24 Weeks

THIS WEEK
I am 24 weeks, or 6 months pregnant and we have officially reached what is considered "viability" - in other words if baby girl is/needs to be delivered she may survive, not without other difficulties and we pray that she continues to grow healthy and strong for a few more months but knowing that if something goes wrong we won't just be told "there's nothing we can do" is a little bit relieving and knowing we're getting closer and closer to her being safely in our arms is unbelievably exciting. This week has been a stressful one; my ob called early in the week and told us that our baby girl's heart is perfect but that in an earlier ultrasound it appeared that our baby girl had something called echogenic bowels (or bright bowels, due to the fluid she is swallowing is taking longer to pass through) because they had seen this, although during the echo the technician made a point to show that she didn't have the same findings, he wanted to send us to a Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic for another ultrasound and to meet with a perinatologist (who specializes in fetal ultrasounds), he was very reassuring that even if our baby girl did have echogenic bowels that the likelihood is that it wouldn't be a problem for her (further information will be added to this post) definitely makes us nervous and we pray that this won't cause any problems for our precious baby girl. We also had a scare near the end of the week with some rather severe abdominal pain, because of our history and my experience with the placental abruption (where I ignored a similar, but gradually more severe, pain) we were terrified and went to the hospital to get checked. Thankfully everything is okay and I must have strained or stretched an already very stretched out muscle which has since mellowed out although I am still taking it very easy. It was also very comforting to be told, multiple times, that we did the right thing by coming in, with our history this wasn't an overreaction (hearing this is incredibly comforting).

 BABY UPDATE
As mentioned in the last two weeks, baby girl is approximately 12 inches long from head to heel and weighing approximately 1lb 4 ounces (which the technician at our echo ultrasound confirmed baby girl is currently 1lb 4 ounces and the most recent ultrasound showed she is growing a few days ahead of her gestation.

Baby girl's beautiful little face is now fully formed (though still tiny) and at this stage she will be gaining approximately 6 ounces each week, with much of that being fat along with growing organs, bones and muscles. Our baby girl can hear all sorts of sounds at this stage; from air leaving my lungs to my heart beating (something that baby's often find very comforting), both of our voices which studies show she will be able to recognize at birth and even loud sounds such as dogs barking (like our little puppy Rosalee) or horns honking. Her hair is beginning to change to the color that it will have at birth (will she have blonde hair like her Daddy or brown hair like her Mommy?) and her weight will double over the next four weeks!

MOMMA UPDATE
Definitely have been experiencing a roller coaster of emotions, from relief after hearing our baby girl's heart is perfect to the worries surrounding the echogenic bowels that they've been looking into this week. I know that it is still very fresh which is attributing to the crazy emotions I've been dealing with, sometimes I'm worried out of my mind, heart broken that we have another thing to watch for, terrified that we may loose her and at other times I'm completely comforted in the fact that we have a high likelihood that she won't be bothered by this either and also finding comfort that the Lord has a plan for our beautiful little girl - he put her here when we were about to give up, she needs to be here and I believe he has plans for her life with us. Other than all of the worries and stresses, I'm relieved to be officially past what is considered viable and with every day she continues growing healthy and strong within me is even better. Still having a lot of discomfort, including a very angry and over stretched muscle but I'm taking it easy and listening to my body as it tells me to slow down. My heartburn has become a daily thing although the nausea that returned so strongly last week seems to be gone. I have been craving apples and definitely enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinners (being surrounded by our families as well as enjoying all the delicious food) I also craved a Slurpee near the end of the week, which was a great throw back to the summer and earlier in our pregnancy when I craved them so frequently.

Belly is measuring 42 inches!

DADDY MOMENTS
Just being so in love with his daughter is amazing, the bond he already has with her and the one she seems to have with him is beautiful. She will kick and move the most when he is home and she hears his voice, she seems to especially love it when he sings to her.

FAVORITE PART OF THE WEEK
Being told she's okay, getting reassurance from every doctor that we've spoken to about the echogenic bowels and getting some very valuable advice from the doctors in the Labor and Delivery unit regarding kick counts and how to tell something may be wrong.

LOOKING FORWARD TO
Can I just say I am looking forward to these next few months slipping past and having this beautiful baby girl in my arms? I know this is just the beginning of neverending worry but having her safely in my arms will beat constant worrying that my body may betray me again.

xo, Anne.