During the week 21, I had a follow-up ultrasound visit at a different hospital. That was to take a look at our baby’s measurements once again since one of previous measurement exceeded the standard range.
As a result, everything was within the range this time. The doctor told me not to worry, but if I want, I still have an option to do the blood work to check for Down syndrome – it’s something called “Harmony” test. This test is totally an optional since some insurance plan may not cover this test. We had an opportunity last time I did my blood work, but we decided not to proceed this. Sounds like everything was normal, according to our doctors, so should be fine. That was our conclusions.
Baby’s Size
We also found out how big our baby is:
- Weight: 1 lb 1 oz
- Heartbeat: 149 bpm
1 lb! What a surprise!! I see all the information I can find online says at week 21, the baby is about 10 – 13 oz. Our baby is 4 – 7 oz heavier than the average lol The baby’s height was still unknown since the ultrasound camera doesn’t fit a whole baby in one shot anymore.
But, generally speaking, the baby is roughly the size of large banana or carrot, about 9 inches.
I’m not sure if it’s because of the baby’s weight gain or I simply ate too much during this week, but my weight gain was about 1.8 lb this week. So far the total weight gain is about 13.8 lbs. Having my pre-pregnant BMI 19.5, the recommended weight gain is 25 to 35 lbs total. It seems like I’m half way there already :p
Week 21 Experience
Noticeable thing was that I started experiencing small menstrual-like cramping. It occurs more often when I walk my dog. It seems normal according to Google, but if it continues, maybe I’ll contact my doctor or talk about it at the next visit.
Other than that, my husband bought series of Lamaze online classes like labor & birthing and breastfeeding & early parenting classes, so we watch those videos after dinner for an hour.
Also, we just finished our Amazon baby registry. We aren’t sure if we have our baby shower, but it’ll be fun to plan for it! Lots of our friends are in Hawaii plus due to Corona virus, if we decided to have a baby shower, we are thinking to do it through a video-chat 🙂
Even if we don’t receive any gifts, it still is really useful to use it as a shopping list. We are using Amazon for the actual registry, Buybuy Baby and Target also offers their own baby registry as well. All you need is to create an account and visit the store to pick up their welcome gift. It’s all free and you’ll receive a lot of samples and coupons <3
The Amazon one requires you to become a prime member. (I heard you can also become a trial member and complete other requirements to receive a welcome gift and cancel the membership before the trial ends.) We are Amazon lover so of course we were already a prime member, but we had to complete all their baby registry list, which I believe it takes time if you are picky. Then you’ll need to purchase or receive a gift for at least $10 worth products from your registry list. We took about a month to complete all the requirements and finally ordered their welcome gift (all free including tax and shipping). It’ll arrive around July 7th.
That’s about it for the week. Until next time, Happy Father’s Day!!