The Verdict Is...

20 Weeks Preggo!

Never Eaten This One...

Sam will be the length of a spaghetti squash by the end of this week!!! In case you don't keep produce-length references in your head at all times, that is about 10.9 inches. Sam will also weigh almost a whole pound! From what we read, everything has developed and is just becoming more pronounced. Sam is slowly starting to fill in his/her skin and his/her lips are becoming more distinct. Beneath Sam's gum line, teeth buds are becoming visible! Awww...that means the tooth fairy will visit our house one day!

In terms of me, I'm still feeling great, especially since I'm starting to show a bit more :) I don't feel like a fat woman walking around, I think it is becoming more apparent that I'm pregnant! YAY!!! Bending over and getting up off of couches is a bit more challenging and I am experiencing slight heart burn after almost everything I eat, but that is ok. Nothing I can't handle!

What's Up Doc?

Now that we are officially in the second half of this pregnancy thing, we are excited to be thinking about our carrot for the next week! That's right, Sam will weigh about three quarters of a pound and grow to be about 10.5 inches long by the end of this next week. Sam will also be sporting fully developed eyelids and eyebrows! That was about all of the excitement predicted in terms of development this week. It's good Sam won't be too busy with all that "important" stuff, because we really need Sam to work on cooperating next Friday!!! Since our appointment last Tuesday, Josh has been having nightly chats with Sam about not being modest in the near future and it's ok to show everything off! He's out of town all of this week so I'm hoping for some good phone chats to my belly so we don't lose any ground :)

Popcorn Popping and Frog Kicks

Yup, I definitely felt an honest to goodness kick a couple of weeks ago! And I have been feeling them ever since. It started out mostly only when I lied down for bed, but now I feel them during the day too! The way they feel to me is like a popcorn kernel popping or a frog gently kicking. Being the dorky elementary teacher I am, I thought I'd write a poem about these two things:

Frog Kicks and Popcorn Popping
Frog

Green, spotted

Hopping, ribbitting, kicking

Pond, lilipad, movies, light

Popping, jumping, enjoying

Butter, salt

Popcorn

The Transformation

I'll admit that in the beginning, I was going to try and be practical and decorate the nursery in a gender-neutral theme. Even had the wallpaper border picked out and everything. Then I started to see new things and decided that I would wait until we found out what we were having. And, let's be honest, the room did not have to be painted and completely finished by the end of the first trimester ;) So...we are waiting to do the paint and "real" decorating until we find out if Sam is a he or a she, but we have gotten wonderful gifts of some furniture already. Being the good Daddy he will be, Josh dutifully put them together already! Here are some pics of the nursery so far. Keep in mind that this used to be The Man Room, used for video games and loud rap music. We are definitely in transition mode :)

Go Banana!

http://gobanana.ytmnd.com/

Yup, you guessed it, we will be growing a banana this week! Sam continues to grow faster than we imagined! Sam will weigh about 10.5 ounces and measure about 6.5 inches long by the end of this halfway-marker-week! Apparently, we also start measuring all of Sam from head to toe after this point. Before 20 weeks, it was the crown to rump measurement since everything was super curled up in the beginning. Sam's new trick for the week is swallowing :)

We had our fetal echocardiogram this afternoon and it went REALLY well! We LOVE the doctor and she gave us a great report. All parts of Sam's heart are formed and accounted for. There are a few things that they always check new babies for once they are born so we will have to wait and see on those things, but in terms of Sam and me, we are doing great! We probably won't see this doctor again until Sam is two weeks old. She will check out Sam and if all goes as expected, we'll be on our way! YAY! Our doctor was so awesome that she spent an extra ten minutes checking around to see if she could tell if Sam was a he or a she! She definitely didn't have to do that since she was finished with all of the cardio stuff, but we really appreciated it. Unfortunately, Sam is sitting straight up with his/her back toward my belly button. It made it VERY difficult to see anything! Luckily there are two more weeks for Sam to grow and practice wiggling around so we have a better chance to see everything at THE ultrasound :) We'll have a chat in the meantime about being helpful in this process! LOL

Sam's First Heirloom

By the end of this week, Sam will be as big as an heirloom tomato! I had no clue what that was, so see the picture to the right :) Basically this means that Sam will grow to be about eight and a half ounces and six inches long by the end of week 19! I can't believe how fast all of this is going! I feel like we just looked up how big Sam would be by the end of week 18! The end of next week will be the halfway mark! Whew! Good thing Josh has half of the furniture put together already...;) Sam's arms and legs are all in correct proportion to the rest of the body now and Sam's brain is going through major sensory development. The brain is designating areas for all of the majors senses.

The other big news is we think we felt Sam's first kick! I'm about 90% sure that's what it was. I've had some people tell me it feels like fluttering, others have said that once I'm sure I feel it, I will realize I have been feeling it for a while. But, last Wednesday night I was lying down and felt this little pop (what I would think a popcorn kernel feels like when it pops) right in the middle of where my uterus is right now. It was pretty cool! Of course we know Josh won't be able to feel any of this for a little longer, but we sure tried to get Sam to move some more!