Yikes - this post is a week and a half late! I was 21 weeks on Valentine's Day. I blame a very busy work and home schedule and the fact that I've been some degree of sick for a while now.
Size of baby: A carrot according to Baby Center and a pomegranate says The Bump (those two seem completely unrelated in size!) - about 10.5 in and 12.5 oz. I'm a little confused about the measurements this week. Last week was 6.5 inches and now it's 10.5?? I mean, I know baby is growing very quickly these days, but four inches in a week seems a little crazy. My iPregnancy app says 7.5 inches though, which makes me even more confused!
Best moment of the week: The ultrasound, duh!! As usual, my anxiety was completely unnecessary as the baby looks wonderful! Every other word out of the sonographer's mouth was about the baby looking great and perfect and wonderful! There is just no describing the amazing feeling you get from seeing your little one on the screen. At one point, the sonographer had to push down a bit to get the baby to wake up so she could check out a few other things. When baby did wake up, he/she gave a huge stretch and it was so awesome to actually "see" it happening! The stretch gave us an incredible view of baby's profile and I completely lost it because it was identical to Noelle (in both her u/s pic and real life). As soon as we got home we pulled out her u/s pics, and even though they're different angles and the current one is really blurry because baby wouldn't stay still, the likeness is so evident!
Cravings/Aversions: Eating lots of fruit these days. I also started drinking milk for the first time since I was a little kid! I have not had milk by itself for years and years and years. I just don't like the taste. But lately, I'm gulping it down at mealtime!
What I love: Feeling more frequent and stronger movement.
What I'm looking forward to: A day with just mommy and Noelle. Bryan is going ice fishing on Saturday so Noelle and I have the day all to ourselves. We'll head to The Domes for a Polish event a group I belong to is putting on. After that we can do whatever we feel like! I plan to have a lot more mommy/daddy and me outings before baby comes.
Worries: Feeling pretty good these days!
What is different this time around: Something I was not expecting is the much, much worse round ligament pain. If I'm laying down on my right side, a cough or sneeze will send me into agonizing pain down the right side if my lower abdomen. I thought that since everything has already been stretched out once before, it would be better this time around. My doc said it's actually the opposite and is completely normal. She did say that as baby grows bigger this will get better for whatever reason. Hopefully she's right!
Symptoms: The RLP mentioned above, increased heartburn and...oh wait, that's plenty right now.
Sleep: Brought the giant pregnancy pillow up this week! Thing is huge and candy cane shaped and oh so comfy.
Boy or Girl: The ultrasound pics really have me thinking girl these days. The profile is just so similar to Noelle's that it's hard for me to think boy. Funnily enough, I was convinced that Noelle was a boy after my scan with her. Oops, sorry love!
The belly: That AM/PM difference I talked about last week? Almost non-existent now! I definitely feel like the belly had a growth spurt this week. So maybe that 4 inch change really is true!
Movement: Baby is super active in the evenings and I love sitting down on the couch and feeling the stronger kicks and punches.
Milestones: Aside from the crazy growth, the initial fluttering movements are turning into full-fledged kicks and nudges. The eyebrows and eyelids are also fully formed. Although, if this baby is like Noelle, he/she will have a crazy head of dark hair and practically non-existent eyebrows!
Weight gain/loss: Total of minus 3 pounds. I think this is the first time in my life I've been upset about losing weight! When I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office my heart just sank. Fortunately though, I am apparently the only one concerned as my doctor just laughed it off. She said in a few months I will be wishing I could complain about this! As long as baby's growth is on track and I am not anemic or feeling unhealthy, it's not an issue.
The pics are kind of hard to see, but here's a scanned picture of our ultrasound with Noelle:
And then another poor quality pic from Baby #2's ultrasound:
After looking at the pictures here, it's harder to see the similarities in the profile. I think that Baby #2's profile is identical to Noelle's "real life" profile more so than the ultrasound picture. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how similar they truly are!
