21 Weeks Pregnant - Eyebrows and Eyelids!

My wife will be 21 weeks pregnant tomorrow! Her belly is getting so big now... and Beautiful - I might add :) She is really starting to feel the weight and is having more pains and difficulty moving around. I'm trying to take care of my baby and my baby girl inside though.

My baby is now about 10-1/2 inches long, about the size of a carrot! (I'm really starting to feel bad for her having something so big in her!) This may seem like a huge jump now because last week she was only about 6-1/2 inches long, but that's because you stop measuring from crown to rump at 20 weeks, then you go by the full lenght as the legs are now fully formed!

She is now 3/4 of a pound in weight and what was once just nudges she feels are now strong kicks! I still am yet to feel them but I think I will any day now... I will let you know when.

I think my wife needs me more than ever now and I'm ready to take on more responsibility. We both just said today that we've thought recently "why did we do this" reacting to the stress and pressure of a pending birth, but we laughed about it and I think this is what many couples go through halfway through a pregnancy. No one is truly ready for the enormous change and responsibility of having a child, and we are just getting ready the best we can.This weekend we are going to clean out the baby's room which up until now has been used for storage. It will be so nice to help my wife nest which I have learned is very important to the process. We even got our first gift of baby clothing, a cute pair of footie pajamas!

Sympathy Weight Update: Unchanged, but hopefully will drop in the next few weeks, I'm starting a workout routine which feels really good. It's been awhile since I've gone jogging several times a week. I think I might start doing more yoga too.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as a Spaghetti Squash, Holy Moly!

See How My Baby's Growing at 21 Weeks

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Carrot!

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19 Weeks Pregnant - Hair Sprouting, Sense of Hearing Developing

My wife is now at 19 weeks pregnant today. We are coming up on the halfway point. My baby is now about 1/2 a foot now from crown to rump, about the size of a heirloom tomato! He or She (yet to be determined) is now about 8-1/2 ounces in weight and his or her legs are now in proportion with the rest of their body. My baby also looks very squished in the uterus according to pictures with his or her legs taking up more room. I can't imagine it! It seems like my baby would be so claustrophobic in there, but I'm sure right now my baby is not worried about that.

They also say some studies suggest that the baby will be able to hear sounds now, so I'm starting to talk and sing occasionally in a soothing voice, not sure if it helps but it's worth a try right? Perhaps we will put on some classical music to help soothe our little one. My wife is still feeling the baby move a lot however I still cannot feel through belly. She says it moves a lot but doesn't seem to be pushing forward where my hand is. Perhaps the baby is just faced another direction.

My wife is also starting to experience Round Ligament Pain. It's a stabbing sensation (I know, she has all the luck) every so often on either side as she has moved a lot or sometimes when bending over. It's caused when the ligament supporting the uterus stretches to support the growing weight.

This week we attended a meet the midwives event at Regions hospital in St. Paul, MN. We got to meet all of the midwives that deliver there and got to tour the facilities. The birth center is very nice with modern decor, wide hallways, and spacious rooms. It didn't even smell like a hospital in the labor and delivery rooms and everyone was very welcoming. The also showed us their 2 inflatable water birth tubs!

They are about 6 ft in diameter and look kind of like an inflatable kitty pool but with much higher walls and handles on the inside to help you get in and out. They said your partner can be in the tub also but said to make sure you have a swimsuit on, they had an issue where a husband decided to go au naturale! Funny! They also said they put a new cover over it each time to keep it sanitary. There is even a nice comfy leather chair for me to sit in that rolls out to a bed in case I need to get comfortable while we wait for the baby to come.

As Thanksgiving is approaching we're waiting to schedule the sex-determining ultrasound. Unfortunately it had to get delayed because we're not at 20 weeks yet. I'll let you know when it happens though and I'll deliver the big news. Stay tuned!

Sympathy Weight Update: Unchanged, 201 lbs.

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be as long as a Banana believe it or not!!!

See How My Baby's Growing at 19 Weeks

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Heirloom Tomato

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18 Weeks Pregnant - Heard the Heartbeat Again, 1-1/2 Weeks Until the Sex Determining Ultrasound!!!

My wife is now at 18 weeks. That's right, I skipped week 17, got a bit behind on the posting. However, I will catch up in this post. My baby is now about 5-1/2 inches from crown to rump, about the size of a bell pepper. He or She (yet to be determined) is now about 7 ounces in weight and is flexing his or her arms and legs. My wife is feeling the baby A LOT! She will tell me each time she feels it by saying "Baby" in an excited voice and clutching the bottom of her belly. I can't feel it yet, but I hope soon.

So far we've had 2 prenatal exams and an ultrasound at 8 weeks, and we just had another regular exam this week where our midwife measured the uterus to be about exactly 5-1/2 inches in length and we could hear the baby's heartbeat again! It was strong and normal. It was a perfectly normal 145 beats per minute and sounded wonderful. Our midwife is really nice also. She said there are many options for delivery such as a water birth, hypno-birth (which apparently is just like it sounds), and the standard epidural traditional lie on your back ordeal. So far my wife feels like the water birth may be the best option. I can get in the water with her and hold her while she goes through it. Also, they say it helps with contractions and can minimize tearing, but we'll see when that time comes. You cannot have pain medication with a water birth, but they said if the pain is too great when you're in the thick of things you can always change your mind and you're in a hospital so there are many other options. I think the thing I like best about a midwife is that they are really dedicated to a birth plan and really want my wife to make the best decisions for her and our baby. She is very supportive!

Now for the most exciting news. We have the Sex Determining Ultrasound in only 1-1/2 weeks!!! It's a little bit before the standard 20 week waiting period, but they said the technology is there to find out sooner. I can't wait to find out and be able to refer to my baby as he, or she, instead of "It." In case you're interested. I do not have a preference of a boy or a girl. Contrary to popular belief, not all men are so caught up in their own legacy to have to have a boy. I would be perfectly fine with a girl I just want my baby to be healthy and happy.

Sympathy Weight Update: Current Weight is 201. As it turns out I had some scale difficulties last week and it was totally inaccurate and had my at 192 by mistake. Total sympathy weight gained to date - 16 pounds! I would like to stay at 200 pounds or less, I've never weighed this much! I know, some of you that are older are probably laughing. "You ain't seen nothing yet, boy"

Well that's all for now, next week my baby will be the size of a large heirloom Tomato!

See What's Happening Inside the Fetus this Week

See how big my baby is getting week by week, now it's a Bell Pepper

17, 18, weeks, move, feel, sex, determining, ultrasound, kicking, 2nd trimester, baby, c-section, home birth, Father, Man perspective, Men pregnancy, morning sickness, pregnancy, sympathy weight

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