24 weeks pregnant today! Wowzers. :) I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy is flying by now. Robert is now around 11 and a half inches long. He's well proportioned, but still very thin with very little body fat. He weighs around 1.3lbs! Robert's ears are fully functional, he can now hear sounds from outside the womb very easily.
He is also still kicking for Britain! I still absolutely ADORE these little kicks he gives me. I love just laying down, with my head propped up a bit, staring at my tummy, and watch it "bounce" around as he kicks. They are getting so strong too! The other day, I was laying on the bed, Jonathan came and joined me, and laid his hand on my tummy to see if Robert would start to kick, he did start kicking fairly shortly, and then BAM he gave a MASSIVE kick, which Jonathan said was the strongest he's felt, and boy, it was the strongest I've felt! It did actually take me a bit by surprise, when Robert did that kick. I just LOVE seeing my stomach "blip" out in places when he kicks. I love that I can feel my little boy getting stronger every week too!
Other pregnancy related news: the Hypnobirthing class on Thursday. It went great. :) There were 5 other couples there, but only two weren't first time parents-to-be. I was the youngest person there! I think the next youngest woman was 30. But anyway, Jenny, the practitioner, went through basically how it's fear that causes a woman to tense up during childbirth, and it's that tenseness that makes muscles in the uterus constrict, which means they're not working properly to do what they're meant to do during the birthing process. Which causes the pain. So from what I can tell, these classes will be basically how to get yourself into a state of calm relaxation (aka hypnosis) during the labour, which will enable your body to work as it is supposed to when giving birth, both in the uterus muscles remaining relaxed, and allowing the body to produce the natural pain-killing chemicals that naturally occur when the body goes into labour. (I forget what they are called - but they are the same chemicals that make you feel good)
It did seem a bit "hippy-ish" at first, doing the breathing techniques, and so on, allowing yourself to get into a state of extreme relaxation just by breathing. But it seems that if it works, if these breathing exercises allow you to relax and birth comfortably (they use different terminology too, softer language that doesn't have negative connotation - comfortable birthing = pain-free labour, opening and thinning of the cervix = dilation, surges = contractions, etc) then it'll be worth it. She also seems very pro home birthing. I would consider it, but Jonathan isn't keen, and the midwife when I mentioned I'd like to do some research on it and maybe I might try to have one, she sort of pooh-poohed it, and said "well it's not recommended for the first birth as we don't know if you'll have any birthing complications" or something like that. I'll finish the hypnobirthing classes shortly before 29 weeks pregnant - which means I guess we will have to continually practise the techniques to make sure we don't go "rusty".
So. Tomorrow we will be going to Aylesbury, back to the flat to decorate there a bit. We need to do some painting, taking down shelves, refilling holes, and so on. We'll make sure the rooms are well ventilated before we do them of course. I hope you're all well. I'll try and get a picture in the belly gallery in the next few days. I think I must have grown a bit since 20 weeks!
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