19 and 20 weeks...Half way there!

Well I missed again last week for the 19 week post, but I do have pictures from 19 and 20 weeks I can share today. I was so proud of myself initially for such diligent updates, but as I indicated last post, work has been absolutely crazy and does not promise to get better anytime soon! I guess pride does come before the fall... so much for regular blogging!

19 Weeks

20 Weeks (that belly button is on it's way out!)

My 18th and 19th weeks were good as far as how I have been feeling but work schedules haven't really allowed for the gym schedule I hoped to keep. The baby is the size of the cantaloupe this week (20 weeks) and I'm officially half way through my pregnancy... but let's not talk too much about that lest I freak myself out about all that remains to be done! She's "eating" several ounces of amniotic fluid every day to practice her swallowing and digesting and now her previously-existent taste buds work! Her body is now producing meconium (which is the "tar" that will show up in her first couple of diapers) and this will accumulate in her bowels until she is born unlike the urine. Appropriate dinner conversation? No. Fascinating? Yes!

The baby's room is almost entirely cleaned out now and Michael busted out the shelves in the closet this past week (thank you! thank you! thank you!) which will allow us to patch, sand and paint the closet so we can hang the wire shelving. As of this morning I am 98% positive on the fabrics we'll use for the bedding (that mom and I currently plan to make) which allows for further decision making on things like sheets, changing pad covers, room paint, etc. I should be excited about another decision down - I am, really I am - but in my pregnant brain it also feels like that opened the flood gates to more decision making! Alas, the to-do list grows and the schedule fills up, but the phrase that surfaced first at our wedding is now applicable to baby ... "It will all get done!"

I'm supposed to be gaining about a pound a week from here on out and though it's been that way for the last couple of weeks I seriously feel like my belly is getting bigger by the day. We still do not have a name though that is THE #1 question we're asked these days, but I do feel like our list of options is getting smaller. Hopefully something "will just feel right" very soon. I also still do not feel this little one moving yet, but if the sonogram is any indication...once I can feel her it is going to be non-stop activity. For now I will just enjoy the stillness of the belly!

Natasha