Pregnancy - Twenty Weeks

So, a little landmark has been reached, Flyingpops is now *20* weeks pregnant with "MJ" (this is officially the *half-way* stage)...the sickness that was such a problem at the start of pregnancy is now an extremely rare occurrence (hurrah!), the nagging tiredness has also vanished (Flyingpops first daytime nap in weeks was a 30 minute stint yesterday afternoon), and the moods seem to have largely stabilized too (what a relief)...

The baby is now surprisingly large, looking in the baby book (that we *still* haven't returned to the library) reveals it's about the same size (end to end) as a PSP (good analogy eh?), upcoming developments are things like difficulty breathing for mum (as the baby starts to push upwards on the lungs) and it's also around now that the baby starts to follow regular sleep patterns (meaning Flyingpops and MJ will be able to wake each other up)...I am also *supposed* to be able to hear the heart beat with the help of a cardboard tube, however I couldn't even pick up *Flyingpops* heartbeat, let alone MJ's when we had a try over the weekend...Anyway, the second (and last) ultrasound scan is scheduled for this Friday, this is the one where we may (or may not) be able to tell the gender...neither of us particularly want to know one way or the other, but for some odd reason right from the start, Flyingpops has been referring to MJ as a male...and it would be interesting to know if her instincts have been right... ;)

The Ultrasound scan pictures

So here we go, these are the first pictures of the baby, they were snapped by the nurse that was performing the ultrasound scan (for diagnostic purposes) although quite how from what she saw she could judge the due date with such a degree of confidence is quite beyond me...these pictures are also, in fact, the last look we are going to get until the end of April when the second (and final) scan takes place...

I'm not being mean, but whenever any other proud parent-to-be has enthusiastically thrust their scan pictures under my nose, I have rather struggled to actually pick the baby from the static, nodding and smiling (regardless) when a completely randomly shaped blob was introduced to me as their neck/arm/head...so I was rather surprised how clear these pictures are, needing very little in the way of explaination (or is that just me)? ;)

...this also counts (sort of) as the first photograph I have taken of the baby (as no scanner was to hand)... ;)

So there we are - Internet, meet MJ... ;)