23 Weeks

And what a week it has been!

We had another ultrasound on Friday that was extremely painful!  The woman who did the ultrasound pushed soooo hard, even using TWO hands on the ultrasound-thing.  It was essentially pushing a wide stick VERY hard around on my very soft abdomen for an hour.  I am still sore.  Terrible business.  I am glad that Ryan was there with me, so that when Declan grows up he can testify to all the pain his mother went through BEFORE he was born...

I am moving on now, to the update!

At 23 weeks, Declan weighs just over a pound and is more than 11 inches long!  His sense of movement is developed enough that if I were to dance, he would be able to feel it!  His ears have developed to the point of being able to hear sounds outside, such as Sammy barking or the vacuum cleaner running.

I feel him moving quite a bit now and would almost swear that as I was falling asleep last night and had my arm draped tucked across and underneath my belly that I felt him kick against my arm.

Last night, Ryan even was able to feel him kick!  That is a first and made me soooo happy!

Below is my pregnancy belly photo for this week.  :)  Eventually when my belly rounds out a bit more, I want to do a photo shoot with Ryan.  And then edit the pics myself.  I look forward to that, more than any photo shoot I've done before.  :)

My energy level is up a bit, at the level I would call "pregnancy normal."  I get tired easily, rest for a while, then I feel better.  I stayed up the other night past midnight and I somewhat regret it the next day, when I was just so sleepy!  I have to learn to be more careful and keep to a schedule even when friends come over.

Cravings:  none, really.  I occasionally want ice cream or cheese or chicken, but nothing that if I don't have it now, today, NOW,  that I will not survive without.

Random thoughts:  I look forward to starting to decorate Declan's room this weekend.  I've bought some supplies and have been taking my time in forming a plan and have a good idea of what I want to do.  It makes it feel so much more real...tangible.  I finally feel like I'm doing something!  That feels really good.