So this got me to to thinking...is my baby super big or something? Because I've read that the top of your uterus isn't supposed to reach your belly button until you're 20 weeks along. (I'm almost 16.) Hmmm. Then I thought, well, I can't feel my uterus at all when my bladder is empty, so I wonder if the bladder affects the height of the uterus.
I didn't think I'd be able to find any information on this online, but it was surprisingly easy to look up. And, as it turns out, having a full bladder can increase the height measurement of a pregnant woman's uterus up to 4.6cm (based on a study of 200 non-obese Black women between 16 and 42 weeks gestation - check it out here). Well, 4.6cm is quite a difference. So now I'm wondering...is this 20-week-belly-button estimate assuming measurement with the bladder full or with the bladder empty? I'm sure hoping it's with the bladder empty...otherwise my baby is either a) a giant or b) not one but two. (Although b) doesn't seem to be an option since I've already had an ultrasound and there was only one peanut in there.)
Below is a picture of what supposedly my insides look like at 16 weeks (which is in 2 days). Although...I don't know if this pic is completely accurate because that baby seems a bit big for 16 weeks. (Does that baby look like 4 to 5 inches head-to-butt to you?? It looks more like 6 to 7 inches to me. Of course the last time I tried to estimate 4.5 inches I guessed about an inch or more too short. So obviously my inch-estimating skills aren't the greatest.) And that white thing below the uterus is supposed to be the bladder. How would that affect uterus height? I guess if it was full, it might push the uterus up more.
This whole pregnancy thing is very interesting indeed.
Acually, the white thing is the pubic bone. That light pink ball right under the uterus is the bladder :)
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