20 Weeks & 0 Days....???

So this was Ultrasound Week! Yay! We got to see Bud and it was amazing! He/she is a very active baby, and I think I will be feeling a LOT of movement once I can really start to feel it! Bud was kicking and flailing and turning and moving his/her head so much that the technician had some trouble taking all the measurements she needed to! (We may have our hands full when our active baby joins us "on the outside".) Our technician was excellent and very friendly. I've heard that the technicians at St. Boniface are often very quiet and not very interested in answering questions...they're all business...but this one was GREAT! She was so nice and answered all our questions and took us on a little Bud-tour. :) We got to see him/her from all angles, and she pointed out his/her organs to us, and even his/her little beating heart (you can see all four ventricles pumping)! Technology is truly amazing!

We weren't able to talk to a doctor about the results when we were there, but the technician assured us that one of the doctors there would be reviewing the results when we were gone and that the results would also be sent to my OB. She did mention, however, that the baby was measuring a bit small. She said the measurements were consistent with a baby of about 17 weeks, not 19 weeks. So...we may be a bit off on the conception date (and, as a result, the due date). Hence the "???" in the title of this blog post. We were really pretty sure about the date, but there's always a chance that we're wrong. My next appointment with my OB is February 2nd, so I'm not sure if I'll wait until then to discuss Bud's size with him or if I"ll phone him next week. I"m not overly concerned - just curious. I spoke with my endocrinologist today about the effect of diabetes on the size of the baby and she said that, while diabetics' babies tend to be bigger, some can be smaller too...but that the unusually small ones are typically those belonging to diabetics who are smokers (which I am not) or who have very bad control (which I do not). She really didn't seem to think the size was a diabetes issue, nor did she seem to think it was anything to be concerned about. She said she thinks everything's going well from a diabetes perspective and she's happy with my control (with constant "tweaking" necessary as the pregnancy changes my insulin needs).

Ok, enough blabbing about doctors' appointments. Here's the Bud-facts for this week:

- Bud is 6.5" / 16.5 cm and is steadily gaining weight.
- A whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance called vernix caseosa is beginning to cover Bud and protect his/her skin during his/her long immersion in amniotic fluid. It also eases delivery (so I'm ALL for it!!)
- Bud is swallowing more this week. After he/she takes in amniotic fluid, his/her body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel.

And lastly, my 20-week picture! Look! I look pregnant!!!!!