20 Weeks - fundal measurements and other belly fun

This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicate bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!

Of course, yours truly measured a little ahead at my prenatal appointment two weeks ago (in the latter parts of pregnancy it is common to measure fundal height, which is from the pubic bone to the top of the fundus/uterus. The centimeters of the measurement supposedly should stay about equal with the weeks of gestation, and if there is a consistent major difference between them it could mean a mistake about gestational dates or that there is more than one baby. Thus mothers of twins may make comments such as "I measured 46 weeks along when I delivered" even though they delivered at 38 weeks.) At my 18wk appointment, I measured 21cm, or "21 weeks." I measured exactly "on schedule" at every appointment with Bear, but I theorize that now that my belly has been out there once, it's obligingly stretching a little faster this time (which is common for subsequent pregnancies). I'm not the least bit worried about it, but do find it an interesting observation.
And then there are stretch marks...but I posted about those last week!

Oh, and since we're talking about bellies, yes, here's mine (sorry I never got one in at the 17ish week post...this photo is from 19 wks)

(every mama needs a leopard print maternity shirt, don't you think?!)