Week 24 1/2 - Reaching Viability

Getting to week 24 is a big week, especially for high risk pregnancies.  It's "Viability" - meaning that before week 24, there's really little to no chance of the baby surviving outside of the womb, but at week 24, while the baby would be a micro preemie & have to remain in intensive care for a long time, there is I think a 50% chance of survival outside of the womb, and those chances increase steadily 2-3% every day until about week 28, where the chance of survival is then pretty high.  (Better link to the chart below)

So, it's a big milestone, especially considering the excitement of last week.

I had 2 visits to Newton-Wellesley last week - one on Wednesday for an ultrasound and check with Dr. Newton-Cheh, and another one on Friday with Dr. Robinson at MFM. 

Here are the ultrasound pictures from Wednesday.  A nice little profile:

And a slightly skeletal looking view of the face:

The update from Dr. Newton-Cheh was to continue to stay home on the modified bed rest and we would continue to look at things week to week.  She said the next decision point would be if things started getting worse, we would consider getting steroids to help the baby's lungs and other development, but that as of now, things were looking good.

Then here are the ultrasounds from the Friday visit to MFM.  A couple of profiles with the little guy moving his hands all around.  (and I can verify that he does a LOT of moving around these days)

And then here's another ultrasound picture they gave me - while they were doing the ultrasound, I could clearly see what this was, but they must have captured the image at a wierd time, because as I look at it, it's hardly recognizable...  So here's the next poll - what do you think this image is??

At 24 weeks, they can also do the first weight estimate.  Little one came in at 1 lb, 11 ounces.  That's a lot less than the actual weight I've gained, which is getting close to 15 pounds.

The good news is that Dr. Robinson looked at the ultrasound and actually said everything was looking really good - he even said he may have jumped the gun on my procedure - my body was holding and doing everything it was supposed to.  He said it looked so good, in fact, that he didn't need to see me back until 4 weeks. 

Now some may attribute that all to chance, but I am a spiritual person, so I fully believe that the thoughts and prayers of our friends and family had a lot to do with it - because while I've been pretty good, I certainly can't say that I've strictly adhered to the prescribed bed rest!

And finally, what you've all been waiting to see - my latest belly pictures (excuse the bad hair day and no makeup - that's what happens when you're home by yourself with dogs all day)