21 Weeks!

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How far along? 21 weeks! Apparently we're now the size of a banana, which is confusing to me since last week was compared to a cantaloupe. Am I the only one who thinks that a cantaloupe is bigger than a banana? I guess they are considering the length? Not to sure ... The baby is now about 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces.

Total inches gained: 9 inches - seems I've had another little growth spurt. And the height of my uterus is now 19 cm. Which apparently is good ...

Maternity clothes? Yay clothes! I got to add some great additions to my wardrobe last night. In March, I got some Style Cards from Thyme Maternity which were each worth $50 off a purchase of $100 of more. My sister also got one and since they were only valid for 2 weeks in May, very close to the end of her pregnancy, she passed it along to me. I ended up with 3 cards ... which meant I could get $300 worth of clothes and only pay $150. The best part of it was that the dude offered to come with me and did a great job of helping me pick things out and giving me his opinion! We don't do a lot of clothes shopping together, because it's usually something I do on my own, with my Mom, or with my girlfriends, so it was kind of nice change! I ended up coming home with 4 bottoms, 8 tops, and a free super cute baby zip up hoodie that says "My Mom is Fun-tastic". On the not so fun side, we have a wedding to go to on Saturday and I am having trouble deciding what to wear. I have one maternity dress that I bought a while ago on clearance, and when I put it on E said "That makes you look huge". Not sure if it's a good, cute, preggo huge .. or just huge. The other option is a non-maternity dress that I've had for a while. The style of it works but I'm just not sure I'm pumped about the way it looks. I guess we'll see how I feel on Saturday!

Sleep: Very good. I'm sleeping through the night! (I probably shouldn't get too comfortable with those words)

Cravings: Nothing much this week.

Aversions: Nothing ... except when I saw my brother in law devouring his ribs like a savage with his bare hands on the weekend ... that was disgusting and made me never want to see meat again. Until the next meal.

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat again and meeting my second midwife at my appointment (I will have 3 midwives - I am planning to soon write a post about my choice to have a midwife and the way the practice works). I will never tire of hearing that sound. (Remind me I said that when I'm 9+ months pregnant and just want the baby out...) Also, getting to spend time with my sister and get some pictures of our baby bumps together.

Movement: I have still been feeling some flutters but no definite kicks or strong movements yet. My midwife informed me that my ultrasound showed I have anterior placenta (i.e. the placenta is positioned in front of the baby - between him and my stomach). That being the case, she said it usually takes the mother a while longer to feel definite movement because the baby has to get big enough that his kicks are strong enough to be felt through the placenta. As it is, the placenta is kind of acting as a barrier, softening the feeling of the movement. The baby is definitely active though. When she had the Doppler on me to hear the heartbeat, about every 2 seconds we'd hear a different sound and she would tell me it was a kick. So, hopefully within the next 2 weeks she said I should start feeling major movement.

Gender: This is a funny one. You all know by now that hubby and I have decided to keep the sex of our baby a surprise until birth day. For some reason, I have this deep dark fear that someone is going to tell me accidentally. Because of that, I told the u/s tech last week that I didn't want to know before I even got into the room. And then on Tuesday when I saw my Midwife, I did the same thing ... as I walked in the door, before she could even open my file, I said "Just so you know - I don't want to know what I'm having and I'm afraid someone will tell me by accident, so if it says anything about the sex of the baby in my file, please DO NOT TELL ME!" ... She giggled. Fortunately, there was nothing on the u/s report to indicate the sex of the baby so unless I go for any subsequent ultrasounds, my fear of accidentally finding out if baby is a he or she can be laid to rest.

Labor Signs: Nada.

Belly Button in or out? Still in when I sit down and out when I stand up. The funny thing is that my sister and I compared our buttons this weekend, and they are pretty much the exact same shape and sticking out in the same way -although hers is a wee bit more stretched out than mine :) ... But it's odd ... on both of us, the top right quadrant of the belly button is sticking out while the rest is still mostly flat. I wonder if our Mom's belly button did the same thing? Too bad she didn't have a blog when she was pregnant with us.

What I miss: I remember thinking of something earlier this week that I miss but now I forget. Maybe what I miss is having a brain that actually works properly the majority of the time.

What I'm Looking Forward to: I'm really anxious to start feeling the baby move a lot more often and a lot more distinctly. I'm also really looking forward to the first time that the FD is able to feel movement from the outside of my belly.

Weekly Wisdom: Read, read, read. Yet, at the same time, take everything you read with a grain of salt. It is very important to be well-informed and to learn important information about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting - but, in my opinion, it is equally as important to remember that books can only teach us so much and that no matter what they say, each woman's experience is different. What is normal for you, may not be normal for someone else.

Milestones: I have sat here for like 10 minutes trying to think of something to write here - I give up. Nothing stands out as being a big milestone for 21 weeks. No milestones this week!