week 20. (baby #3)

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5 Months! I cannot believe that I am half way through this pregnancy! I really wish time would slow down for a while…I'm trying to savor every moment of my last baby bump! I've been feeling great! I've and a lot more energy lately, and am actually getting excited for the holidays! We had another appointment with Dr. Shanbour about a week ago and we did our 20 week ultrasound. The baby is growing normally and looks healthy as can be! The ultrasound measured me about one week farther along than my due date, but Dr. Shanbour measured me right at 20 weeks. My placenta is anterior this time, meaning that the placenta is on the front of my uterus instead of the back. Usually the embryo implants at the posterior part of the uterus (or the back), but occasionally it implants in the front and the placenta is anterior. This shouldn't cause any problems, because it usually moves up as the pregnancy progresses. This could mean that you feel fetal movement less often and less intense than normal because the placenta acts as a cushion between the baby and your tummy. I haven't seemed to notice this because I felt the baby first move at 14 weeks and the current movement is very frequent and intense! Tonight, I feel like it's doing flips in my belly! Occasionally the placenta stays low and anterior, which can make c-sections a little tricky if this placenta is located where they have to make the incision. Dr. Shanbour said that everything looked great on my ultrasound, so I'm thinking that my placenta isn't too low. 't have a picture of the baby's gender, but we want it to be a surprise so we still haven't looked! I have a really strong feeling that it's a boy (maybe because I kind of want a boy), but we'll see! I'm just excited to have a new little bundle of joy in my arms! We already have a boy named picked out (hint: the initials are RJR - just like Reid's), but I'm still not loving any girl names so far. 

I've been walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes every other day, and I'm going to try and start eating less junk/carbs and more healthy foods for the remainder of the pregnancy. We're doing cord blood banking again with this baby through Cord Blood Registry. This time we're also adding tissue banking, where part of the umbilical cord is collected and banked as well. The paper work is finished and my kit is in the mail! It will cost about $400 a year to store all three of our kids' cord blood, but if we ever need it, this will be priceless! 

Here are the stats on my 20 week appointment.

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November 5, 2013

-20 weeks 

-Baby is the size of a banana and weighs about 3/4 of a pound

-Total Weight gained: 16 pounds

-Blood Pressure: 108/68

-Fetal Heart Rate: 166 on ultrasound, 154 on fetal doppler

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The baby was head down and facing backward, so this is the best profile picture we could get! 

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