Hello all! We reached an important milestone in our Baby's life this week. If something went terribly wrong and we had to deliver our baby boy early, our little one is now viable in a doctor's opinion. I think that every expecting parent heaves a sigh of relief at this milestone! To know that from here on out in the pregnancy, our baby has a fighting chance at life, is such a wonderful thought. A comforting thought. This week I also reached a milestone in my life, my 30th birthday! You can read about my thoughts on that here. It's a little weird to think that I had my previous two children in my twenties, and now I'm moving forward into my thirties and pregnant with our third baby. I totally still feel like a young mom! I don't put my thoughts into words very well, but being in my thirties makes me feel like a more mature adult. A sophisticated version of my twenty-something self. I can only hope that turns out to be true! (Though no matter what age I am, I'm going to keep my silly side. It makes life fun!) Here's what went on this week: 

How Far Along: 24 weeks 6 days Braxton Hicks Contractions: Only about 5 through the whole week. That's amazing, given my previous history in the last two pregnancies and dealing with an irritable uterus. I'm actually experiencing a normal pregnancy, and it has made our life so much easier!

Food Cravings: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches. We buy a natural peanut butter with no added sugar, and the honey we buy is raw, so I think that's a fairly healthy craving.

Midwife/Doctor Appointment: Yes! An appointment with our midwife. In fact, we almost missed it. Usually I'm counting down the weeks until our next appointment, but we've had so many different things going on in our life right now, and the pregnancy is going so well, that it slipped my mind until the night before the appointment. I'm glad we remembered it, and didn't have to reschedule! Our little baby boy is so active, it was hard to get a decent reading of his heartbeat. One minute it was in the 140's, and the next it was in the 160's. I'm still measuring a week small, which is a little curious since the baby is measuring 8 days ahead. But, everything is looking normal compared to my previous history with my other pregnancies. Our midwife could feel definite baby body parts, which surprised her because she has other clients who, at the same weeks in their pregnancies, couldn't feel the baby very clearly yet. So that just reconfirms the fact that our little man is LARGE.

Not So Fun Pregnancy Stuff: Back is getting worse. I think it's time to schedule a chiropractor appointment.

My Totally Pregnant Moments of the Week: 1).For the first time in this pregnancy, I bent over to retrieve something, and had to straighten up and try again. I couldn't bend over! 2.) I tried looking at the scale during my midwife appointment, and couldn't see the numbers on the scale for myself. She had to look for me. Stands to reason, I can no longer see my feet either when I'm standing straight. 3.) As I was shaving my legs in the shower this week, I went to rinse the razor in the shower stream, and on the way back to my legs, I nicked my hip! That's never happened before. Guess I'm getting wider. 

What I Did To Prepare For Baby's Arrival: Nothing this week.

Total Weight Gain So Far: 14 lbs. One pound up from last week. Maybe Baby Boy is starting to understand the pound a week weight plan for the second trimester. 

Regular or Pregnancy Clothes: Both

Comment of The Week: As I was at the farmers market last weekend, there was a regular customer that kept looking down at my belly while I was talking with her. Her looks from my face to my belly were so noticeable, that since we were on the topic of kids, I casually asked if she'd heard we were expecting Baby #3? She replied, "Oh! I just thought you were looking a little pudgy!"

Baby Movement: At least 6 times a day. And he'll kick during the night if I need to get up with one of our toddlers.

Size of Baby #3: The size of an ear of corn. About 1 1/3 lbs. Gained 4 oz. since last week!

Pregnancy Thoughts This Week: Thinking more and more of the coming birth. In a lot of ways I'm looking forward to it, and hoping we get to experience our third home birth together. Certain parts of birth don't thrill me, so I'm already trying to think positively about each difficult aspect, and praying that God will help me through it as He has with the previous two births we've had.  
 

Share your thoughts with us! We love hearing your thoughts and reading the comments.  

To read the previous Pregnancy Posts:
-Pregnancy Week 14: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 15: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 16: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 17: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 18: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 19: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 20: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 21: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 22: Baby #3 The BIG Reveal
-Pregnancy Week 23: Baby BOY#3