24 Weeks: A Big Milestone

Keiki the corncob is kicking merrily in my belly, reminding me every day of his/her presence and increasing viability. And with pregnancy, viability is everything.

My friend Dr. L is a neonatologist, which basically means that she helps the really sick babies. The general protocol at her hospital is that until a fetus is 24 weeks, they do not go to extreme measures to keep the fetus alive outside the womb. I won't go into the details of what "extreme measures" means, because I'm not here to start an ethical debate and it's not the point of this story.

Anywhoo, when Dr. L was 23 weeks and 6 days pregnant with her second baby, a baby was brought in who was also 23-6 gestation, airlifted in from another hospital. Dr. L worked on that baby for over an hour to revive it (b/g?), reminding her team that she was also 23-6, but the baby didn't survive. So she wrapped the baby in a blanket and rocked it for a while, holding it close to her belly with her own living baby inside, who kicked away, telling her, "It's ok, Mama, I'm still here."

My first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at 7.5 weeks, so for the next two, I paid attention to the little milestones, each of which means that I can hold my breath a little bit less, and get a little more excited. The first is hearing a heartbeat, about 8-10 weeks. Next is 13 weeks, or the end of the first trimester, after which the risk of miscarriage goes way down. Then there is 24 weeks, and finally 37 weeks, when you are full term, and it's pretty much okay for baby to come out of the hot tub.

I know it doesn't stop there, since once Keiki is out in the world, the real worry begins. But for now, I'm grateful to have reached another milestone.