Pregnancy: 24w(4d... yes, I'm late!)

I'd say "better late than pregnant", but... well, you know. ;)

What I love: Feeling him more and more! We have a major hiccuper on our hands, and I'm guessing he's head down as much of them are by my pubic bone or, embarrassingly, by my ass. They're hard enough to make me jump! I feel some kicks up high, too, but my placenta's up there, so I'm not worried that I can't feel too much. He also likes to roll around, which makes my stomach a little upset. LOL

OH, also, Matt felt his body the other day!! I was lying on my back on the couch, and he was touching my stomach when he said, "Oh my god... I think that's a limb!" or something like that. I was like, no way... but then I felt it, and it was!! A leg, I think. It was so freaky and made this all so much more REAL in a way that nothing else so far has made this pregnancy.

What I hate: This exhaustion. And my bigger belly, if only because I’m super self-conscious about it. [Same]

What I miss: My body, lol. [Same]

What I’m looking forward to the most: Finishing our curtains. XD So Matt and I have decided to go with these shower curtains (because we didn't like any other curtains), and I'm sewing them up with some blackout curtains in the middle. It's suuuuch a PITA, especially since I don't have a sewing machine. The hand sewer I have is helping, but it's so damn tedious. And I cut myself with a pair of scissors! Just... how?!

They're cute, though, and totally worth the painstaking work. ;)

Worries: I got really worried last night when Kit wasn't moving, but I found his heartbeat with our doppler (love that thing!) and, about an hour later, I got hiccups. So he's good!

Symptoms: A bigger belly, pregnancy rhinitis, and soooooo tiiiiiiired. Add bleeding gums to this week, though it’s certainly not the first week it’s happened! [Same]

Mood: Good! I feel balanced again, which is nice. [Same]

Sleep: Even worse. Backaches, hip pains, weird dreams, and Kit kicking or otherwise moving at night all wake me up. Bah!

Movement: Yup! Tons of it, especially hiccups. ;)

The belly (and the button!): Bigger belly, much more shallow belly button. I give it to 30w before it's at least flat!

Wedding rings on or off: On!

Weight gain: I’m up about 14lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight still. Which is a bit triggering, but I keep trying to remind myself that it’s for good reason and my midwives want this gain! Yikes. :|

Milestones: Well... we had a midwife appointment last week! Everything is great -- I'm on track for weight gain, my BP is still beautiful (122/70), Kit is doing his thaaang, and we learned that the baby's heartbeat controls how much blood the placenta gets, so what we heard on the doppler at their office was actually the placenta rather than Kit's heartbeat! THAT was cool.

Matt also learned that he really liked the male midwife at SB. ;)

I get my GD test done at my next appointment, 5 February. The awesome parts? No fasting and NO GLUCOSE DRINK! I can have a banana and orange or apple juice! :D YAY!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How your life's changing:

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition.

Untreated diabetes increases your risk of having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow too large, especially in his upper body. It also raises your baby's odds for other complications like low blood sugar right after birth. A positive result on your GCT doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean that you'll need to take the glucose tolerance test (GTT) to find out for sure.

Finally, if you don't already know how to spot the signs of preterm labor, now's the time to learn. Contact your caregiver immediately if you notice any of the signs mentioned below.

Relief for finger pain "To relieve finger pain and swelling, I keep a cold pack in the freezer. I apply it to my hands several times a day." — Kate

This Week's Activity:

Tackle your home improvement projects. Sit down with your partner and take stock of the things you'd like to fix around the house before your little one arrives. Then let your partner handle them. (You shouldn't be exposing yourself to chemicals or getting up on ladders.) Some things for the list:

• Install or check smoke detectors, get a fire extinguisher for each floor of your house, and plan a fire escape route.


• Fix or remove any broken furniture or fixtures.


• Paint the nursery, hang curtain rods, assemble new furniture.