Monday, June 15, 2009

23 Weeks

The Bump does not give a new fruit/vegetable each week anymore. Baby Center says that this week is papayas. Here's what Baby Center says about the babies development this week:

"Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb."

We had an appointment at our level 2 ultrasound office downtown today. Everything went really well, except for the almost hour and a half wait. Oh well, we don't have anything else to do, right? (They were very apologetic for the wait.) The babies are developing perfectly on target. They each weigh about 1 1/2 pounds. The doctor was very happy about the babies and said they are "great" more than a few times. He was able to tell me a little more about their positioning. Baby A is along my side like I described last week. Baby B's feet are up beside A's feet and his head is against my left side. B is "transverse". That would explain why I feel most kicking all in the same place (the top right of my belly) - all 4 feet are in the same location!

These are the best 2 of the 4 pictures they gave us today. I know it's hard to make out, but the babies are still very small, so it's hard to get detail. (For singleton pregnancies, 3D's are usually done near the end of the pregnancy - about 35 weeks.)

Baby A's left profile with a hand beside his nose.

Baby B's right profile.

Todd has been busy working in the nursery. Yes, I said nursery, not junk room. He got the room cleared out, we painted, and he put together a crib the other day and put another crib together tonight. We have heard horror stories about the difficulty of putting together cribs, but these were surprisingly simple to put together. I am thrilled with the cribs. I think they are so good-looking and sturdy. Here are a few pictures of our (mostly Todd's) efforts.

Todd's all smiles :-)

I edged around the doors and baseboards.

Todd working on the first crib:

Rollei's contribution. He's sticking his tongue out!


Question:
Is it necessary to use baby detergent for the babies' laundry or is it okay to use regular detergent like Gain or Tide? Also, what about fabric softeners? I would love to know what you think!

7 comments:

Julia said...

We used Dreft for the first month or so with Esther, and we used Snuggle or Downy for the fabric softner. By the time we had Micah Esther's eczema was in full swing, so we just Tide (I think) Free and Clear laundry detergent. No fragrence, no dyes, hypo allergenic, ect. And the same fabric softner. It worked just fine for us. The room looks great!!!

Tara said...

Natalie -

I used to manage a high end baby store, so I was with new moms all the time. The gossip I heard was that using free/clear detergent is fine unless you notice an allergy. It is much cheaper than dreft.

Anonymous said...

Natalie, Kayla and I are enjoying your blog together this afternoon. You are looking GREAT. Did Cary tell you my niece had her babies last week? They are small, but doing GREAT.

As to the laundry, we have had only one baby out of all of these many babies who had any problems with detergent. We just use our regular detergent (usually Tide or Cheer). With that one I used Free and Clear for all of our laundry...the babies are up against us so we used that for our clothes also.

Keep enjoying the summer and we LOVE your updates. ;>) Mary Sue

Natalie said...

Mom told me that the babies were born and that they were doing well. I'm glad to hear that. How many weeks was she? Thanks for saying you like the updates - I like doing them. I don't journal, so this is the best I'll probably do at remembering these times. Please give Kayla a hug & kiss from me. I sure miss those girls all the time!
Love,
Nat

Anonymous said...

When it comes to baby allergies, the docs say "there's no telling. Just avoid some things that tend to cause a lot of allergies." I say, "well, that's everything." So, to be safe, you can use the detergents that are "free and clear of dyes and allergens" or dreft. I use the ALL free and clear stuff. Also, a lot of babies develop eczema, but not necessarily to detergent. There's no way to avoid contact between the baby and all sorts of allergens in the world, but rest assured... most babies grow out of eczema. Prayer works too.

Anonymous said...

Natalie, the "boys" as the family refers to them...I thought they would call them by name once they were born, but even pictures we get just say "the boys" and I don't know which is which yet... have had some minor bumps. The valve that didn't close on Kayla hasn't closed on Colton yet, but we had a foster baby whose didn't close until between the second and third month, so I'm not expecting them to do anything yet. They never have been on anything but oxygen and a feeding tube. They are learning to suck, so hopefully that will be gone soon. This morning they were 4.10 and 3.13...so they are gaining everyday. Kristin's water broke at 31 weeks, on a Wednesday, but they weren't born until the next Monday. She had time for the steroids to take effect and help those little lungs.

We love the blog and hope you are getting some rest now that the room is almost ready and school is out. We'll be watching for more pictures...what I miss with my nephews is pictures. Todd, thanks for supplying all the visuals. We appreciate them. Love to all five of you. :>) MS

Jana said...

Honestly...I didn't pre-wash any of Jayden's clothes and I still don't use Dreft all the time. I say use which ever kind you want and unless your boys have a reaction to it...don't waste the money. Dreft does get stains out very well! :)