20 weeks.

Week 20

Your halfway there!

The rapid growth stage is about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival.
The baby's heart grows stronger. Find a quiet place, lay flat on your back. Locate your own heartbeat by finding your pulse. Next lay your hand on your belly. You may be able to distinguish the two heartbeats!
His legs are reaching their relative size. With the increase muscle develop occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon!
Immunities are being transferred from you to your baby now. These immune cells will protect her from viruses you've already had for up to six months after birth!
The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections.
Your baby may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, she can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds that baby becomes accustomed to during her development stages often are calming after birth.
If your baby is a girl, her uterus is starting to develop. She has approximately six million eggs in her ovaries. About one million will remain at birth.
Baby is about 6.46 inches (16.4cm) and weighs around 10.58 ounces (300g).

ITS A BOY!!

and...is name will be... 'Carter James Thomas' :)

I know i'm the mummy and i'm meant to think no matter what that my baby is the most beautiful thing on earth, but it really wouldn't matter if i was or not, this little guy has the cutest profile i have ever seen! lol. look at that little button nose and those little lips?? I just know i'm going to have to turns girls away from the house when he is older :P
Anyways...it turns out everyone around us apart from 2 people were all wrong. We are having a little boy! Everyone had been convinced it was a girl, Aaron was still convinced he was having a son, and i was still going backwards and forwards not knowing, just hoping.We wanted a boy, from the word go, we wanted a little man.And we got him! :) We could not be more happy about it.We had our anatomy scan this week and everything looked perfect, he seems right on track, and healthy and just really doing great in there on his own.We confirmed it was a boy, (after me seeing ti the other day at my Dr's office) and it hasn't changed.it was fantastic, apart from the fact that Aaron and i HATED the tech nothing could be faulted.He was moving around so much.The tech had a bit of trouble trying to get all the detail she needed for the heart etc.He has decided he likes to lay exactly like mummy does...he was head behind my belly button, legs going down near my bladder, and feet crossed, arms up near his ears. it was so cute!I had to empty my bladder and then twist to get him to move.he was comfy!lol.we saw him breath in fluid a few times which was great to see too.Aaron, mum and Iain were all there for this and were very pleased to see him healthy and doing his thing.We got some good pictures from it.In other news, i got myself a nasty Kidney infection this week and had been in a good fair amount of pain with it for 2 nights in a row before i couldn't take it any longer(the pain can be really unbearable!!) and took myself to the Dr and he gave me some antibiotics for it.Hopefully it gets better because it is really horrible.We did some more shopping this week also and bought alot more stuff for little Carter, we saved a bit of money although we spent alot too.We really wont buy too much more stuff now until after the baby shower (which is pending, waiting on me to get the all clear to travel down to my home town in a month or so first).I am definitely feeling him move now!! i was sitting on the lounge and felt something then lifted my shirt and could actually see the kicks move my belly.This has been constant now since that day and its very reassuring, even if its hours between the movement, it tells me he is there and doing stuff at least.The reason i may not have been feeling him by now is because we determined ta the u/s the other day that i have an anterior placenta, which means that the placenta is in the front not the back so basically he has more to kick through, so i wont feel as much.Outside of all the baby stuff, Aaron managed to finally get himself a job which could not have come at a better time, we were running out of savings, and everything is getting more and more expensive now. Things are turning around again and its great!

Week 19
Your baby has the same awake and sleep patterns of a newborn. He has a favorite position for sleep and recognizable active and rest periods. Throughout baby's body, nerves are being coated with a fatty substance called myelin, which insulates the nerves so that impulses can flow smoothly. Scalp hair becomes apparent this week. It has sprouted and continues to grow. The milk teeth buds have already developed and over the next few days the buds for the permanent teeth will begin to form behind the milk teeth. If baby is female the uterus starts to develop. If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place. If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable. Your baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and his or her kidneys are making urine. Your little one's size is around 6.02 inches (15.3cm) and 8.47 ounces (240gm).

Week 18

This week made for alot of ups and downs. I had been having alot of pain in the pelvic area this week, so much so that i got worried enough to get pushed into my Dr for a checkup.He slotted me into the morning and checked me over, cervix was still looking ok, still not what he would like to see but still better than it could be.At the end of measuring my cervix he quickly scanned over some other stuff just to see if anything looked weird or out of place...Then, baby was there... all i saw was two legs, completely spread, with the clearest shot of the obvious gender it was...My Dr grinned, and said "i'm sure you can guess what that is...did you want to know?"It really didnt matter if i did or didnt, because i knew what it was.lol.But i'm not saying anything until after Monday when the "official" scan is done to confirm it...He then proceeded to stay on the "bit" and he was really curious...which got me thinking something was wrong.Turns out the Dr was trying his hardest to get an image of the baby peeing.LOL.H said in his entire career he has never been able to catch it in the action of it.This time was the same.After the scan he did an internal check, which of course was absolutely unpleasant. I bled for 2 days after it and it worried the shit out of me.I went to my GP to get my all clear for working, which centrelink have wanted, to know how many hours a week he thinks i'm ok to do with all thats happening and all the risks.He put down zero. He does not think i should be working and should not have been working from the start.I cant say this is exciting for me, i hate doing nothing, i hate feeling like a cripple and i HATE not having money each week from getting paid.I want my baby to be healthy and alot of that requires me to be healthy so Dr knows best and i am going to have to suck it right up :(At least i can go to my mums shop and annoy her sometimes if i need to feel useful.lol.

Week 18
Vernix (a white cheese-like protective material) forms on baby's skin with the lanugo (soft, lightly pigmented hair covering the body and limbs); both serving to protect your baby's skin during the months in water.
Your placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby. Don't forget those prenatal vitamins!
Tiny air sacs called alveoli begin to form in lungs. He'll be putting these lungs to good use in just a few months!
Her vocal chords are formed. She goes through the motions of crying but without air she doesn't make a sound.
Features of your baby's heart, including ventricles and chambers, should be visible during an ultrasound.
Your baby measures about 5.59 inches (14.2cm) this week and weighs about 6.7 ounces (190gm).