24 Weeks - Marta Moves In

Overall Mood: I'm situated into living with Kyle and my old room at the sweet condo in Cleveland Heights is occupied now by the new girl, Marta. On Monday, we helped her move her things in, (well, I pretended to help by sometimes opening the door) and on Wednesday, I took her around the area for a little tour of Cleveland Heights. We enjoyed dinner at La Dolce Vita and dessert at Presti's. She's super nice and I'm glad to have a new friend!

Body Changes: Our 24-week appointment went well. The Placenta Previa appears to have corrected itself, meaning I'm back on track for a natural (read:vaginal and unmedicated) childbirth... Now, we're looking into childbirth classes!

After my first round of looking into the different at various options, I was leaning more toward the Bradley Method, which Baby Center explains as follows:

• "A method embracing the idea that childbirth is a natural process and that, with the right preparation, most women can avoid pain medication and routine interventions during labor and birth...The program lasts 12 weeks and is more intensive than other childbirth education classes. Proponents claim that over 86 percent of Bradley-trained couples have had spontaneous, unmedicated vaginal births.

However, 12-weeks in a long time and we delayed beginning the classes to see if natural childbirth was still an option for us. So I'm now thinking about getting a book on the Bradley method and taking classes covering the Lamaze Method in order to develop my own Birth Plan.

Emotions: This post is a week late... I've been very um, distracted. I just didn't have the desire to sit down & write... which is unusual, because I really enjoy talking about myself. I have noticed this trend since becoming pregnant... even my birthday was unimportant. Looks likes I'm slowly but surely becoming a Mommy.

Flavors: In light of my recent facial dry skin that is so bad that it almost looks like a small rash, I gave up strawberries after hearing they might cause the irritation. So I'm searching for a new favorite fruit... bananas and Honey-Nut Cheerios are good but I'm not obsessed. I defrosted some of Kylee's Famous Enchilada Sauce and made enchiladas... yum! I roll the tortillas around pulled chicken, refried beans, black beans and sometimes cheese, topped with tons of Enchilada sauce. In order to add some nutrients, I added matchstick carrots, (you know, when they are like shredded). It was a nice texture and good way to add veggies to dinner.

Appreciation: I'm grateful that things worked out with Marta moving into my old place... She was my top choice and I think she will be a great roommate for the girls and hopefully a new friend!

Baby Steps: Ace's kicks are getting stronger... soon enough they will be felt on the outside! At our 24-week appointment, the Ultrasound technician closely examined the heart and said that everything looks good!

Ace Update: (almost verbatim from BabyCenter.com) Ace is steadily growing, having gained about 4 ounces since last week, putting him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long, picture an ear of corn, he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.