24 Weeks

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), that makes a pretty lean figure, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, his brain is growing rapidly, and his taste buds are developing. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance **that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
As you can tell from the picture Brayden is growing nicely. I have started experiencing some physical pains from all the growing- the sciatic nerve (located nicely in the butt) hurts a lot, and now some lower back pain. The doctor says it is due to the pelvis widening, and all the back muscles and tendons softening to move everything around. It is crazy how much your body adapts to having a baby!

Brayden update

Went to the doctor today and everything is going well! I have gained 6 pounds this month for a total weight gain of 8 pounds. ( I am now catching up!) His heart rate was 157 and he was doing good! We go back in 4 weeks for another check-up!

23 Weeks

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). He may be able to feel your movements now, so put on some tunes and dance around the house. No matter what race your baby is, he looks red now due to blood vessels showing through his transparent skin. His true skin tone will develop over the course of his first year. Blood vessels in your baby's lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing, but complete lung development will take many more months. The lungs are the last organ to fully develop.
I am doing well- growing- feeling Brayden move- and loving it. We go to the doctor on Monday for a check up!

22 Weeks!

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. His skin will continue to appear wrinkled until he gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his head and body is now visible. His lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath his gum line. His eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.
I am getting bigger! Brayden is moving around a lot, and I am definitely looking pregnant! It has been a little rough sleeping now. Drew got me a pre-natal massage for V-day that I used a little early over one of my snow days and it was AWESOME! Brayden loved it too because he was moving around the whole time! I thought I was doing really well with the sickness and hadn't taken a pill basically this whole week, but when I started back to school after the snow days it crept back. I think it is just getting up early and pushing my body that makes the hormones kick in with the sickness. No worries, I will just continue to take the magic medicine that holds back the sickness.
We were also very blessed and given a bedroom set for him from a teacher I work with. She gave us the crib, changing table, and dresser, and it looks great!

21 weeks!

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. I Your baby is really on the move now. Fetal researchers say babies move about 50 times an hour even while sleeping. All that movement helps stimulate your baby's physical and mental development. You may not notice 50 kicks, punches, and twirls during the day, but as you're settling down at night, don't be surprised if your little guy seems ready to dance the night away.
Brayden is doing well- growing. I feel him throughout the day. We set up the nursery which we are very excited about that!

20 weeks!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. (He is supposed to weigh 10 1/2 but Brayden weighs 14!! He is big!) He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats his entire body to protect his skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for his digestive system. he's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).
Like I said above Brayden is bigger than these measurements! Hopefully he will even out, or I'll go early! At my appointment I had gained 4 1/2 pounds in two weeks- that was huge! I am now at a gain of two pounds at 120. It has been very fun and exciting spreading the news. I am trying to get used to the fact that we are going to have a boy in the family. He is going to have lots of girlfriends with my friends' girls, and great bff with Caleb (Blake and Lauren's little boy) who was born this past Sunday!
Drew and I went to register the other day, and that was stressful! We ended up finally agreeing, and are excited. If you want to check it out it is at Babiesrus.com.

It's a BOY!!

Well today was so very exciting! We went to the doctor today and found out that it is going to be Brayden Andrew Beckett! We went in the room and the x-ray tech asked us if we wanted to know, and of course we said yes. Then she asked if we could tell what it was. At that point I thought it had to be a boy if she asked that, and she said yes it was a boy! I started crying, and everyone else was screaming.
He measured big for how far along I am so she said I could come earlier than my due date. (mid June)
Another exciting thing was I had gained 4 1/2 pounds since my last visit two weeks ago!! That was a huge gain since my last visit. I am now 20 weeks- five months along, and now know that it is a boy!! We are very excited!!