Can’t believe I’m halfway done. In many ways, this pregnancy has felt like it’s flown by, but then I look back at the agony and worry I experienced making it to our first ultrasound, past our loss milestone, making it to 12 weeks so we could tell everyone, making it to our anatomy scan, etc., and I realize just how long it’s taken at the same time. What’s that expression about the days going by slowly but the years going fast? I can’t remember the exact phrase, but that’s basically how I’m feeling now.
At 20 weeks…
Baby is about 6.5 inches long now from crown to rump, or 10 inches from head to toe! For the first 20 weeks, measurement is taken from crown to rump, but going forward, standard measurements are from head to toe. I forgot to ask what my exact measurements were during my anatomy scan, but depending on which book or website you’re looking at, baby is about the size of a coconut or butternut squash. New this week, he (yay, I get to use gender-specific pronouns instead of “it!”) is beginning to produce meconium, or basically, black sticky poops. This stuff will just accumulate in his bowels, and will come out after birth (or sometimes just prior to or during). Apparently his heartbeat is now strong enough to be heard with a regular stethoscope, but I haven’t tested this yet. I did just listen to his heartbeat again this morning on my doppler, though, and it still sounds nice and strong, around 140 BPM.
Mama is starting to feel a little more movement, but still not a ton, thanks to my anterior placenta. I am a bit jealous of other women at my same stage of gestation who can feel more – and whose partners are already able to feel it from the outside – but I’m told I’ll appreciate this cushion my placenta provides later in pregnancy when he starts walloping me with those big feet of his!
New this week: my belly button is getting wider and shallower – and it itches from all the stretching! I’m trying to stay well-moisturized to prevent stretch marks – although everything I’ve read says that while moisturizing can help, stretch marks are mostly genetic. I don’t think my mom got any, so hopefully I get that lucky too!
I’m up .2 lbs this week, for a total weight gain of 8 lbs. now. Feeling pretty good about that since most books and websites say around 5-10 lbs is normal, so I seem to be right in the middle. And I haven’t noticed my face or thighs getting noticeably fatter yet, so it seems to be so far mostly belly and boobs. I’m trying not to get too hung up on my body, though. Women gain weight when they get pregnant, period. As long as I eat well (which I have been), my body is going to do what it needs to do. I can always work on losing weight later.
Hips are still killing me at night, and I still get the occasional round ligament pain, but other than that I’m feeling pretty good! I know I tend to write a lot about my aches and pains in this blog, but it’s mostly to be able to look back and remember what I was feeling at the time, and I know many women have/had it much worse – and at the end of the day I’m beyond thankful to still be carrying this baby – so I’m really trying not to complain. Here’s to hoping the second half of my pregnancy goes as well as the first!
Keeping up with the Hoffmans 