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!