Week 23 Update

As of today, Baby Ben and I are at 23 weeks gestation, which means we have about 17 weeks to go. (And if his ultrasound is accurate, that could be closer to 16 weeks.) It's almost hard to believe that we're past the halfway point already.

According to "What to Expect", he is 8.5 inches from crown to rump and 1.5 pounds this week. And from the bulge in my belly and the increasing heartburn (which is why I'm up blogging at 3 a.m.), I can tell he's getting bigger. "What to Expect" also says that he can hear not only my voice, but Brian's as well. I can only imagine that he's also hearing his big brother loud and clear, especially all of Jack's songs (see the next post). Maybe I should ask Jack to help sing to Baby Ben...

Ben is a very active baby, kicking very regularly and with lots of enthusiasm, especially at night. Unlike Jack, who slept through yoga class until Savasana (mediation) at the end, Ben kicks the whole time, which makes for an interesting sensation. I'll be in Warrior 2 pose and suddenly feel a kick or a roll... it's almost enough to throw me off balance.

I was grateful for his constant kicks, though, on Tuesday when I had food poisoning (I'm guessing due to a bad container of yogurt). It was as though he was reassuring me that even though I felt like dying, he was still feeling peachy. Ironically, the only other time in my life that I've had food poisoning like that was around this same time in my pregnancy with Jack. Maybe I'm more susceptible to it during pregnancy because my body doesn't fight off bacteria as well as it regularly does? I'm not sure, but I'm hoping not to repeat that sensation any time soon.

Aside from the food poisoning and some occasional heartburn, I'm feeling great and relatively symptom-free. No swelling, no nausea, no exhaustion (knock on wood!)... I've been very lucky with both pregnancies so far to feel so healthy. Hopefully the third trimester is as smooth sailing as the first two.