This is where I’m supposed to say, “Yay, halfway!”
But I like to be exact to a fault. You find out you’re pregnant at 4 weeks. {They even give you 2 weeks of that for free.} So really, I’ve only been pregnant for 16 weeks, so 20 isn’t quite halfway.
Plus, we’re just getting to the good stuff; I’m not ready to start counting down yet- I’m still counting up.
{I know, I know, horrible shirt for a belly shot. Lesson learned.}
How Big is Baby?
According to Babycenter, baby’s 6 1/2 inches long and weighs 10.5 ounces. The 20 week ultrasound showed baby weighing in at 13 ounces- more than a quarter of a pound. It’s starting to look a little a crowded in there, but it’s a luxury compared to the space baby will have in a few months.
Weight I’m Gaining
My weight was exactly on target at this appointment. The midwife I saw this time {you rotate} didn’t seem phased by the fact that all the scales at the office measured differently and even admitted to them not being calibrated frequently. She said as long as I weigh in each week on the same scale at home, it doesn’t matter what the office scale says. Gee, thanks other midwife for making me worry and feel guilty.
So I’m right on track, and the ultrasound confirms that baby’s growing perfectly well! He or she measured at 20 weeks- a day ahead if anyone’s counting, and 13 ounces is a good size baby.
How I’m Feeling
Kind of cruddy to be honest. Nothing like the early months, but the past week has definitely had me remembering what those weeks were like. I’m beyond exhausted for no reason, the nausea’s back {although not 24-7}, and I almost always have a headache. That sounds like it sucks, but I’m glad I’m not having tons of aches and pains and other problems yet; I’m mostly comfortable at least.
What I’m Eating
Everything. My eating habits aren’t really any different than they were before, I’m just eating a little more. I mean, I might have had fro yo for dinner last night, but that has nothing to do with being pregnant.
I’m slightly disappointed but mostly relieved that I don’t have any weird cravings. It means no funny stories of making the husband go on midnight grocery store runs, but at least nothing crazy’s going on. The only liquid that ever sounds appealing is Chick-fil-a’s lemonade, which makes me particularly upset on Sundays. It still makes my stomach hurt, but at least in a normal way- not a pregnant way. If you’ve ever had a giant class of tart lemonade you know what I mean.
How I’m Sleeping
Fairly decently, at least in comparison to stories I’ve heard. Sleeping’s not particularly easy, even though all I want to do is sleep, and even after I do sleep, I’m still has tired as I was before I went to bed.
I did confirm this week that’s it’s totally safe to still be sleeping on my stomach- my midwife assured me there’s plenty of protection in there for the baby. That makes me super happy because I’m a stomach sleeper through and through. I have no idea what I’m going to do when I’m too big for that.
Now on to the good stuff…
The Ultrasound
It’s a…
SURPRISE!
And I’m not just lying and saying that.
PS 76% of you think it’s a girl.
I was already on the table with the ultrasound gel on my belly before we decided. There were even a couple “are you sure”s thrown in throughout the hour, but in the end, we walked away with no more knowledge than we went in with. The only record of anyone knowing is that the tech took a picture of the money shot and taped it behind her cabinet door. It’s not even recorded in the chart. {Apparently people slip up on that one too much.}
That being said, there’s still one more chance to change our minds and find out the sex if we chose…
The purpose of the mid-pregnancy ultrasound is to check out the baby’s anatomy in detail. They look for abnormal growth of bones and organs, check that baby’s growing right, and look at every detail of the organs and body systems. They do some extra checking for Down’s syndrome, cleft palate, and spina bifida, and check for any possible gender-related problems.
All of that looked great- everything was in the right place and the right size, and there were the right number of all the necessary body parts. However, they did see a small cyst in the brain that they want to keep an eye on. It’s a tiny fluid-filled sac in the area of the brain that produces the cerebrospinal fluid that shouldn’t be there, called a choroid plexus cyst, or CPC.
{not our ultrasound}
It has a high chance of going away on it’s own, and since there were no other indicators of anything wrong, there’s no reason to worry about it. They’ll check on it again in about 2 months and see if it’s still there, better, or worse, and go from there. For now, it just means one more chance to look at baby’s beautiful face.
Past updates:
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I am glad everything is going well! I am so excited for you. I have 10 days left-supposedly:) My beginning was way worse than the end. I am just anxiously awaiting for our little guy:)
How exciting!! I’m glad to here the end wasn’t as bad as the beginning- people keep trying to scare me with horror stories. 😉
Awww…..I’m glad you didn’t cave if you really didn’t want to know deep down. 🙂 I hope all goes well with the cyst…but keep the updates coming–I love them, not to mention the last picture is AWESOME!!!!!
I can’t believe the kind of pictures they’re able to get!
A surprise! Noooooooooo!
Glad the baby is healthy and so is momma!
Yay! so glad things are going well. Love the last u/s picture 🙂
I totally meant to ask you about your appointment last night!
I hope the spot is nothing! Glad to hear everything else is going well. I wish my midwife told me that about stomach sleeping! I forced myself to stop at 12 wks- way before it got uncomfortable!
I think I ask every time I go…I finally believed her this time 😉
That sweet baby looks like a Marshall fan. 🙂
You are SO lucky Chris doesn’t read this. 😉
Oh you are such a tease!!!!
On Babycenter we call surprises Team Green! So welcome to team green!
We are having a boy – his arrival could be any day now.
You look great.
Team Green- I like that. SO exciting that your little boy is coming soon. You know that means I’m going to obsessively check your blog now to see if he’s come yet. 😉
Fingers crossed on that little cyst. And you are a patient woman to wait and let it be a surprise at delivery! I’m impressed 🙂
Both of my kiddos had a CPC and it was no big deal. I looked at it the same way…an extra ultrasound. With my daughter it still showed up on the follow up scan, but my son’s went away. I really think it is just that technology is getting better….I don’t think these cysts are really anything to worry about. Congratulations! I’m impressed by the willpower not to find out the gender!
I agree- sometimes too much knowledge isn’t a good thing. 😉 It’s reassuring to hear someone else went through the same thing though and everything was ok!
I’m so glad you kept it a surprise! It will be so fun to find out when you actually have the baby! OK, the cyst on the brain would be freaking me out – I hope that everything turns out OK with that! Praying that it does!
I am also a stomach sleeper and forced myself to stop around week 20. I still HATE sleeping on my side. It hurts my hips and shoulders and I wake up every 2 hours to change sides. I am BEYOND ready to be able to sleep on my back + stomach again!
Ugh I don’t blame you- I dread when that day comes. My stomach is the ONLY way I can sleep. :/
Awww shucks, you had me there! 😉 I’m happy you’re both doing what’s best for the both of you and keeping it a surprise….and glad to hear baby and mommy are doing great and healthy! 🙂
And I can attest to the fact that fro yo for dinner definitely doesn’t have anything to do with pregnancy as I have done that one too many time, hee 😉
You might be the cutest pregnant woman I’ve ever seen!
Love the 3d pic – I’ll bet you’re getting excited now!
I am 19 weeks pregnant and I’m SO glad I happened upon this post! My 18-week anatomy ultrasound found CPCs and I have been a crazy nervous wreck about them even though my doctor reassured us they almost always resolve on their own and my bloodwork genetic testing identified me as very low risk. Nonetheless, I have a follow-up ultrasound scheduled and I just feel really uneasy about it. But it is SO REASSURING to hear stories like yours where everything has turned out to be just fine (everything I’ve read on the internet has been comforting rather than scary, for once!). So, thank you!