Week 20, Jan. 1 - Jan. 7

Thursday, January 1st
Baby Update: By today, heat-producing brown fat has begun to form on the baby's neck, chest, and crotch areas. Brown fat has a protective function: it helps keep the baby warm in cold environments. Brown fat exists in newborns, but only vestiges of brown fat remain to adulthood. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Friday, January 2nd
I've felt something new a couple of times between yesterday and today. Hard to explain, but something was going on near my bellybutton. That is where I most often find the heartbeat, so it makes sense. I just wish I knew for sure. One of these days I'll feel a definate kick.

Baby Update: Over the next two days, the baby's eyebrows will begin to form. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Saturday, January 3rd
Baby Update: The baby sleeps and wakes as much as a newborn does now. When the baby sleeps, it characteristically settles into its favorite position or "lie." Some babies always sleep with their chins resting on their chest, while others tilt their heads back. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Sunday, January 4th
Baby Update: Over the next three days, fine scalp hair will start to form on the baby's head. (This is permanent hair, not lanugo). Even this "permanent hair" will begin to fall out in the second week following birth, to be replaced gradually by coarser, thicker hair. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Monday, January 5th
So I've determined that some of the things I've been feeling have definately been the baby. I even felt it rolling around this morning. Pretty exciting stuff. I'm hoping he or she is awake during the ultrasound Thursday morning. I know you can't feel what I'm feeling, but how about you hear what I feel? This recording was done last night, and some of the sounds on here I actually felt. There are some scratchy sounds, and the there are the "bloops". You'll also hear the heartbeat start out quiet and then get louder... another indication that the baby is moving around. The file is 23 seconds long and is 371kb, so if you're on a dial-up it might take awhile to download. Here it is. And if that weren't enough, here is this week's heartbeat sound (the first file is from last night). It's longer than usual at 21 seconds, and the file is 332kb in size. I usually try to keep them smaller, but the heartbeat sound changes four times in the 21 seconds, and in the middle is a "scratch" (movement), and immediately after you hear one of the sound changes.

I plan on buying paint for the nursery and getting started painting. Maybe by the time Isaac gets back from the store tonight (6:30-ish) there will be at least a full coat on the walls. Yea!!

Here is Baby Center's take on the baby's development at 20 weeks.

Baby Update: In the next three days, the vernix caseosa becomes noticeable on the baby's skin. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Tuesday, January 6th
The nursery has it's first coat of paint on it. It's such a small room I think it only took me a half an hour to paint it, and by the time I got to doing the corners the walls were all ready dry to the touch. I may be able to get the second coat on and then the first coat of the strip I'm putting in there. Who knows.

Belly picture... 2 weeks since the last one. You can see a comparison here.


Baby Update: By today, hair will have begun to form on the baby's head. In another month, the head hair may be up to an inch long. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.

Wednesday, January 7th
The painting of the nursery got finished yesterday. You can see pictures of it on the new page I created, entitled baby's things. In addition to pictures of the nursery, as it gets done, you'll find a list of the things the baby has received, and eventually baby registries. Today we'll be putting up some shelves and then putting together the crib. Hopefully later in the week I'll buy some more things to outfit the nursery. All very exciting.

But even more exciting than that is the ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10. When I get home I will put up an update on this site. If you see that there is a new "dr. appt. update" page, but the header on the site still says "baby louie" then that's your clue that the baby was shy. On the other hand, the first thing you may notice tomorrow afternoon is that the header has been changed to the name we've picked out for him or her.

Baby Update: By this time, if the baby is a girl, the uterus has completely formed. As Week [20] ends, the baby weighs about 11 ounces (half a pound and 3 ounces) and measures about 6 1/3 inches in length. - "The Pregnancy Journal" by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.