Week 21

Baby is: twenty one weeks

Size of: a pomegranate

Big Developments: We got to see baby’s brain and its two parts. We looked at baby’s heart and its four chambers. It was pumping so quickly and doing so much work. We saw baby’s tiny stomach and his kidneys. We saw his full bladder and all his bones which are growing and getting stronger. Baby weighed 12 ounces and is growing a few days behind schedule but I’m totally ok with that.

Gender: Baby is a boy! We are so excited for Hiccup to have a little brother and buddy to grow up and play with. Baby showed us almost immediately his little parts but kept his face covered most of the time. Casey was pretty surprised but I felt like baby was a boy from the beginning. I’m glad to finally know so we can start planning. We went shopping after the appointment and got baby some new little jammies. I would have been very excited either way, but I am relieved that financially this will (hopefully) be less stressful as we can reuse a lot of what we already have. 

Big News: We got together with our families on Sunday and showed them the ultrasound video. Everyone was surprised because they all thought baby was a girl. We are all excited for Hiccup to have a little brother.

Symptoms: My hips and pelvis hurt constantly. I feel like I’m waddling already. Moving around and changing positions at night is miserable. I feel like my body is acting like my belly is huge; this makes me nervous for it to actually get huge. I will feel and walk like an old lady.  I went to physical therapy and found out how out of shape I am. I tore my hip flexor in high school and apparently it won't heal without surgery. Baby’s position is making that flare up so there isn't a ton that I can do about the pain. I can stretch and strengthen the surrounding muscles but it may not help. I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions a few times each day. Sometimes they are painful but mostly just annoying. My lips are super chappy, the cold weather doesn’t help.

Thoughts: I found and priced a lot of the bigger items we need for baby. I know I will have to scale back on some of it since we don’t have oodles of money to spend. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get a little help with stuff for Christmas. We had our targeted ultrasound this week. We got a good look at baby’s little bod and all the cushioning in there that provides him with a safe spot to grow. It was so fun to see his little features and start envisioning what he will look like when we meet him. He covered his face the whole time (just like Hiccup) but we did get some good profile pics which I am excited about. Baby looks like he has Casey’s nose but I think he will still look a lot like his big brother.

Baby boy: is moving around with bigger movements. Usually when I lift up my shirt I can tell exactly where he is by the lump that sticks out. He is becoming less cooperative when it comes to Casey feeling him but he is a wiggly one. I think I might have noticed hiccups but they didn’t last long.

Name: Picking a name is going to be a giant challenge. I wrote down a list of possibilities and Casey and I each picked our favorite 3-4. None of them were the same. We each didn’t like the other’s picks for one reason or another. I have middle name possibilities that I’m sticking to no matter what, but it’ll depend on what we decide for a first name to what the middle name will end up being. At least we’re set on a last name. Right now his nickname is Hank like baby #1’s was Hiccup. It’s an easy way to not reveal the name once we've decided so we can keep it a secret till he’s born.

Cravings & Aversions: I’ve been eating sweet things like crazy. I need to cool it and stock up on some fruits and veggies. I am up four pounds from my last appointment. That’s one pound per week. Technically that’s what I’m supposed to be gaining from now on, but I don’t want to gain that much weight this time around. I need to be better about taking care of my body.