23 weeks

Well, it’s official: I am finally the age I will be when Baby Leschke is born! And I had a lovely birthday. I came home to a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Tom and I went for a nice, long walk after work. We had dinner at my favorite Italian place in the city (Il Mito) and then spent the evening opening cards and eating the delicious cake Tom baked (and decorated!) for me. It was a perfect, relaxing evening.

I also got to celebrate with lots of friends and family this week. On Thursday, my in-laws took us to the top of the Pfister Hotel to Blu Lounge for mocktails and live music, followed by dinner at our favorite steakhouse: Mason Street Grill. On Friday, we met up with med school friends to order pizza and play Risk by the fire. And on Saturday, my parents came down to take me shopping for a winter maternity coat, make us dinner, and take us out for ice cream. I was lucky to see so many loved ones during what my friend Stefanie would call my “birthday week,” and this is the first year in a long time that I’m actually happy to be older. Because that means I’m just one step closer to meeting our little one!

…or shall I say big one ;) Baby is already the size of a grapefruit and weighs over a pound! Her sense of movement is well developed now and she can feel my motions throughout the day. We may even be able to see baby squirm soon! She is preparing for breathing outside of the womb by developing blood vessels in her lungs, and her increasingly keen hearing is habituating to familiar noises (dishwasher, dryer, vacuum cleaner, etc.) so that they won’t startle her after birth. Hopefully that goes for the sound of the train, too!