February 11, 2009---23 weeks

I am about 23 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. Our little boy is now about 11 inches long and weighs over a pound, about as much as a large mango. He can sense my movement by now and even can feel me dance. I guess I better start dancing a little more. His blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that his increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises become familiar now--like Duncan barking. He is moving a lot and I can see little twitches of movement on the outside now too.



Today was another appointment with Dr. St. Louis, my regular OB doctor. I really like that she is a woman and has had her own child because she has had some great suggestions when I ask her questions. In particular this time, I asked her about my sciatic nerve problem. She said that I should buy a prenatal yoga DVD and the stretches should help. I liked that advice better than the specialist just telling me to take some Tylenol. My blood pressure was normal and weight gain was within the normal range. I did get our hospital registration packet, which made things a lot more real. We are in the process of finding our pediatrician and getting everything sent in to the hospital. We signed up for a couple of classes last week and our hospital tour. We will be busy going to these things in March. We also have been trying to pick out paint color for the nursery and should be painting soon. This weekend we head to Bloomington for our first shower. We are very excited to see our friends and family.



We head back to the specialist on February 27th and I head back to Dr. St. Louis on March 13th to do the glucose/gestational diabetes test.



Here is a picture of my belly at 23 weeks.