24 Weeks 3 Days

Thank you for spending a little bit of your time to vote for your favourite names!!! My MIL was right, we realized that picking the name is the hardest job during the pregnancy (never mind the labour and all :D ). And as the mother and father to-be, we both seem to be so picky too! *laughs* We've seen more than thousand of names and guess what, we like only a few of them!! But I think we've agreed on 1 beautiful name, first AND middle!!! I'm glad... *PHEW* (now hopefully none of us starts to dislike it).

The baby is indeed very very active. When I'm in bed and could feel the kicks, I'd quickly try to feel and catch a glimpse of the movement, but she seems to know and shy away. *chuckles* The weirdest feeling so far is when one part of my stomach just suddenly bulge out (maybe that's when she's stretching or changing position?).

Oh by the way, my last ultrasound was November 30th. She weighed about 660 gram and was occassionally staring at us during the scan! Dad then changed it to the 3D scan as he thought her position was pretty good for it. And yes, here's the 3D side profile of our baby girl!! So sorry (again) I quickly snapped it with my PDA, hence it's rather blurry. But you can see her nose (which is Ahren's!!), and she's got a finger in her mouth (not exactly sucking it, which looks quite funny).



YOUR BABY THIS WEEK...
Week 24

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes for a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds may be working now. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
Your baby can hear more and more now, and you may even notice her startle at loud, sudden noises. But she's probably getting used to the regular noises she hears around the house, such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner. Many new parents are surprised by how unfazed their newborns seem by sounds like these, but if you think about it, they've had months to get accustomed to them.

Your Body

You weight gain is beginning to accelerate to about one pound (.45 kg) per week, so symptoms like lower back pain and swollen feet may increase. Resting periodically for 15 to 20 minutes can help. Beginning this week, your health care provider will start monitoring you for gestational diabetes (high blood sugar levels during pregnancy). If you are gaining a lot of weight, blood testing is imperative, since excessive weight gain is typically a symptom. Some women also report feeling some depression around this time. While feelings of sadness usually pass within a few weeks, talk to your caregiver if they don't.