24 weeks

Darren put a little pregnancy ticker at the bottom of the main page.  I think he might try and move it up so you don't have to scroll down to see it.  I just thought it was neat to have.  There are several different ones you can get, but I liked this one.

Things are still going very well with the pregnancy.  I'm feeling fine, but definitely noticing this week that I'm getting bigger.  I got my first pregnancy stretch marks within the last week, and this morning I noticed my scrubs barely fit anymore.  I have to tie them below my stomach, which is difficult for me because I don't have much else to hold them up.  I may have to break down and just buy a couple larger scrubs.  At least they are cheap.  Darren mentioned that I haven't been using the Doppler as much recently.  Mostly I just don't use it around him because he always has comments about how much I use it.  I really haven't been doing it as much though.  At this point I'm feeling pretty regular movements throughout the day so I don't need the reassurance as much.  I still love having it though!

I bought a crib and mattress yesterday on Amazon.  Well, it was purchased on my Amazon account with my mom's credit card. :)  It was my first big baby purchase.  Mom is coming on Wednesday evening and she has plans to paint the baby room.  Darren and I made a lot of progress on Sunday getting the room cleared out and ready for decorating.  I'm pretty sure we are going to paint the room a light lavender.  I put some cute purple butterfly wall decals and room decorations on my baby registry.  I think we may end up just buying them this week though so the room looks all put together.  Unfortunately we have another 3 months until the room is needed and I'm a little worried that Darren will have a relapse before the baby is born and junk it up again.  I may have to permanently ban him from that room until August.  We'll see how it goes.  I will post some pictures after we get it all put together.

I like to look at where the baby is in her development each week.  Its really interesting to read about all the changes she goes through each week.  This is what is says about the 24th week:

• Bring on the bulk!  Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.


• Her body begins to fill out with her appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.


• Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing her distaste.


• Little creases have appeared on her palms. The muscular coordination of her hands has improved as she sucks her thumb.


• Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.


• Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.


• This week your baby is officially considered viable.


• Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!