Weeks 20 and 21

I didn't post the size last week, so I am combining both this week!

Week 20- Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium which will fill the first diaper after birth.

Speaking of diapers, baby's genitals are now fully formed! (It's finally official- its a boy!)

Week 21-
Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid a day, both for hydration & nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat when you are fixing your own lunch.

Registry

We finally got registered! We started a couple weeks ago, but needed to do some more research into a few things... But finally got it done!
On a side note- it is a dangerous thing to hand H the scanner gun... at one point he told me (in the toy aisle of course) that I'd registered for my stuff, but now we were in his territory! :) Cute boy...
Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

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Halfway and other randomness

Today we are halfway there. Over halfway, if the Drs prediction of marshmallow's size and weight are correct. We have less time remaining in this pregnancy than has already passed. Eeekkkk!

So many random things that I haven't written about yet, and I will try to catch up on them all here.

• A week ago Saturday while we were at Flaming Gorge H felt the baby from the outside! I was climbing up a super steep hill from the lake and stopped at the top to catch my breath when the baby started going crazy- I felt a whole bunch of fast pops right below my belly button and called H over. He got there in time to feel the last one or two before baby quieted back down. I've felt him from the outside twice since then, but H hasn't, and it has been much softer than that first time. It was pretty cool to see H's face though... :)


• Last Thursday I had my first 'stranger' comment. Someone who didn't know me asked when I was due, and it was nice to finally feel like I'm actually 'showing' and not just looking like I've been hitting the Oreos too much!


• Last Saturday was an event in Lehi, it was lots of fun and my fabulous hubby received a long awaited award! He is such an amazing man and it makes me happy to see other people realize it too.


• We finally sat down and made a game plan for getting projects done around the house. We've made up a calendar and actually scheduled and budgeted all of the things we want to get done before January. I will admit that my stress level was rising considerably because it seemed like we kept adding to the list and never getting anything crossed off of it. If we can stick to this schedule we will have all of the major work done by the begining of Dec., so hopefully that will allow us a little leeway in case something comes up. It is an aggressive schedule, but totally do-able...


• I had an online friend deliver her baby two weeks ago at 20 weeks. Tuesday I read an online article about a woman in England who delivered at 21w3d and she is now fighting to change the legislation there after Drs refused to help her son since he was a few days under their 'viability cutoff'. Between the two I am about ready to stop going on-line! My fear of miscarriage is being replaced with my fear of an early delivery. Statistically once he hits 24 weeks then it is more likely he would survive than not, but everyday I keep telling him to stay inside and cook a little longer. Although most likely I will really regret saying that since he will probably come late now!


• We are registered for our birthing classes, and I'm registered for my breastfeeding class. The birthing class is four weeks long, two hours a week and we start that in a little over 3 weeks. The bf class will just be one afternoon in late Oct.


• I made my first project for the nursery! I went and got scrapbook paper and modgepodge and did these pieced paper animals. They turned out adorable! Each one is 18x18, but I think I am going to frame them to 20x20 since the ceilings are so high in there. After spending forever trying to find just the perfect fabric we've decided to do just solid, polkadot and striped fabrics in pale blues, greens and turquoise colors and have all the 'theme' be in the decor. That will make it much easier to update as he gets older and develops his own style.

Well, I guess that is everything for now. Love to you all!

19 weeks!

Almost halfway... :) It's crazy how quickly things are going, seems like we just found out! Baby is as big as a mango now and is coated in Vernix, a greasey white substance that protects his skin from the amniotic fluid. (imagine a nine month bath and the need for protection makes sense!) Vernix usually is gone by birth, but you may see it if you deliver early.

Sweet Potato!

Awww, baby is the size of a sweet potato now (and your uterus is about the size of a cantelope)! 18 weeks and going strong. :) Baby has become increasingly mobile, passing the time yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing! Something you won't see on the ultrasound, but is now in working order, is your baby's nervous system, which is maturing rapidly at this time. Nerves in the brain are also specializing into connections that will serve the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Your baby's hearing is also growing more acute, making your little one more conscious of the sounds that come from in and out of your body.

Week 17

Week 17-
Baby's skeleton is hardening, turning from rubbery cartiledge to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger and finger and toe prints are forming. Baby may start getting hiccups now, they are common at this stage and completely harmless!

Dr. appt

Everything went great! We were advised to expect a BIG baby- Dr said he is already over 6oz, (avg. for now is about 4 oz- 6 is where we should be by the end of week 17) and is measuring a week ahead now. Baby was being all modest for once, so we were not able to get the 'for sure' confirmation on gender. Dr moved up his % guess to 85% but said he still wouldn't reccommend we take the tags off of anything just yet. Heartbeat is still super strong.

I asked the Dr about my crazy resurgence of nausea and his response was "Just remember you wanted to be pregnant!". Totally made H and I laugh... He said that there really isn't much to do about it, baby is growing well so he is getting plenty of nutrients, and its just something I'm going to have to deal with. He did give me an Rx for sleeping meds, said that would help a ton- hopefully he is right!

We were so busy looking for gender that the Dr didn't get any new pics of the baby. We do have our u/s video, but no new snapshots. Four more weeks until the next appt... Hope it goes fast!
Love to you all!