Cristina's Baby Blog: Week #23

Due to the fact that I can no longer sit straight up from a lying position, I have been forced to roll out of bed the past couple weeks. Roll. Ditto that for going to bed too. And if I happen to be sitting on the floor, I have to maneuver myself onto my knees to stand up. I feel like a damn turtle. I've also been forced out of my favourite t-shirts: the bottom keeps riding up exposing my underbelly, so I've been wearing longer ones. I'm still hoping to avoid the maternity shirts for a while longer.

The kid has been kicking up a storm lately - and Kevin was finally able to feel him! It's my understanding that this kicking is going to become more frequent and much, much stronger until he no longer has enough room to pull back so far to wallop my insides. So far he spends most of his time kicking my lower abdomen (the underside of my belly) on the right side, which makes me wonder how he's positioned in there: is he lying on his back or tummy? Is he vertical or horizontal? Curled in a ball or arms and legs splayed? I've never given it much thought until this week.

This week my little guy is around 28 cm (11.4 inches) long and weighs in at 501 grams (or 1.1 lbs), with my uterus sitting about 3 cm above my bellybutton and 23 cm above my pubic symphysis. My total weight gain should be about 12-15 lbs, and I ring in at around 10 lbs (compared to my pre-pregnancy weight).

The boy's body will start getting plumper and more wrinkled now, with his lanugo hair (if any) will start to darken. His eyelids and eyebrows have finished forming and he will double in weight over the next month. With the hardening of his inner ear bones (anvil, hammer and stirrup) his hearing is now functional; however, that doesn't mean he will be able to understand (or interpret) what he hears, since his brain may be too immature at this point. His organs that develop hormones are developing nicely, particularly insulin production from his pancreas.

Some pains that I may be experiencing right now are round ligament pain (which has decreased dramatically recently) or sciatic nerve pain. Protein is really important during the second and third trimesters, so I should aim to get about 75 grams of protein per day. I should also watch my sodium levels to prevent water retention; foods to avoid include pickles, chips and salted nuts. I'm so screwed.

How am I feeling? I've been hard pressed to find a comfortable sleeping position at night, despite a pillow under my belly. Also, the baby's kicks have been making it harder to sleep, as well as the multi-night visits to the bathroom. Surprisingly, I still feel rather chipper during the day.

What am I craving this week? Still mandarin oranges. In fact, Kevin and I plan on bringing a box of them to my in-laws this weekends so I can snack without feeling guilty about eating all their food!

Mood swings? No, but I've been sososooo excited about the nursery being finished!

Any baby purchases? No, but that is mainly because I have no idea what I still need.

What about the nursery? DONE! Or at least I'm finished setting up what I already have (except for the drapes). However, the astronomy theme sort of flopped. I still plan on getting the Twilight Turtle and the Solar System mobile thingie, but I'm not sure if pictures of space anomalies will make their way on his walls - unless I find some already done up. Kevin & I have donated some of our things to the nursery, so it definitely isn't strictly astronomy anymore - but it is oh so cute.