21 Weeks

Wow. 21 weeks! As many of you know, today was our anatomy ultrasound. Normally, this is the "big" one where you find out the gender; however, since we already knew about our little boy I just asked the woman to tell me if it turned out to be a girl. ;) Thankfully, after sometime, Xander revealed himself and proved himself to be all boy. Good. Things looks good (accding to the tech) but we need the doc's sign off on Saturday at our next appt. So I'll keep you all informed. But it was awesome to take such a close look at his brain and heart, etc.

A pic for you:

So, who does he look like?

This week:

"Chances are good you're feeling someone performing a round-off back handspring in your uterus by now. Is there any other feeling this cool? Other highlights this week:

By now your baby looks like a mini-version of what she'll look like when she's born. All her facial features are formed and hair is growing on her head. She's even acting like a baby and will occasionally suck her thumb or yawn. Aww ...

Baby's heartbeat is getting stronger and can be heard using a good old-fashioned stethoscope. [XANDER'S WAS 148BPM THIS MORNING] Ask for a listen at your next prenatal visit! By 21 weeks, fetal bone marrow starts making blood cells—previously done by the liver and spleen. This may not sound that exciting, but it's good news.

The amniotic fluid that has been cushioning your little bean now serves another purpose: Your baby uses it to "practice" chowing down. [WE SAW SOME IN HIS BELLY AND BLADDER -- ALL FUNCTIONING] Yes, it sounds gross (as many aspects of pregnancy do), but it's an important step for your baby toward being able to chow down in the real world. Your baby has been swallowing amniotic fluid for a while now, but now the intestines are finally developed enough that she's absorbing small amounts of sugars from it. And let's face it, being able to effectively digest sugar is important at every stage of life.

Your baby now weighs between 10 and 11 ounces [XANDER IS WEIGHING IN AT 15OZ] and is approximately 7 inches long—the size of a delicious, cold, frothy bottle of root beer. Float anyone?"

*3D Pregnancy