Viable - 23 weeks 6 days

We are one day shy of being "technically" viable. 70% chance if she is born tomorrow she will live. I think every pregnant woman breathes a sigh of relief making it to this point. Of course she isn't allowed to come yet (so I keep reminding her) but it makes me feel a little bit better making it to this point. 16 weeks and counting down!

It's been a rough week. FINALLY feeling better, it's been 10 days of complete hell. Tamiflu, zpack, prednisone, adviar, nebulizers, magnesium sulfate, solumedrol, musinex and benadryl. I've never been more afraid in my life that 1. something bad would happen to Scarlett. 2. I was going to die. Having to go to the ER because I couldn't breathe was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I was so grateful to see Dr. Pio and knew that he would never let anything bad happen to me or Scarlett. He did a bedside ultrasound to try and calm me down and there she was, sucking her thumb and kicking my sides. Absolutely perfect. Completely unfazed by the craziness of her mother. Despite being afraid I was going to cook her with my fever and suffocate her with my asthma she was absolutely oblivious and just growing along. Her strength and resilience is amazing.

I had my 24 week doctors appointment today which was irritating. I was told to do my glucose testing today, well the nurse who told me that last time was apparently incorrect. I'm not suppose to do my glucose test until 25 weeks. The nurse who saw me today actually had the nerve to blame me on this. I calmly explained that no, I was told to drink the glucola for my May 12th appointment, no I did not misunderstand, this was what I was told. After arguing some more and finally getting the green light from my OB she took my blood. They missed my vein the first time and barely made it within the time frame for the glucose test. Dr. Hughes apologized profusely when she saw me which I did appreciate but I was still salty. Because I have been taking prednisone there is a good chance that my glucose reading will be screwed up and I'll have to do that again. The glucola stuff is horrible, it looks like orange crush but tastes like orange cough syrup with the same consistency. It's funny because it reminds me of that orange cough syrup as a kid that I loved. As I was pounding it down all I could think of was "I use to want to chug this crap, was I crazy?" so after drinking this crap all you want to do is chug a bottle of water and eat something salty, unfortunately you can't for at least an hour. I really hope I don't have to do that again.

Scarlett continues to absolutely thrive. My uterus is measuring 24cm which is exactly where it should be. Her heart rate is in the 150's. She weighs about a pound a half now and is roughly a foot long. I can feel every ounce of her when she flails. It blows my mind that she'll gain at least another 5 lbs before she's born. She is pretty much active 24 hours a day now. Always kicking and tumbling, even when I'm at work walking around. She is so strong and incredibly stubborn. I can already tell she will be quite the girl. She doesn't like being a poked and will remind you of that when you do poke her. She gives me an utter sense of calm when she moves, I can feel an air of calmness around her. Just like her father. She is so much of him. Every day I feel like I learn a little bit more about her, it's an incredible feeling.

Today is Matt's 25th birthday, we celebrated on Thursday. He's not big on birthdays but luckily (maybe unluckily) I make a big deal about such occasions. I got him scratch cards, bottle of jack and a new white sox shirt. A few things he loves. He was darling and wore the shirt the rest of the night, over his other shirt...he didn't win anything on the scratch cards but it was still fun. We relaxed the rest of the night, watched Anthony Bourdain, canoodled, the usual. He loves to poke Scarlett and rumble her about. We were laying in bed and he was shaking her up (per usual) and talking to her trying to get her to kick, she gave him a full body slam. The look on his face was priceless, he just laughed and had the biggest smile on his face. "That's my daughter! She is so strong. Baby girl do it again!" She gave him a few more wacks but not another body slam. He told her he loved her for the first time that night. I knew he loved her, but hearing him say those three little words to her was indescribable. I know that in any normal situation this wouldn't be a big deal to hear, but given that Matt and I are anything but in the typical parenting situation. I still wouldn't change it for anything.

How far along? 23 weeks 6 days

Total weight gain: 8lbs as of today
Maternity clothes? Nah, currently in Matt's t-shirt and a pair of leggies
Stretch marks?  No more than I had before I got pregnant
Sleep:  Not sleeping so well because of all of the coughing, also been up to pee a lot. ALSO been getting nauseated when I sleep.
Best moment this week: Hearing Matt tell Scarlett he loves her
Miss Anything? Alcohol, I'm looking forward to a stiff drink or two.
Movement: Constantly. It's my favorite feeling in the world
Food cravings: Coke icees still. Also anything BBQ, especially corn bread
Anything making you queasy or sick: Sleep. Been waking up in the middle of the night feeling like I'm going to throw up
Gender:  lil lady
Labor Signs: Had Braxton Hicks contractions for the first time this week. So scary
Symptoms: If I cough too hard, I pee. I cannot believe I'm that woman.
Belly Button in or out? Still pretty darn deep
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moderately content
Looking forward to: Meeting Matt's parents next weekend!