24 Weeks

24 weeks

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at about 1 1/3 pounds. Since he's almost a foot long (about the size of an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How far along: 24 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, tiredness, aches and pains (some specifics: groin pain, hip pain, back pain, feet/ankle pain), swollen ankles

Food Cravings: fresh fruit, chocolate

Food Aversions: I haven’t had much in the way of aversions lately – wahoo!  I’ll keep this category just in case something crops up.

Sleep: I definitely had worse, but I’m pretty tired.  I sleep okay through the night, but most of the time wake up very sore.  And wanting a lot more sleep.  :)

Measurement: about inches around

Movement: Lots and lots!  Sometimes when they’re very gymnastic, I can see the belly move on the outside.

Labor signs: Occasional Braxton Hicks

What I miss: I officially really miss sleeping on my belly.  And having a comfortable position for reading a book.

What I’m looking forward to: Ummmmm… I’m definitely looking forward to cooler weather and getting the baby boy clothes down from the attic.  But I’m also in a pretty happy, content place right now.

Milestone: Someone asked me yesterday if I was going to beat Kate Middleton (as in, deliver before her).  Ouch.  :)  I really do look imminently due to most people I guess.  And if I tell people I’m only such and such weeks and don’t tell them it’s twins, their faces are pretty funny.  :)

Thoughts from the children: Nothing specific is coming to mind; they’re all just so sweet and supportive about the babies.

Doctor’s visit: I had one on Friday, including an ultrasound.  I didn’t write down everything, but here is what I did record.
-I’m 208.1 lbs.  This actually made my doctor concerned, but I’m not.  :)  I gained easily 50 pounds with most of my singleton pregnancies, so twins is bound to be a bit more!  And I’ve only gained 35-40 pounds so far.  Ha!  This is the heaviest I’ve ever been though.
-Blood pressure was 140/60 which is a bit high for me but they weren’t worried
-I only wrote down one of the boys’ heart rates – 157.  The tech didn’t say the other one out loud and I forgot to make her go back and look.  They are both around 1 1/2 lbs – wahoo boys!  Specifically they were measured at 1lb 7oz and 1lb 11oz.  They measure by looking at lengths of different parts of their bodies via ultrasound.  So it’s not an exact thing.  Baby A is is on my right, head down (good boy!!), and Baby B is on the left in breech position.

Other thoughts: I am really pretty sore all the time.  It’s hard to do things I want to do around the house.  I’m not really complaining, but it is hard.  Last week I got the absolute NEED to clean out James closet right now, and ouch did I ever hurt myself!  Fortunately I felt “better” within a day or two, but I was a little worried about what I had done to myself!  And it’s a little hard on Matt to pick up my slack.  The kids so their part pretty well, but they’re little.  It’s really helping to keep the toy count down a bit and everything pretty clutter free.

Baby-related projects:

• I’m putting this on the list kind of after the fact: Work on potty training James.  Hallelujah that boy is doing so so well!
• Clean up/organize the girls’ room to make space for eventual James.
• Go to IKEA.  Look at and possibly purchase the Kura low loft bed and shallow mattress for the girls.  **I’ve been putting this off since it is logistically hard, but we are ready to get this done!
• Move the majority of the toys into the main living area to make space for sleeping and clothes in the bedrooms. I still need to sort through and organize the books, which are in a giant pile on the floor.
• Do some research on the best sleeping arrangements for newborn twins.  *I’m currently planning to use a standard sized pack and play with the newborn “shelf” in it for our bedroom when they’re bitty.  If we discover they don’t sleep well with each other, we can always switch to two pack and plays or just use the cribs.
• Figure out number of diapers that would be ideal for the babies.  **I think at this point we’ll just get a few more newborn sized diapers and then wait and see what works when they come.
• Pick out infant car seats. 
• Organize James’ closet.  (This is where the not-in-use clothes live as well as a lot of baby things, and it’s a super-pit.)  Done, and Hallelujah!
• Shop for a king sized bed.  We really really really really want one.  :)  But the logistics and expense may mean this isn’t the best time.
• Tinker with a baby registry.  We don’t need much, but I have started putting some things on an Amazon registry when I think about them
• Pull the baby boy clothes from the attic and take inventory.  **I think this is really on the list for this week.  I have a couple of things to go up, so I’m just waiting one Matt to have a few minutes to go sweat in the attic.
• Reconvert the double stroller back to a double stroller from a sit-n-stand.
• Possibly get some maternity/family pictures made.  Need to find someone wonderful and affordable and look more into this.  **I think most of my hesitation around scheduling something like this is just how so stinkin’ hot it is outside, with cool weather too far down the line.