Monday, February 19, 2007

20 Weeks - 1/2 Way There!

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system.

She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

My Take:
There are several people who have anxiety about the world they’re bringing their child into. Watch the news and it’s enough to give a non-pregnant person heartache about the state of humanity and the planet. I have to admit, I never felt this way. There are a lot of bad people in the world – child abusers, warlords who support horrible environments for the citizens of their countries, people who knowingly pollute the Earth and make it unsafe for others, etc. – but there are so many good people that surround me on a regular basis that I'm not very concerned about all that stuff I have little/no control over.

I also had a really fabulous baby shower this weekend, my first! My aunt and uncle rented a country club, catered in lunch for about 45 people, and had some of the funniest games I’ve ever seen. I’ll post a video of Jim eating baby food later this week. I was crying and laughing so hard I couldn't' keep the camera steady!

Ultrasound is on Wednesday at 4!!

3 comments:

Finlands finest said...

I would love to see Jim eat baby food, and not the good sweet fruity kind like pears....his facial expresssions would be great!

Viki said...

Yeah, I want to see that video, too...

I also can't wait until your ultrasound and the possibility of learning whether the grape will be a boy grape or a girl grape!
*clapping in anticipation*

Mamma Sarah said...

Can't wait for the video. Something to definately remember! Mmmmm... peas. He and Alex should talk. :-D

Jeeze... 4pm! I can't believe that you are going to make us wait ALLLLLLLL day. :-( Oh well. It will be well worth it and looking forward to finding out!