20 Weeks

WOOHOO!! Officially halfway into my pregnancy! Not that I'm celebrating being halfway done, but I'm celebrating the fact that I'm only about 20weeks from meeting Baby Sanders! Being that we are halfway there, our little one is growing fast - we've reached the length of a banana, which is 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom or 10 inches from head to heel (now that Baby's legs have come more uncurled from his/her body, all length measurements from here on out will be from head to heel); Baby's weighing in at about 10.5oz these days! Amazingly enough, Baby has already begun to establish sleep patterns! This means Baby may have already found a favorite position to sleep in, and may give us an indication of whether we're going to have a little early bird (like Daddy) or a night owl (lik Mommy, but only on nights she has to work!). Other developments - mostly in the lower half! Obviously this is the week, the BIG ultrasound...boy or girl? This means that if Baby is a boy, his testes are making the descent from the pelvis to the scrotum; and if Baby is a girl, her uterus is completey formed (woah!) and everything else is continuing to develop. Both of these developments allow for easier gender prediction on an ultrasound. Other interesting developments down south - Baby's body is now starting to form it's first stool/poop/BM/etc. This is called meconium - if you ask me, 20wks is an awful long time to hold onto that nastiness. BUT, we definitely don't want Baby passing that meconium until it's born because meconium in the amniotic fluid would mean nasty things for Baby's lungs (eww...imagine that for a moment...or not.). So what do the next few weeks hold? Lots and LOTS of growing!! Most of Baby's energy will be put towards growing and gaining weight - guess who else that's going to impact? ;) So much so, that some websites prepare mothers to gain approximately 1lb per week starting now until the end of the pregnancy...that's a lot of weight!!

So, other than the fact that I'm obviously gaining weight and my belly continues to grow, what does this 20week mark mean for me? Well, the top of the uterus has now reached my belly button, which is why the belly starts protruding farthe forward from here on out. Most of the changes, however, have to do with my realizaton of a time frame that's rapidly narrowing - so much to do, so little time! We've finally cleaned most of the stuff out of the nursery, so that means it's time to start moving things in! Well, first we have to find the furniture...I've been browsing online and I think we might be making a trip to Ikea this weekend, so maybe we'll finally have some furniture to put in it! Other important things that need to be done - sign up for a childbirth class, look at life insurance options, check out more childcare options, etc. Lots of big decisions to be made! All very exciting though :)

Please continue to send your prayers this way! We feel them all the way over here, and the 3 of us really appreciate them :) This week specifically we ask for your prayers for a good ultrasound that shows us a healthy, active, appropriately growing baby, and also for direction on if we should decide to find out the gender (at this point, we're pretty sure we're NOT going to find out, unless our little one decides to put on a show!). Prayers for any of the above mentioned decisions would also be welcomed - it's definitely becoming more of a reality that our twosome will soon be a trio and there are a lot of changes that come along with that; please be praying that God is preparing us for that :)

Thanks for all of your love and support, we miss each and everyone of you! P.S. I PROMISE to post pictures of our ultrasound when we get them!!!