Baby Kick?

I couldn't know for sure, but yesterday morning, just a few minutes after arriving in the office, I thought I felt my baby move for the first time. I just had my breakfast, a few crackers with Nesvita and raised my left leg and sat on it as I usually do when I get tired of just sitting straight. After a while, I felt something move just below by belly button. It felt like something slowly poked from inside me.

I couldn't explain what I felt but I thought that perhaps that was really it. I read a lot of articles about baby moving from sixteen weeks and that first time mothers like me don't usually notice it at first. I usually feel some fluttering in my stomach but still not sure what it meant. But it was the first time that I felt like it yesterday.

I imagined my baby rolling and turning over and perhaps because of the limited space, he poked my sides to be able to roll in his comfortable position. I can't wait to see my OB next week to see the development of my baby!

20 Weeks

Your baby measures about 6.5 inches/ 16.5 centimeters from crown to rump and is steadily gaining weight. A whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance called vernix caseosa begins to cover your baby and protects the skin during its long immersion in amniotic fluid. It also eases delivery. The baby's swallowing more this week, good practice for the digestive system. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel.

You may want to look into a prenatal class if you haven't done so already. Whether you are a first-time parent or want a refresher course, you will benefit from a structured class either way. No matter what the philosophy behind it, a prenatal class can help prepare you for the rigors of labor and birth. You should plan to have completed the classes by 37 weeks, when you'll be considered full-term and labor could start at any time.

Be extra vigilant about getting enough iron. Your baby needs it to make red blood cells, among other things. In fact, it's almost impossible for you to get too much from food alone without overeating. Iron-rich foods include lean red meat, poultry, fish, lentils, spinach, and iron-fortified cereals.

Source: http://www.babycenter.com.ph/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/20weeks/

Halfway There

You're halfway there! The top of your uterus now reaches your belly button and will grow about a centimeter per week. The fetus measures around 6 inches/ 15 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighs about 9 ounces/ 240 grams.

She has started to swallow amniotic fluid, and her kidneys continue to make urine. Hair on the scalp is sprouting.

Sensory development reaches its peak this week. The nerve cells serving each of the senses - taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch - are now developing in their specialized areas of the brain. Nerve cell production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections. If you're carrying a baby girl, she already has roughly six million eggs in her ovaries. By the time she's born, she'll have about one million.

You may have felt the kicking and somersaulting of your growing baby. At times, you might find that she is so mobile that you can't sleep. The next ten weeks or so will be your baby's busiest and most active time, until the womb gets too crowded.

Source: http://www.babycenter.com.ph/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/19weeks/

Maybe a Boy...

I had my prenatal checkup yesterday. It was fun and exciting and took longer than usual as we were trying to determine the gender of my baby. At first, the doctor was saying it is a girl because there are still no boy genitals showing on the scan. But as she made me lie on different sides and the baby kept on moving actively, they were quite seeing the scrotum and the tiny penis.

Though still unsure after the entire process, we were given a thought that it was most probably a boy. I don't exactly know what to feel but I just wished we would be certain with the gender already. My mom was saying that my fortune-teller cousin predicted that I'll be having a baby boy.

Either a boy or a girl, it doesn't really matter. I feel reassured however that my baby is very healthy as he was actively moving and getting bigger and bigger.