 |
| 24 Weeks! Thank you, Lord. |
Pregnancy Symptoms
People are definitely starting to take notice of the baby bump! G and I went into a restaurant a few days ago and the hostess very obviously looked down at my belly as soon as we walked through the door. Usually nobody says anything, maybe because they're still not 100% confident about whether or not I'm actually pregnant. You can tell they're curious, but too afraid of being wrong to ask questions. We always get a good chuckle out of situations like that!
I make jokes with my family all the time about "pregnancy strength" (which I definitely don't have) and "pregnancy rage". While I certainly haven't received superhuman strength as a result of carrying Tessa (if anything, it's the opposite!), I have had quite a few encounters with pregnancy rage. Normally I'm not a moody person, and it takes a whole lot to get me agitated, but this past week has definitely been interesting. There have been at least two or three occasions when I got riled at nobody in particular about absolutely nothing. Can't figure out how to use Google Maps on my iPhone? RAGE. Can't make up my mind where I want to put the raised beds for the vegetable garden? RAGE, RAGE, RAGE! Of course my angry moments are still very mild compared to most people, and there are probably few who would have noticed anything amiss. Externally, it's not always obvious; however, internally I am fuming. Thankfully, I've discovered that keeping food in my stomach helps me avoid or calm the pregnancy rage. If I wait too long (read: more than a couple of hours) to eat something, I can feel myself starting to get irritable. This is something I am definitely going to keep a close eye on in the coming weeks!
A Few Thoughts
At our appointment with the perinatologist on Wednesday, we found out that Tessa is weighing in at about 1lb, 5oz (which is one oz less than Addie weighed when she was born) and is between 12-13 inches long! Knowing she is almost exactly the weight and length that Adelyn was helps us have a clear picture of what she would probably look like if we were holding her in our arms now. Speaking of looks, we were able to see Tessa at the appointment! While were talking to the ultrasound technician, she switched without warning from the 2D ultrasound to 3D. Although this isn't something G and I were planning on asking for (I didn't even know they were capable of doing 3D at that office), it was amazing to see our baby girl so clearly!
She has full lips and the sweetest little nose I've ever seen! Most of the time, G and I think the 3D ultrasound pictures look kind of creepy (no offense to anyone who has them done), which is one reason we weren't planning on getting them. In Tessa's case, they're so precious! I admit there is probably some bias there, though! We're so in love already. It's funny, because we really want her to stay put as long as possible, but we're also eager to hold her in our arms and cuddle her!
We discussed the fetal fibronectin testing with the perinatologist and he said that because I have a cerclage, I have a much greater chance of false positives. He said that for this reason we won't be doing those tests, which means I don't have to be concerned about the possibility of steroid injections (at least not as a result of those tests). This news really put my mind at ease, and I feel like I can relax a little more now.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this update, we've reached the twenty-fourth week of this pregnancy. Tessa would have about a 50% chance of survival if she were to be born this week, which is a really big deal. The percentage will dramatically increase with each week that the pregnancy continues. So far, so good!
No comments:
Post a Comment