23-24 Weeks

We are slowly making our way to the last trimester and things are still great with Lacy and Addie. Lacy had her glucose screening test yesterday, and we got the reports today that everything checked out A-OK. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition. Untreated diabetes increases your risk of having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow too large, especially in her upper body. It also raises the baby's odds for other complications like low blood sugar right after birth. The concoction that Lacy had to drink on an empty stomach really got Addie going. She is already a pretty hyper baby it seems like, but the drink really fired her up. We constantly feel her moving around in there and Lacy has seen her belly move around. Speaking of belly's, Lacy's is growing day by day as you can see.

24 Weeks

Addie is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help hers air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that her increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as the dogs barking, the roar of the vacuum cleaner, or me screaming at whatever game is on the tv — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

We started painting the nursery this weekend after the paint Lacy ordered came in. It is an "elephant gray" color from restoration hardware, and I think it is going to look really good. We ran out of paint and had to order more so we are still working on it.

Nursery Before

Nursery Before

Nursery Before

Ready to get after it!

This is what I did after Brad and I moved the furniture, yelled at the TV and the Vols.
Susan and Lacy were doing the painting at this point.

I got in a little painting at halftime.



Lacy painting.



All that painting wore Abby out. Tough life.