Baby's Length: 7.5-8.0 in.
Baby's Weight: 1-1.25 lbs.
Baby's Size: Loaf of bread
Happy New Year!!!! The past week has been great. I've been singing and reading a lot to the baby. Starting this past Friday, I've been feeling the baby move and kick everyday. It happens the most in the evening hours when J.D. and I are just relaxing on the couch, but I certainly feel him throughout the day. It is the neatest/weirdest feeling to feel something alive inside of you...almost alien like at times (a friendly alien). On Friday afternoon, I was feeling like the kicks were strong enough for J.D. to feel them, but every time he tried to put his hand on my tummy, Munchkie stopped kicking. He must really love his Daddy!
It's becoming increasingly obvious to outsiders that I'm pregnant, which is kind of fun :) I still look in the mirror and can't believe I'm looking at the same person. I feel like every day I look bigger than the day before. Week 20 felt like part 1 of my bump "popping" and week 22 felt like part 2. Check out the Munchkin Bump this week:
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he'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 him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his 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 him when he hears them outside the womb.
Weighing in at a pound, and at eight inches long, your baby is starting to really look like a baby! You can compare her size to a box of sugar or a bag of coffee beans. You're now in your sixth month and your baby is about to chub up a bit. His saggy skin will start to fit his frame as fat deposits fill things out. Beginning this week, he'll start to pack on the pounds (which means you will, too!) and by month's end he'll be double the weight he is now (though you won't be — whew!). Right now, your baby's organs and bones are visible through his skin, which has a red hue due to developing veins and arteries beneath. But once those fat deposits settle in, he'll become less transparent, too.
At eight inches and slightly over a pound, your baby is the size and shape of a small doll when you are 23 weeks pregnant. (But then, you already knew that you were carrying a living doll, didn't you?) This week marks the beginning of some serious weight gain. Your baby's weight in the next four weeks alone should double (and you may feel as though yours is too). 
You have probably heard your developing baby's heartbeat through a Doppler a number of times already (though you never get tired of hearing it), but by now you can also hear it through a standard stethoscope. What a heart throb!
Your baby's skin is reddish in color now because of the developing blood vessels underneath (remember, the skin is very thin still). It also hangs loosely from his or her little body at this point. That's because the skin grows faster than the fat develops during fetal growth. But don't worry. By the time your baby is born, he or she will be pleasantly plump and filled out — from chubby cheeks to chubby toes. 
- Proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since he hasn't begun to form body fat.
- Bones located in the middle ear harden.
- Your baby is able to hear. (Dads, did you know: low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice?)
- The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
- The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
- If born now, your baby has a 15% chance of survival, his odds going up with each passing day.
- The average baby at this stage weighs 1.1 pound (501gm) and is 11.38 inches (28.9cm) long.
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