Peanut = Ear of Corn

Week 24: Ear of Corn

Your baby has caught up with an ear of corn in size and gained about 1/4 pound since last week. (Length: a foot.)

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 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.

Doctor’s Report: Peanut weighs just over 1 ½ lbs and is just over 1 ft long. His head is down; pushing into my cervix (pleasant… I KNOW!). He is measuring about 1 – 1 ½ weeks ahead. Because I am carrying him SO LOW and his head is way down in my pelvic floor, I have to start wearing a support belt. Hopefully, this will make me a little more comfortable and have fewer contractions. With all the pelvic and sciatic pain, my doctor wants me to go see a physical therapist. My blood pressure was good this time! She is hoping I can make it 3 more months (to the end of February)… we shall see.

Life Update:

• Thanksgiving was great! We had awesome food, Landen played with his 6 yr old cousin for HOURS!
•  Landen decided to be more talkative than ever… Dictionary of Landen:
•  “Pea” = please, green, tree, pink, peas, and beans
• “Bawwh” = ball
• “Bouw” = brown
• “OHWWOW” = yellow, anything exciting/surprising/different, or if he falls down
• “Ay” (pronounced like Hey without the H) = hey, peak-a-boo, anytime he finds something he was looking for, cat appears
• “Uh oooh” = when he falls, drops something, can’t find something, or someone/something/cat disappears
• “Up” = cup, or if he wants up or down
• “Yea or Yesh” = yes
• “Yea ya ya ya” = when he is very excited about getting or agreeing to something
• “That” accompanied by a pointing finger = anything he wants, sees, or wants others to see
• "Oh" = orange
• "Bwuh" = black 
• "Behw" = bear
• We put our Christmas tree up! This is the first Christmas tree we have ever had, so we had to get ornaments and I attempted to make some…. FYI making ornaments is a nightmare great. I am terrible at it!!! How is it that I can be SO artsy in so many areas but NOT ornament decorating!?! Anyway, I am still working on the ornaments; I managed to make 1 that was tree worthy. Landen helped Keith hang all the ornaments. When we turned the tree lights on, Landen just stood there pointing at the tree saying, “OHWOW WOW OOOH WOW,” and then he tried to run over the tree with his push car… stinker.
• Landen started daycare (aka school) on Monday. He seemed to enjoy it and was quite a happy kid when he got home. When I was driving him to daycare this morning, I asked him if he wanted to go to “school” and he said, “Yea!” while passionately nodding his head up and down. Once we got there and I took him to his class, he turned and waved bye to me… His contentment with going to daycare makes me feel SO much better about him going!
• Landen face planted off his toy horse yesterday and busted his lip... AGAIN!
• Keith is sick. He starts finals tomorrow. Not a fun combination.
• This weekend is going to be super busy! We are having a Chi Omega reunion all weekend, our small group is doing a service project for the men at the Foundry on Sunday, Keith’s dad wants all of Keith’s brothers (& wives/fiancés/girlfriends and Landen) to get together on Sunday, Keith has finals next week and will be studying all weekend, and I know there is more but I can’t remember it all…

Pregnancy Stuff:

1. How far along? 24 weeks 1 days
2. Weight gain? 0 lbs (I broke even after Thanksgiving meals)
3. Baby bump? Obviously
4. Maternity clothes? AND a maternity/SI support belt
5. Movement? YES! And he is getting stronger
6. Cravings? Chocolate, pizza, balsamic vinegarette, nutty-buddy bars, Christmas tree cakes, and MILK
7. Aversions? onions, bell peppers, meats...
8. Symptoms? Back pain, pelvic pressure, sciatic pain, headaches, stomach cramps/contractions, tired, legs falling asleep, and some other not so pleasant things.
9. Sleep? It’s not great. My dreams are just plain NUTS!
10. Gender? Boy
11. Belly button? In
12. What I miss? Sleep, being able to reach stuff under my desk, laying on the floor and letting Landen crawling all over me, getting comfortable, laying on my stomach.
13. What I'm looking forward to? Naming this child!
14. Concerns? My sister having her baby and me not being allowed to travel there for her. Maternity leave (or lack thereof).  Missing work to go to all my doctor’s appointments AND to physical therapy appointments… ugh! Why can’t they work hours that I DON’T have to be at work!?
15. Blessings? Family. Friends. Small Group. My job. Keith. Landen. Peanut. Blood pressure maintaining. Daycare being a good experience for Landen.
16. Pictures:




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