20 Weeks

We made it to the halfway point!  I'm proud to be 4 months and 2 weeks pregnant. And we celebrated the momentous occasion with Dairy Queen.  At 20 weeks, Muffin is the size of a banana (about 6.5 long and weighing around 10 ounces).  The baby has working taste buds and is practicing swallowing amniotic fluid.  He or she is also developing the sucking reflex and may even suck a thumb if one floats by his or her face.  If Muffin is a girl, her uterus is fully formed and her vaginal canal is developing.  If Muffin is a boy, the testicles are formed, but waiting for the scrotum to develop before descending down from the abdomen.

I had my 20-week appointment on Friday.  Gavin got to come along for this one (in Eric's place) because we had a surprise snow day and he didn't go to school.  He got to hear Muffin's heartbeat (148-150 bpm this time) and was pleased NOT to be the patient.  I gained 2 pounds since the last appointment (baby weight or Christmas cookies?), so I am currently up about 8.5 pounds total.  My next OB appointment will be in 4 weeks and will include the Gestational Diabetes test.

However, Eric and I are looking forward to another upcoming appointment: the 20 week anatomy scan!  We will have this appointment Friday morning at the perinatal center downtown.  My OB said that all IVF patients are sent to the perinatal center for their anatomy scans.  We will return 4 weeks later for an echo ultrasound to look even more closely at the baby's heart.  This is also standard procedure for IVF patients.

This past week I received my first comments on my "bump" and was the first time I changed my pants before leaving the house and the first time I wore my belly band with my pants.  This weekend I washed some maternity clothes so that I have more options for work this week.  It feels good to have a little bump!