23 Weeks

How far along: 23 weeks
Gender: Still a girl!
Weight gain:  16-ish pounds.
Maternity clothes: Sort of.  I kind of look at them when deciding what to wear and go "ugh".  So, not many.
Stretch marks:  Nope.
Belly button in or out: In. (and wedding ring is still on!)
Sleep: Good!
Best moment this week: Being able to prod this baby into moving with sweet drinks and breathing exercises.  And on Tuesday, I felt some sort of body part poking around...
Worst moment this week: Today was a pretty awful day.  We saw the neonatologist and, seriously (!), someone needs to show these people how to do a lead-in of bad news.  For one, you don't drop the bomb right after introductions... We met Dr. L today and among his first words was the (new to us) news that Arthrogryposis that is detected in the first trimester (as ours was) is often lethal.  That was very VERY hard to hear.  He also said that baby will likely be in the NICU during pretty much her entire hospital stay, meaning I'll be going up to the 3rd floor to visit her (not to mention that the tests they will conduct on her will be much more extensive than I even imagined).  I had to will myself not to cry and to keep it together and not break down several times.  Even so, Dr. L proved himself to be wonderfully compassionate (even if his profession forces him to be a realist) and he even gave us his personal cell number.  There's still so much we won't know until this baby is born, but we are hopeful.  And despite the hard news today, I am grateful for the opportunity to try to prepare as much emotionally and physically as I can.
Miss anything: Normal OB visits. (Seriously!)
Movement: Daily.  But I freak out a little if I haven't felt anything for a few hours.
Cravings: I still need to get my sushi on...
Queasy or sick:  Nope.  Not even after eating mass amounts of cookies...
Looking forward to: Quitting my job and being home with my boys before the craziness hits.

~Nichole