26 Weeks

 

 26 Weeks!! I had my last OB appt at 25w 3d. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Babies are still laying Transverse (sideways), which they have seemed to be that way for a long time now! My fundal height was 36!!! (It was 31 at 23w, 27 @ 19w).  This is also the last week of the Second Trimester!!!

I'm definitely feeling movements. There are days that they have parties going on in the womb!! Then they will be really quiet for a couple of days (even though I'm still feeling them move... sometimes their kicks/punches movements aren't as strong as others).  Little boy (Jackson) likes to kick my cervix or something down there! I'll get these lightning bolt type shocks some days. LOL.

I talked to my OB more about Delivery day. Since 38 weeks falls on a Sunday, she said she would wait till Tuesday to do an inducement (she can't do it on Mondays because she is at the office farther away from the hospital). So the farthest I will go is 38w2D. Of course we can only do an inducement if the babies are in the right position etc. As for a C-section... we could do one Monday night but likely Tuesday. 

Week Twenty Six: Second trimester ends this week

You are 26 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 23 weeks) The baby measures 14 inches long and weighs over 1.7 pound. Baby measures 35.5cm long and weighs over 760 grams. The feet are 2 inches (5cm) long. Hands are very active. The baby's eyes begin to open around this time. The fetus makes breathing movements, but there is no air in the lungs yet. Hands are active and muscle coordination is such that they can get a thumb into the mouth. Thumb sucking calms the baby and strengthens the cheek and jaw muscles. The fetal brain scan will show response to touch. Touching and playing with the baby is possible now, as they may respond to your touch through your belly wall. Brain growth continues with brain wave activity for the visual and auditory systems starting to develop. Baby is probably very active in the womb, as the most active weeks are typically between weeks 24 and 28. You may begin feeling your belly tighten and relax at odd moments or irregular intervals. These are Braxton Hicks contractions. They are painless and help the uterus prepare for the birth. Many babies have developed a predictable routine for sleep and active periods. Twins may have entirely different routines from each other. If your back is feeling the strain of your growing belly, try doing some pelvic rocks to relax it.You may be experiencing shortness of breath as the uterus is very close to the rib cage at this stage. Some moms are not able to fully expand their rib cages; however, this does not negatively affect the baby in any way. The end of week 26 marks the end of month six, which is the last month of the second trimester. (WOOHOO!!!)

24 Weeks!!!

Woohoo we are at 24 weeks today!! 24 weeks is considered Viability. Of course we want these babies to stay in and be born closer to 37-38 weeks! I actually went to Labor & Delivery on Friday because I had a lot of cramping. They monitored me for an hour and said there were no contractions and that my cervix is still closed! Woohoo!!

There are plans in the making now for our baby shower. :) My belly is getting bigger every day (Bri hasn't come downstairs yet so I will get my week 24 pictures a little later.

Oh and I think we have finally settled on names!! We aren't telling the middle names yet (something has to be kept a secret right??!!) But for first names I think we are going with Addison and Jackson. The ending in "son" is totally a coincidence and was NOT on purpose at all. Addison's name came first and then David and I were so far away on a boy's name that we all wrote down our favorites from a long list... There was only one name that David and I had that was the same and that was Jackson.

Here is some information from a few sites regarding the 24 weeks:

Week Twenty Four: Practices breathing

You are 24 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 22 weeks) The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week. Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long. Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long. The eyelids can be seen very clearly. If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant. This is a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily and also keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with its appearance increasingly becoming more like that of a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste. Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. Baby now weighs about 1.3 pound (600gm) and is around 12 inches (30cm) long. (We already know ours are bigger than this pound wise anyways). After this week your baby is officially considered viable. 36% of babies can survive premature birth at 24 weeks - However, serious complications are still possible.

Here is a chart that was posted on one of the forums I visit regarding Viability.
21 weeks and less - 0%
22 weeks: 0-10%
23 weeks: 10-35%
24 weeks: 40-70%
25 weeks: 50-80%
26 weeks: 80-90%
27 weeks: >90%
30 weeks: >95%
34 weeks: >98%

Per Babygaga

It's another week full of exciting developments for your magical growing baby!

Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”.

What’s surfactant? It's basically what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat that helps your baby's little lungs inflate (where inflate = fill with air not get more expensive for no understandable reason).

In the meantime, your submerged baby is still breathing in their amniotic fluid (and a bit of pee), preparing and rehearsing their lungs for an oxygen-filled life outside the womb.

By the end of this week, your wee womb-squatter will be weighing in at a whopping 2 lbs and 14 inches long.

All this new weight means your tiny baby is actually starting to fill out their skin, but they're not anywhere near their adorable fat-baby potential.

Most of the fetal “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

omg

I actually PASSED my Gestational Diabetes testing!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! How I did that when I couldn't 12 years ago is beyond me!

Week 23: Fingerprints and footprints form

Twenty-three weeks into your pregnancy, or 21 weeks after conception, your baby's skin is wrinkled, more translucent than before and pink to red in color.

This week your baby begins to have rapid eye movements. Your baby's tongue will soon develop taste buds. Fingerprints and footprints are forming. For boys, the testes are beginning to descend from the abdomen. For girls, the uterus and ovaries are in place — complete with a lifetime supply of eggs.

Per a different site:

	Week Twenty Three: Sense of balance develops
	You are 23 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 21 weeks) He or she measures over 28cm and weighs up to 550 grams. The baby is over 11 inches tall, weighs about a pound. The eyebrows are visible. The child can successfully suck. Bones located in the middle ear harden. Your baby does a regular 'workout' inside your womb. He or she turns from side to side and head over heels. Thanks to a fully developed inner ear, which controls balance, your baby may have a sense of whether he or she is upside-down or right side up in the womb. Skin pigment is now forming. The fetus is now proportioned like a newborn except it is a thinner version of a newborn baby since its baby fat has not developed much yet. The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. Baby has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars. If born now, your baby would have a 20% chance of survival, the odds going up with each passing day. By this week, your baby weighs a little over 1 pound (500g). Its crown to heel length is 11 inches (28cm).

23w1d

Wow I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.....

I have been feeling the babies moving pretty consistently since those kicks 2 weeks ago. Course I worry on the days when they are really quiet... I try not to.

I had a growth scan last week. Baby boy weighed 1 lb 6 oz and baby girl weighed 1 lb 40z. They looked good but still wouldn't allow the tech to take all the pictures that were needed.

Today was an OB appointment. We did the gestational diabetes testing. Oh that drink is so so sweet! I had the fruit punch version vs the Orange. I drank it so fast though that I felt like crap for awhile.

She did a quick ultrasound, saw the babies heartbeats and that was about it. She was happy with the measurements of the growth scan (oh yea cervix was pretty constant at 3.2).

Now I go back every 2 weeks.