Viability

I hit the 24 week mark yesterday (Saturday), which means one very good thing in pregnancy...viability! If he were born today there would be a chance he would survive. Don't get me wrong, it would not be the best scenario and chances would still be very slim, but it's good to know that we have made it to that point in the pregnancy.

I had an OB appointment on Thursday last week. It was a quick and easy appointment. I measured good at 23cm. She told us our son is an overachiever because he is already showing heart accelerations with movement, which is something they look for when they are doing the non-stress tests later on in pregnancy. Usually babies don't do this for another month. So, it looks like he is growing good and strong and healthy in there! I told her my concerns with pressure and cramps, so she checked my cervix, which is still nice and closed. She also asked me about movement and I told her how good and strong his movements are and that I know when his typical asleep and awake patterns are. She said I'm also about a month ahead from typical on that too.

I'm having so much anxiety now. I thought it would get better, but now that we are so close, the anxiety is worse than ever sometimes. I find myself fearful of pre term labor and stillbirth. I'm hoping once I start the higher level of monitoring in about 6 weeks that I will gain some peace of mind there. Logically I know our chances of this baby making it home safe and sound with us is high. It's just so difficult with our history to focus on that at times.

We started some baby registries at a few stores. I know we won't have any baby showers with a second baby (that's how things are done in the region where I live), but I know the stores send you a coupon to finish up your registry when you get close to delivery. I figured we would be buying all of those things anyway, why not get a good coupon too! It's been fun registering for boy things! We have a great start on some items and we started his nursery...

and here are some of the sweet baby boy clothes we have gotten so far (I didn't know that buying boy clothes could be almost as fun as buying girl clothes)...

And here's my 24 week baby belly...

Another 3 weeks and I'll hit the third trimester. I'm trying to treasure every moment, with the anxiety it's difficult to not just wish it were May already. I'm sure I'll have those moments once he arrives where I'll wish I had done a better job cherishing these pregnancy moments. I felt that way after my daughter was born and I couldn't wait to be pregnant again. I'm fairly certain this will be our last pregnancy, so I need to remind myself to enjoy the moments.