23 Weeks!

It's been yet another week! 23 weeks pregnant today! I can't believe how quickly the time seems to pass these days. I'm not complaining :)

My precious baby is now 11.5 inches long, 1.1 pounds, and about the size of a large mango. Baby is growing so fast! If I wasn't allergic to mangos, I'd eat one in celebration of Baby's new fruit size.

Now to see what else BabyBump has to say.

Baby - Your baby is probably quite active by now and you should be able to feel movement or kicks in your belly. It might even be possible to see the movements on the surface of your skin. Overall, your baby is now more proportioned from head size to the rest of the body and is looking more and more like a newborn.

Body - In preparation for labor, your uterus may begin to practice by exercising it's muscles. Around this time some women experience warm-up contractions better known as Braxton Hicks contractions or false labor. These contractions are irregular and vary in intensity. Contact your medical practitioner if you have any concerns.

Health Tip - Sodium in your diet. Although sodium need not be restricted during pregnancy, excessive use is not recommended. A diet of primarily natural food can be safely salted "to taste." Pregnant women should avoid processed or "junk" foods that are high in sodium. Excessive intake of salt can cause high blood pressure (hypertension) and may lead to excessive weight gain.

Baby is definitely quite active these days! Sometimes the kicks I feel are even a little uncomfortable. I can't imagine how they're gonna feel at the end of the pregnancy when Baby is a LOT bigger! I love the kicks and movement though, it lets me know that Baby is doing well and having a grand ol' time!

I haven't even been looking to see if I could see Baby's movement from the outside! Now that I know it may be possible, I'm going to start looking :)

Contractions?? Already?! I'm not looking forward to this. I haven't experienced any Braxton Hicks contractions yet, and I'm not looking forward to when I do. Will I even recognize a contraction when I feel one?

It's interesting that sodium was brought up in today's description because I turned down some soy sauce with dinner tonight because of its high sodium content (and I hadn't read this yet). I'm not really a snacker though, so my daily sodium intake is actually pretty low. So that's good :) I don't think high blood pressure is something I need to be concerned about anyway; the midwives always comment on how low my blood pressure is every appointment. It's not too low, but it's at the bottom of the acceptable range.

Well, there you have it... 23 weeks!