Week 20

Lots is happening this week. I have a new symptom that is sorta driving me nuts. Last week I started with the sniffles and this week I still have them. This is called rhinitis of pregnancy. Or if could just be really bad allergies that don't seem the least bit effected by claritin or any other over the counter drug. The doctor told me that it's fine to take Claritin and Mucinex and anything with the decongestant component. But since they don't seem to be helping I am not taking anything for it. I will just have to look sick. It seems only bad on occasion. Having really super soft tissues with lotion really seem to help.

Baby is moving more...I can feel it usually before I am about to eat and usually immediately after. Or if something makes me excited or nervous. I can't feel it from the outside yet but I am pretty sure it's baby. It seems to like my lower left side at the moment. Some days more than others, like yesterday. Sandro and I went to see a IMAX movie sponsored by his company and seriously the excitement of it all made the baby go crazy. I felt bad for Sandro since he couldn't feel it yet.

So here is what is happening in Week 20.

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against her torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.)

She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).