Week 23 - Heavy as a Mango

We are back at Mango! Baby M weighs about as much as a Mango.

I need to turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, baby M can feel me dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), I have started to see her squirm underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that baby M's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as Milo barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. My little doll-sized babe is about to chub up a bit. Her saggy skin will start to fit her frame as fat deposits fill things out. Beginning this week, she'll start to pack on the pounds (which means I will too! Oh no... so far I am up 1.5lbs from where I started) and by month's end she'll be double the weight she is now (fortunately I won't be — whew!). Right now, baby M's organs and bones are visible through his skin, which has a red hue due to developing veins and arteries beneath. But once those fat deposits settle in, she'll become less transparent.
Many of you have been asking if we have picked out any names!! LOL we have narrowed it down from 20 possibilities to about 10. Maybe we can decide before she arrives.
I have my next prenatal appointment tomorrow. Looking forward to it.