24 weeks
Dear baby girl,
I have been waiting for this day since the moment I found out I was pregnant with you. You see, starting at 24 weeks your chances of survival should you be born early are pretty darn good. As in, I could tell that rather unsympathetic doctor I spoke with a few weeks ago to shove it. Although I'm pretty sure you still weigh just over a pound so if you could hang out inside me for just a bit longer and grow to a reasonable size so I'm not scared of breaking you I'd appreciate it.
My book tells me that at 24 weeks your face is fully formed, complete
with eyelashes, eyebrows, and a good amount of hair on your head. Except
apparently that hair is currently "snow white" since you haven't gotten
the whole developing pigment stuff down quite yet. That's still a comin'.
You're moving a ton these days, and so strongly that you could see my stomach jiggle with your kicks and punches. It's pretty entertaining, though it makes for a sadly unproductive morning. I had grand plans to read a chapter in one of my child-birthing books while the baby I nanny for slept this morning, but you decided it was a good time to kick so instead I rolled up my shirt and stared at my involuntarily vibrating belly for about 45 minutes straight. I'm pretty sure this means that once you are born I'll just stare at you all day and get absolutely no work done. It's not creepy if it's your mama doing it, right?
I gotta admit it's not just your movements that make my belly entertaining to look at. I'm a major innie, so I don't think I'll be one of those mamas whose belly button sticks out normally, but mine has started to poke out if I apply pressure around it in just the right way. The first time I showed daddy he said "ewwwww" but now he's come around and is as amused by it as I am. Last night at our prenatal appointment, our midwife was complimenting how nice my belly looked and how I hadn't developed any stretch marks. I promptly responded by showing her my belly button trick. What? I was proud. She tried to be polite, but her face couldn't hold it together. Oh well, maybe if I show her again next time she'll get used to it like daddy did.
Love,
Mama
