Pregnancy Update - 24 weeks

• Earthquake
  On Tuesday night a 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck in Maine and we felt it in our house in Vermont. Marc and I were both sitting in the living room. At first I didn't believe my gut reaction and turned around to look outside to find the big truck that had just driven by. Meanwhile Marc was thinking to himself, "I hope that's not the roof collapsing." Being unable to find anything instantly on the internet we called our neighbors to find out if they had felt it too. At that point it finally registered on the earthquake map and most of our Vermont friends were talking about it on Facebook. Thankfully there was no damage at our house only a few racing heartbeats. 

• 24 Weeks
  We have reached 24 weeks and so far everything is still going along as it should. Baby girl is very active in kicking and moving around and Marc has been able to feel those movements by resting his hand on my belly. The midwife suggested he rest his head on my belly to get a different experience but last night when he did that Baby Girl kicked him right in the ear. Needless to say he was not prepared for it and I think he'll think twice about doing it again. I guess she doesn't like feeling squished in there.
  
  I'm still feeling great and lately I've been really fascinated by my belly button. At first it was just stretching out but now it's beginning to turn from and innie to an outie. Since no update is complete without a picture of the belly here's my view of the baby belly and my outie. 

• Centering Pregnancy
  This week was week 4 of our prenatal group meetings. Not only did we find out that our due date is February 7th (somehow we had thought it was the 11th) but we also got to go to the hospital birthing center for a tour. It was great to be able to check out the rooms and see what type of equipment they had for us to use. It was also really great to be able to ask questions about the birthing procedure and understand just how much say we will have in the process.
  
  If you ask Marc though, it was a traumatizing experience. As we were looking at the birthing tub at the very end of our visit the lady in the room next door was in the final stages of giving birth. The fathers of the group were all standing in the doorway so they had the best vantage point to listen to the groans and screams. They were also the first to watch the nurses running by to aid the mother. I have to admit it is a little unsettling when you see nurses running.

• Pocket Like It's Hot
  One of my pregnancy cravings has been Lean Pockets. It's something I haven't had since I was a kid but for some reason they were really appealing to me during my second trimester. Marc has been pretty surprised by this craving as it doesn't follow my normal pattern. Earlier this week he found me this awesome video.