Bump Watch: 24 Weeks

Coming in just under the wire, before we hit 25 weeks tomorrow -- it's the 24 week bump watch picture!

I was in another one of my lovely, comfy maternity shirts for this one. It's a bit more billowy than my other shirts, so it almost looks like the bump is a bit smaller than it was last week, but David assures me that I'm growing ever larger by the day -- which, under these circumstances, is a really sweet thing for him to say. :)

And our little boy is continuing to grow, too! Here is this week's blurb from BabyCenter.com --

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture 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.

Aww, he's an ear of corn this week! (Which, incidentally, has been one of my cravings for the last several weeks... I love me some corn on the cob...)

And speaking of lung development, the biggest milestone we passed this week was viability! At 24 weeks, the rate of viability outside the womb goes up to 30-50%, so most hospitals will take extraordinary measures to try to save the life of a baby born this early. Before 24 weeks, survival rates are generally too low for even the best NICU units to be able to do much. So it's a cautiously exciting point to hit in this pregnancy -- we definitely, definitely don't want the baby to be born just yet, but it's exciting to have hit technical viability!

Fun milestone for this week -- my parents bought us our crib, which arrived this weekend!! So we're hoping to clear out the nursery/guest bedroom this week (it's currently full of empty boxes and storage items from the move) and start setting up the baby furniture this week! Pictures will be sure to come. :)