Long awaited UPDATE!

Me & My Bump at week 23

Oh boy, where to begin?!


I left off at week 13. I was too sick to care about the blog – sad I know. But, I feel GREAT now! I’ve actually felt great for about a month now. Actually, it’s probably even longer.

Baby’s doing fantastic! Here are some of the highlights from the past 11 weeks (yes, I’m at 24 weeks now!)

Week 18: I had the weirdest sensation hit me one evening as I sat on the couch watching TV. I felt this light “bubble popping” feeling in my tummy. Most books and websites say a first time mom won’t feel the baby move until about week 20, so I didn’t think it was baby. I told my friend Shelly about it the next day and she also said “nah, it probably wasn’t baby”. Well…it was! Now that I feel the bambino moving all the time, I know it was actually the first time I felt baby moving. I’m glad I didn’t dismiss it. It's such a neat feeling.  It's really hard to explain, but it feels a lot like little air bubbles popping - and not like GAS! HA! It's an airy light feeling. 


Week 19: Ultrasound – WOW! What a neat experience. I thought I would be emotional, but it was so interesting that I never really attached an emotional feeling to it. Jeff and I sat looking at the monitor in amazement. We got to see baby move his/her arm, we saw the baby’s heart beating, and the tech pointed out all the important “parts”. We left with a DVD of photo’s and some short videos. I did not enjoy the full bladder part of the experience, so I’m ok if my Dr. decides I won’t need another one during the rest of the pregnancy.

Christmas: Our kid is completely prepared to wear his/her UND Fighting Sioux gear and Vikings attire! For Christmas, little bambino got a UND onesie from Auntie Terry and Uncle Cordell (well, we’re hoping he’ll be an uncle some day!) UND gear from Mommy, and Vikings attire from Uncle Pat and Auntie Jen. Nana (trying this name out for my mom) already has a little girl Vikings outfit, which sadly, she had before we announced we were expecting. I’m sure she’ll spoil our kid with lots of MN sports team clothing. Baby also got an AMAZING gift from the Satniks. They gave us a play mat/baby gym play set. It’s Fisher Price Precious Planet – very cool! I set it up a few days after Christmas to see what Frankie thought of it and surprisingly she didn’t seem to care about it very much. This is good, but not sure it’ll last. Daddy also bought baby a nice little present. I was very impressed. He even got a baby gift bag for it. He found two body suits that say “Who needs a Superhero when I have a Daddy” and “I’m the boss (when Mom’s not around)” He also got a package of newborn Soothie pacifiers. I joked with him and asked if they were for Frankie because every time we visit the Headley’s, Frankie finds Addy’s Soothies and tries to chew them up.

We’ve also had a few Dr. appointments since last update. Everything is progressing just as it should. My Dr. says I’m doing excellent. We decided to decline the four marker genetics test. It wouldn’t change anything we would do, but might cause stress if the test were to come back abnormal, which our Dr. says is somewhat common. No thanks! It is what it is, and we’ll deal with whatever comes our way when and if anything presents itself. I get to do the glucose test next appointment – oh joy.

So, here we are. Week 24. Baby is very active, especially at night when it’s time for Mommy to sleep. It’s our special time. I’ve started talking to little bambino, but it’s kind of weird sometimes to talk to “air”. I’m getting more comfortable with it. We’re pretty sure that baby will know Frankie the minute her bark is heard. She’d definitely the most vocal Anderson in our house!

Oh, and here’s what Baby’s up to these days:

• Bring on the bulk! Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.


• His body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.


• Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his distaste.


• Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of his hands has improved as he sucks his thumb.


• Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.


• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.


• This week your baby is officially considered viable.


• Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!