5 months: 20 weeks

2o weeks! Our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium aka poo.

Meanwhile back at the uterus, I've hit the halfway mark in my pregnancy! The top of my uterus is about level with my belly button. I should expect to gain another pound or so each week from now on. And I'm supposed to make sure that I'm getting enough iron to keep up with my expanding blood volume, as well as for growing baby boy and my placenta.

We had our first childbirth education class this morning. It was save-a-baby CPR. Very helpful I think. And very different from the health care provider CPR class I take every year. We will be taking a whole series of these first time parent classes over the next several months (Lamaze, infant care basics, breast feeding, etc.). What's more, I am starting to shift into planning mode and am beginning to worry about holiday shopping and all the events of the last quarter of the year during which time I will be verging on enormous. We are expecting a very exciting end to the year!