24 Weeks

24 weeks - 16 weeks and counting until our little bundle of joy makes its debut! This week, Baby is about 1 foot in length and weighs 1 1/3lbs (which is a 4oz gain from last week) and is projected to gain about 1/2lb this week alone! We've definitely entered the growth-spurt phase - grow, Baby, grow!! Our baby's brain is continuing to develop and fine-tune specific areas with each week; also, his/her ears are fully functional now, which means Baby is fully able to hear all kinds of wonderful sounds! Another side note on the ear/brain - Baby's inner ear is developed now which means he/she has a sense of balance and can tell when he/she is upside down, sideways, etc. Pretty neat! Baby's tastebuds are developing and almost functional this week (not that he/she really has a whole lot to taste at this point - hmm...wonder what amniotic fluid tastes like....eww). The lungs are continuing to develop and surfactant (which is produced in the alveoli inside the lungs - little sacs of air that allow for gas exchange and allow us to have oxygen circulating in our bodies) is starting to be produced. This is important because the surfactant allows those alveoli (mentioned above) to stay open during inhalation which allows for better gas exchange. All of that scientific mumbo-jumbo means - Baby is getting one step closer to being able to breathe on his/her own! Baby's skin remains pretty transparent, but is becoming less and less so as the weeks go on. I can tell you from experience, Baby is definitely an active little peanut, especially on night shifts! He/she is moving quite frequently, and Tyler gets the chance to feel him/her every once in a while. The other morning, I had the joy of seeing Baby punch/kick/head-butt my stomach and actually saw it move! Loving every minute of this; can't wait to see what this week holds for us!

As for me, I continue to grow in size also :) I know I keep mentioning that I'll post pictures - maybe one day I'll follow through. Sorry about that, Tyler and I will take some more pictures on Sunday (which will mark the 25 week mark) and I will TRY to remember to post them (maybe even post the progression of pictures that we've taken). Hopefully we get better at "capturing the moment" before our baby gets here - we're going to need to start taking more pictures! I'm sure it will be easier when we have a super cute subject to capture ;) We're also trying to find a childbirth class to sign-up for and still looking for childcare. We have our 24 week appointment on Thursday and will be discussing pros/cons of the Midwifery Center and (hopefully) making  final decision on what we're going to do. Please continue to pray for wisdom for us as we make these decisions about the birth of our baby :) Tyler's started taping in the nursery, and we'll hopefully paint it within the next week or so (before we come home for Mom's wedding at least!). We also still continue to look for nursery furniture on Craigslist - we've definitely found a few good possibilities!!

Love seeing the pictures of babies at the same gestational age as ours (even though, sadly, I get to see some real-life examples at work) - just keep praying that our baby waits at least 14-16 weeks so we don't see him/her this small!!

Hope all of you are doing well, looking forward to seeing some friends and family in a little over a week for Mom's wedding and my baby shower :) Miss you all, thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support!