Today We Are 23 Weeks Pregnant

How Our Baby Girl is Growing:

I should turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, our baby girl can feel me dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), we may be able to see her squirm underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that our baby girl's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as Lady barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Modified from: http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-23-weeks_1112.bc?read_more=1&scid=mbtw_preg23:841&pe=2UxuZCY

Today We Are 22 Weeks Pregnant

How Our Baby Girl Is Growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, our baby girl is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If we could see inside my womb, we'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Modified from http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-22-weeks_1111.bc?responsys_count=1&scid=mbtw_preg22:33&pe=2UxuZCY

Today's Follow-Up with Dr. Katz

This morning we went in for our follow-up with Dr. Katz after our detailed structural ultrasound with Dr. Silverman last Monday. Before seeing Dr. Katz, Martha gave me a bottle full of orange sugar solution with instructions for what to do the morning of our next appointment (at which they'll conduct a glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes). Then Dr. Katz came in, said everything looked great with Dr. Silverman's ultrasound, and we listened to our baby girl's heartbeat.

I wish we'd been able to see our baby girl again this morning, but I guess I just have to be patient.

Today We Are 21 Weeks Pregnant

How Our Baby Girl Is Growing:

Our baby girl now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. I may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. I may also discover a pattern to her activity as I get to know her better. In other developments, our baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and, since we're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

Today's Detailed Structural Ultrasound

This morning, we went for a detailed structural ultrasound with Dr. Neil Silverman at the Center for Fetal Medicine and Women's Ultrasound. While it was, for the most part, your "average" ultrasound, it was so much fun to see our little girl on a big flat screen instead of the sonographer's computer screen.

As the sonographer explored our baby girl's various structures, we watched her reach for her mouth and her nose with her little hands. She even reached for her feet!

Both the songrapher and Dr. Silverman tried to get some 4D shots of her, but she was blocking her face with her hands.

(Unfortunately, the video would not upload. But you better believe we tried!)

Our 20-Week Bump

We've hit the halfway mark in our pregnancy!

Today We Are 20 Weeks Pregnant

How Our Baby Girl is Growing:

Our baby girl 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 her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and we'll see it in her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Modified from http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-20-weeks_1109.bc?scid=mbtw_preg20:822&pe=2UxuZCY

Today We Are 19 Weeks Pregnant

How Your Baby Is Growing:

Your baby girl's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Modified fromhttp://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-19-weeks_1108.bc?read_more=1&scid=mbtw_preg19:808&pe=2UxuZCY