21 Weeks- Development

Your Baby This Coming Week

Your baby measures about 7.6 inches (19cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 12.25 ounces (350g).

Eyebrows have developed.

His digestive system now functions in a rudimentary manner. Undigested amniotic fluid passes into his bowel which he will eventually excrete after birth. Your baby can suck and swallow and may even suck his thumb.

Your baby's senses are developing, especially his sense of touch. He can feel his face and stroke his arms and legs.

Your Body This Coming Week

Your blood volume keeps increasing to meet the increasing demands of your pregnancy. Most of the increased blood volume is comprised of plasma, the liquid part of your blood. You may see small dilated blood vessels on your face, and your gums may be swollen due to pregnancy hormones that increase blood flow. This may also cause hemorrhoids.

While you may still be experiencing pregnancy symptoms such as back pain, round ligament pain, itchiness and some fatigue, this is the stage of pregnancy that most women enjoy the most. You are still able to move about comfortably, yet the nausea of early pregnancy has usually passed. You may also enjoy the attention that you are getting as your belly can no longer hide. By the end of pregnancy, you'll probably wish people would stop commenting!

21 Week Journal

How far along? 21 weeks.
Total weight gain/loss: Up another 2.8, for a total of 15 pounds gained so far. Seems like a large gain for this week, but last week was a tiny loss so I guess they even out.
TP test: 10 1/4 squares. Thinking about stopping doing this "test" as it's very inaccurate and kind of a pain.
Maternity Clothes: I discovered that I have a couple of pairs of non-maternity shorts that still fit. Not sure for how much longer, but for now they are nice.
Food cravings/ aversions: Nothing noteworthy.
"Morning" Sickness: Nope. Vomit free this week!
Signs of Pregnancy: Expanding belly, plus I think I've started to feel movement!
Stretch Marks: Not yet.
Sleep: Pretty good this week.
Big things this week: Starting to feel movement. Good results back from the testing that we had done.
Gender prediction: Due to the amnio, we could know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Part of me would like to know, but I'm also looking forward to that surprise in November.
Movement: A little. Mostly in the evening when I'm lying in bed.
Labor Pains: Nope.
Belly Button in or out? In. Barely.
Wedding rings on or off? On, except on really hot days. Then my fingers are all swollen.

8-20 week comparison

Fabulous News!

I just got a call from the genetic counselor. The FISH test came back and Baby doesn't have Downs, Trisomy 18, or Trisomy 13. Still need to wait to get the full results back to see if there is a genetic anomaly on any of the other markers.

How weird though to be excited that Baby may "just" have a hole in its heart?

20 Weeks

Your baby has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)

20 Weeks- Development

Your Baby This Coming Week

Your baby weighs about 10.5 ounces (300g) and measures about 7.2 inches (18cm) from crown to rump. He still moves about freely in amniotic fluid.

Your baby may respond to external sounds, such as the music you are listening to or your voice.

Your baby has developed some red blood cells already. The white blood cells that your baby needs to fight infections are being manufactured.

He is developing taste buds on his tongue.

His digestive system is sufficiently advanced to absorb water and sugar from the amniotic fluid that he swallows and pass it to his large bowel.

Your baby has lanugo hair on his forehead and upper lip and his eyebrows are thickening.

Vernix (the waxy substance that covers and protects your baby's skin) accumulates on your baby's eyebrows.

Your baby's eyes are still sealed shut.

Your baby continues to grow and develop and his kicking is getting stronger now.

Your Body This Coming Week

In the next ten weeks your weight gain will increase more rapidly as your baby grows and develops layers of fat. This is when you will gain about half of your total pregnancy weight.

You need to eat about 500 more calories per day now to support you and your baby. You will probably notice an increase in appetite during this time to keep pace with your increased needs and metabolism.

Try to avoid unhealthy snacks and try to choose snacks with the most nutritional value for you and your baby. You may experience uncommon cravings. A pregnancy condition known as pica, causes some women crave eating things that are not even edible (such as soil).

Your skin may itch. This is because it has stretched to accommodate your growing abdomen.

The top of your uterus has risen further and is now parallel with your belly button, probably making your belly button flat.

Your lower legs may be swelling somewhat, though this is improved when you are able to stay off your feet for part of the day.

You may experience heartburn or indigestion. Many antacid tablets are safe to take during pregnancy, but check with your doctor or pharmacist first.

20 Week Journal

How far along? 20 weeks. Halfway there!!!
Total weight gain/loss: Down .4 pounds. Odd. Thought I ate a lot this week.
TP test: Back down to 10 squares. I keep fluctuating in the 10 square range.
Food cravings/ aversions: No.
"Morning" Sickness: No.
Signs of Pregnancy: A little bit of round ligament pain. Also bending over to tie shoes or pick something up is sometimes uncomfortable.
Stretch Marks: Not yet.
Sleep: Decent. Although when I've woken up, my belly has often been very hard and somewhat painful.
Big things this week: Well, there have been a few additional posts over the past week which will let you know what's been going on. The "biggie" is yesterday's update to go along with the new ultrasound photos.
Gender prediction: I had a dream recently about the gender. But otherwise trying not to guess one way or the other.
Movement: Can't feel it, but based on ultrasounds we know that Baby is moving all around.
Labor Pains: Too early.
Belly Button in or out? Still in.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Weekly Wisdom: Try not to stress about the unknown. Yeah, I know. So much easier said than done.