20 Weeks

Halfway!  Already!  This pregnancy has seemed to go fast, but at 20 weeks I'm feeling like I'm actually pregnant and we will soon have another baby to snuggle.  For some reason things are seeming a lot more "real" this week.

At 20 weeks the baby is the size of a banana (6.5 inches long and 10 ounces).  It seems like the baby's size has incresed a lot over the past few weeks - it was just the size of a plum at 12 weeks!  I suppose it has to grow sometime, though.  My pants have definitely become uncomfortable and I started wearing a Bella Band at exactly 20 weeks.  In a few more weeks I'll probably break out my maternity clothes.  Until then I'll use the Bella Band and take advantage of being able to wear leggings and dresses to school.  

As far as baby development goes, if the baby is a girl, the uterus is fully formed and the vaginal canal is beginning to develop.  If the baby is a boy, the testicles are in the abdomen, waiting for the scrotum to develop so they can drop down in a few weeks.  The baby doesn't have much body fat yet, but his or her skin is covered in lanugo and vernix.  And the fingernails are growing!  

I have been feeling more defined kicks this week - as opposed to flutters and rolling movement.  Eric was able to feel a tiny little kick one night, but has tried a few times since with no luck.  These kicks are still tiny compared to what's to come in the third trimester.  I'm looking forward to Gavin and Elsie being able to feel the kicks when the time comes.  

We have our anatomy scan (typically performed around 20 weeks) this coming Tuesday at 4 pm.  This would be an opportunity to find out the gender of the baby, but we have decided to be surprised again.  There is just something so fun about not knowing the baby's sex until birth.  Once we know, we can't un-know and I just want to wait and be surprised!  I'll have my next OB appointment the following week.  The doctor will review the results of the ultrasound with me then.