baby's skin is a big saggy, hanging loosely from her or her little body.  That's because skin grows faster than fat develops, and there's not much fat to fill that skin out yet.  But don't worry- the fat is about to start catching up.  Beginning this week your baby begins to pack on the pounds.  In fact, by months end, your baby will be double the weight he or she is now.  Once those fat deposits are made, your baby will be less transparent too.  Right now, the organs and bones can still be seen through the skin, which has a red hue thanks to the developing blood veins and arteries just underneath.  What to Expect When You're Expecting

You're baby is the size of a papaya.   (Do you eat Papaya's?  Does anyone really know how big a papaya is?  Maybe its just me but papayas are not in my normal diet...)  So the baby is about 8 inches long and 1.2 lbs.

Actually according to the ultrasound my baby is 1 lb 4 oz, which puts it exactly in the 50th percentile for weight. Here's the little squirt.  (Head is on the left.  Belly on the right) Notice the hand and arm at the top of the picture.  Almost the whole time this child was hitting itself in the head with its hand- over and over and over again.  Awesome.

Aversions/cravings- None now.  I couldn't eat yogurt for awhile and I still haven't tried.  It doesn't sound gross to me anymore.  I just don't necessarily want it.  Perhaps I should try to eat it again and see what happens.  It used to be one of my favorite snacks.
Movement- Oh my goodness!  This child kicks, and punches, and kicks, and hits itself in the head all the time!  And they are strong movements too!  I mean really, I did not feel this much movement at this point in pregnancy last time.  What I'm feeling now is closer to what I was feeling full-term.  Now, is that because my placenta is in a different place or because this baby is moving more, or both?  Who knows. But I will tell you that both the ultrasound tech and the doctor kept making comments the other day about how they were having to "chase" the baby around because it was moving so much. This baby is breech right now too. I know this is completely normal and I shouldn't worry, but I still didn't like seeing it upside down.  Turn baby turn!
Pregnancy Symptoms- The itching has gotten better.  I think due to a combination of the Tom's unscented sensitive skin soap and the Aveeno Eczema lotion.  My eczema has actually been a little bit better too- except 3 spots ON MY FOREHEAD that have shown up in the past 3 weeks.  Thankfully the  worst of the bunch is underneath my bangs.  But it probably looks like I have dandruff or something the way I am scratching at my hairline... Still no stretch marks.  I really don't expect any.  I didn't have any last time.  BUT the pregnancy has not been so kind to me because I've started getting a couple varicose veins!!  Awful.  The only thing I can think of is that I did wear support hose at work with the last pregnancy because I was working 3 or 4 12hr shifts/week.  This pregnancy I haven't worn support hose at all because I'm only working 8hrs about once/week. I guess I need to start considering it.  But they are pretty miserable.  Its one thing to wear them under scrubs at work.  It is a whole other ball game to try to wear those things under jeans... Sleep-  I'm sleeping through the night about twice/week now on average.  Hey, I'll take it.  And although Chris would never admit it, I think my body pillow is growing on him.  I've woken up to him cuddling with it on several occasions... Sex- I still think its a girl.  I know a lot of people think we're I'm crazy for not finding out.  I've seen it done both ways in the delivery room and don't get me wrong it is ALWAYS special and exciting when a baby is born.  And it is a surprise when you find out the sex whether it is at 20ish weeks or at delivery.  But there definitely is an added energy and excitement to the delivery when you're also finding out the sex at the same time- it really is fun for everyone. A few weeks ago I had a couple who was having a "surprise" baby for their second child.  Now typically the way this works is the dad "announces" the sex as soon as the baby's born.  I say typically because that is often the plan, but in the excitement of the moment the dad often forgets to look or speak.  Or perhaps it takes men a extra split second to process everything before they can verbalize sex- who knows.  Anyhow, in this particular case the dad was speechless and as the midwife was bringing the baby up to mom, she starts screaming (yes screaming) at the top of her lungs: "I see his balls!!  Its a boy!  Its a boy!  I see his little blue balls!  Its a boy!"  She kept repeating this over and over and over.  I dunno, maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious.  Everyone in the room was cracking up. All that to say surprises are fun.   And yes, we do have names picked out.  They've changed a little bit and are still subject to change, but perhaps I will share them next update. Weight Gain- 10 lbs Randoms-  I'm excited for Phoebe to meet this baby!  She is clueless.  My belly button popped out at 13 weeks- see it poking through my dress in the picture?  Next week (24 weeks) my baby will be viable, but 24 weeks still makes me a bit nervous.  I will breath a bit easier when we hit the 28 week mark. What are you thankful for today? Today I am linking up with Angie and Tiffanie.