Pregnancy Week 21

You've got a baby bump, you've got a baby bump! If you haven't moved passed the "food baby" stage, this week it will happen! Don't be surprised if you wake up one morning and go "oh, wow!" your little 'maybe bump' will most likely bloom into an obvious BABY BUMP this week. Now if you have had an obvious baby bump before this, you will still see a noticeable growth, although it may be more difficult to tell since you see yourself every day.  I suggest wearing an outfit that you recently wore and washed, this comparison of your body in the same outfit a few days apart will really highlight the changes.  This happened to me today, I wore a maxi dress a few days ago, and I just washed it so I decided to wear it again (since it's a million degrees outside) and I was like "wow, I've grown a lot a three days!" Even my hubby noticed, so that should tell you something! But we didn't even realize it until we saw my bump in the same outfit only a few days apart. Anyway, there is a lot going on this week.

This week your baby is about 7 inches long and weighs about 11 ounces, about the size of a carrot. Also, this week your baby is beginning to swallow a bit of amniotic fluid each day for nutrition, hydration, and to practice digesting.  The really cool part about this is that now whatever you eat not only does he get via the umbilical cord, but he will TASTE when he swallows amniotic fluid! So expand your diet (but still eat healthy) so you can expose your little one to all sorts of different tastes, you never know what he will end up liking!

Now for your body, at this stage you might start noticing some stretch marks around your belly, butt, and breasts as they start to grow and stretch the skin.  Stretch marks can be pink, red, or purple, and occur when tissue under your skin gets torn as the skin stretches during pregnancy.  It's important to note, that not every woman gets stretch marks and a lot of research shows that your chances of getting them may be genetic. So, if you want to figure out what your odds are, look at your mom, sister, aunts, etc to see how they fared during their pregnancies.  But this is not always the case, if you gained weight rapidly or had a breast enlargement this may play a factor.  This is what happened to me during my first pregnancy.  I have breast implants so the skin was already stretched, and the stretching of the pregnancy caused me to get some stretch marks on my breasts.  This was the only place I got stretch marks and my mom never had any so I attribute them to the augmentation.  BUT, since they were not in my genetic make up (and the fact that I used cocoa butter) they ended up fading and being very light and almost unnoticeable.  There is no guarantee that cocoa butter will help prevent stretch marks, but what it can help prevent is you skin from getting so dry, which will then prevent you from scratching your stomach with MAY reduce stretch marks.  Also, using cocoa butter and a belly wrap after delivery may also help reduce the stretch marks you developed and prevent new ones from developing.

Additionally, you have probably already found out the sex of the baby through the 20 week ultrasound, so this may be the time you start thinking about your baby registry.  There is really no "right' time to do your registry, any time after 20 weeks should be fine.  It really just depends on your schedule (and the schedule of anyone going with you) and when your baby shower is going to be.  You want to make sure you give yourself enough time to make changes to your registry and that there is enough time to send out the shower invites to your guests.  I suggest doing your registry a couple months (2-3) before your shower date.  The reason for this is that scheduling can be tricky especially with doctor appointments, working, other kids, etc so having ample time will reduce stress. Also, I know from experience that people (myself included) tend to get a little "trigger happy" during registry time.  Don't be surprised if you find that you a scanning non-stop!  If you leave yourself a few months in-between the creation of your registry and your shower you will have time to view your registry online with a clear head and see what items you actually need and want.  You can take your time an add stuff you missed, remove items you decide are necessary, and adjust the quantities of items.  I also suggest reading reviews on the stores website for your registry items, it's always helpful to read what real mommies though of the product as they used it.  All of these strategies will hopefully help reduce your chances, of receiving something you don't really want, getting a bad product, or having to return items.  You can also check out my lists of the best and worst baby products for registries, these are items I've used and either recommend getting, or recommend running away from.

Week 20
Week 22