21 Weeks!

We've made it 21 weeks! Thankfully, there isn't much to report. I'm still feeling great (with the exception of the heat - do I mention this now in every post??). I'm feeling my little dude move around every day now, which is comforting. I spent a lot of time in the first trimester always wondering if everything was okay in there; the presence of his movements make me much more at ease. And not only did Rob feel those kicks this week, I actually saw them from the outside. Yesterday at work, about this time, he was really getting getting his exercise on. I happened to look down and saw the right side of my tummy move. It was so strange to see, and it amazes me how quickly he is growing and getting stronger.



Baby Boy is now about 10 1/2 inches long; the length of a banana and weighs close to a pound. His digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells) which will fill the first diaper after birth. Sounds like fun for mom and dad! His eyebrows, eye lashes, and eye lids are present now - and even more hair is sprouting on top of his head. Interestingly enough though, hair at this stage of fetal development has no pigment, so it's bright white! His skin is good and coated with vernix - a milky, cheesy substance - that will protect his skin from essentially 9 months soaked in a bath.

I spoke to a girl at work today who is due with her third child just a week before I'm due. She too has a low lying placenta like me - but she mentioned she was given quite a few restrictions, so now I've become paranoid that my doctor neglected to give me a list so I'm waiting on a call back from my nurse, just to make sure. I'm almost positive they wouldn't have forgotten to inform me if I needed to avoid any activities, but because I'm still exercising it will make me feel better to double check and make sure. I don't want to do anything that might prevent the placenta from moving up away from the cervix, or worse - jumpstart contractions or labor. The odd thing about this minor complication is it really varies from person to person and how low the placenta actually is; so we shall see! I really hope I'm one of the lucky ones to not have any restrictions. I'm really enjoying my exercise, and it's amazing how much better I feel on the days I go vs. when I don't. On the days I'm lazy, I feel extremely lethargic, sore, and just all around "blah".

My pregnancy ticker has informed me that we have 133 days to go until D day! Although that may seem like a lot, at the same time it's very much a slap in the face - our whole life is going to turn upside down with change after that time frame. I know it's a wonderful life change, but still a scary and foreign one. I've begun to organize by making a seemingly endless list of all the things we need to get accomplished. We'll hopefully get moving on the baby's room this weekend; first on the agenda is to paint the walls. I'll make sure to get some pictures of the progress and post them soon. We've already got some video of Rob and I working on the painting and cleaning of the closet....maybe little D will be interested to see what Mom and Dad were like pre-baby some day. :)

Here's to a great and productive weekend!