24 Weeks!

Charley has been crazy active the past few days. Yesterday I was sitting at the office and my belly started jumping up and down. It was awesome! When I got home she was still active so I asked Shaun to come talk to my belly for a little. Her kicks got so hard I thought for sure she was going to come right through my belly button! She loves to kick her daddy. Sometimes I feel the same way, so I completely understand :P I was especially happy that she was so active the past few days because my heartburn has been so bad I thought I was going to die. Thank goodness she was able to balance out the good and the bad or I don't know if I would have made it this week.Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.You may find tying your shoes and bending over are more difficult as your baby bump grows bigger. Your unborn baby's growth spurt means you may have itchiness and soreness as the skin stretches to make room. Your joints will loosen as pregnancy hormones soften them to accommodate your baby and to prepare your body for labor. You may be discouraged to see the scale inching (or jumping!) upwards. Pregnancy is not the right time to try to lose weight or begin a rigorous exercise regime, but regular exercise can be beneficial and ease some of your pregnancy pains. Happy Halloween everyone :-D