23 weeks

This week your baby's length, from crown-to-rump, is approximately 8 inches! Your growing baby has finally reached one pound. Your baby is about the size of a small baby doll and looks very human. The baby's face and body look similar to that of a newborn at this time.

You should be feeling your baby moving quite a bit throughout the day as she will kick and punch the uterus walls. Babies also run their hands along the umbilical cord and touch their body parts while they are in the womb. Your baby now can suck her thumb for real, where she was just sticking it in her mouth. You might be able to feel small `jumps` inside of you when your baby gets the hiccups from swallowing fluid.

How your baby's growing:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

(There isn't another friut/vegetable with description from thebump.com until Week 25, April 30th... glad I found these! i-am-pregnant.com & babycenter.com)

How far along? 23 weeks.

Due Date: August 13, 2010

Total weight gain/loss: -1, up 1 from last week. Well, I am at 23 weeks... I suppose it is about time I start gaining weight! :) I do know that my baby is growing a lot (with a lot of growing to do) and I'm sure that my weight is related :)
Maternity clothes? Yes. :)
Sleep: Really not too bad. I just sleep on a pile of pillows when I feel like I must sleep on my back.

Best moment this week: She had the hiccups Wednesday night for about 30minutes, all I could do was laugh... I felt them Thursday too. OH - Geoff heard her heartbeat :) He put his ear on my tummy and heard her!!
Movement: She's moving a lot more, even just in the last few days... makes me smile to myself at random times. :) (Right now I'm loving the hiccups!)

Food cravings: Most recent: Still fresh foods... Thursday I chose a salad for lunch over a McDonald's trip! (Go me!)
Food aversions: Same as always... but at least now I can be in the same space as warm creamy things... just not too close and NOT eating it.
Gender: GIRL!! A healthy wiggly(!) girl
Labor Signs: None and thank goodness.
Belly Button in or out? In... Geoff says it is starting to be less of an in-y
What I miss: Subway!!!
What I am looking forward to: Getting her room a little more set up... maybe the crib this week?? :)
Milestones: The hiccups... and according to the growth blurb from babycenter.com... she can feel me move, too! Which I find funny because just this week I noticed that I sway... like I'm rocking a baby!

Other: Registering is fun! ... I'm thinking that I don't need to put the headbands on there though... I have a feeling we'll get a bunch whether I do or not. :) I just added a ton more stuff to my Target registry and there is a good chunk (essentials too) at Babies'R'Us. I hope people shop both places or we won't get bedding!