Baby #3: 18 weeks

Eighteen weeks: 2.4.14
 

Photo thoughts: I feel like I'm turned to the right too much in that shot above and look sort of 'chunky and deceivingly wide' instead of 'cute pregnant belly'. But whatever, definitely not going to re-take it for the sake of vanity. I obviously look pregnant, no? Still no comments from strangers or my patients!

BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS BELLY GROWTH SPURT?? Observe the difference that happened in the past 10 days:


Holy cow, right? I'm even wearing my big girl B-cup bras these days hence the boobie growth along with the belly. I just cannot get over that above comparison. I'm not sticking it out as Nate claims and this was roughly the same time of day (the afternoon). It's insane.

Size of baby: A sweet potato or a bell pepper, almost 6 inches and 7 ounces. A.K.A. getting huge!

Cravings/Aversions: Give me all the food. It's bad, guys. Appetite DANGEROUSLY high all of a sudden and will power dangerously low. Definitely feeling like baby must have had a major growth spurt this week (see belly pics above and below for confirmation).

What I'm loving: Being pregnant. I really do love it right now but will refrain from gushing too much, so that those with rough pregnancies don't want to punch me in the neck.

What I'm anticipating the most: Anatomy scan in 2 weeks! Cannot wait.

Miss anything?  Not really. Still haven't had that glass of wine yet but a few sips of beer here and there have sufficed. Mostly I just miss temperatures above 32 degrees these days. Winter is so long, man.

Worries: Minimal this week. Hallelujah.

Differences between pregnancies: I loved reading back on Cecelia's pregnancy and it seems fairly similar to this one overall. The belly seems to be about the same size, I was clueless about baby's sex, but last time I was not housing a raging appetite like I am right now. Also, I felt overwhelmed with emotions reading my 18 week post from last time, thinking about the highs and lows of 2011. In my head sometimes I just think about that as my 'miscarriage year' but wow, SO much happened that year (great things and awful things).

I also liked Truman's 18 week post because how adorable was it for me to just now start wearing a Be Band with regular pants? Ha. I realized the other day that I'm four years older with this pregnancy than I was with my first. I don't really *feel* that much older and just chalked up my current fatigue to the craziness of having two children while being pregnant. But maybe the old bod is just slowing down a bit, too.

How I'm feeling: Energetic most days but tired mid-day frequently, too. I took a nap one day this week which totally screwed up my nighttime sleep, so I am trying to avoid them now. Exercised three times again which always helps my mood. Still loving The Bar Method Pregnancy Workout DVD the most. Pretty sure I will need to exercise twice per day, 7 days a week to compensate for my intense love of all foods. But obviously, that is not going to happen so I'm bracing myself for big weight gain. My body really likes to gain weight during pregnancy and I'm just going to roll with it for now since the weight has always come back off (fingers crossed). If this baby needs conversation hearts and cookies and cereal I shall oblige and will exercise a bit to feel like less of a slug. Growing a human is hard work sometimes (I say as I munch on candy).

Sleep: Good but not as great with a stuffy nose from the lingering cold. Still can't complain and still need to go to bed earlier. What else is new?

Movement: A lot. Love it and smile to myself each time, multiple times every day. Almost had Nate feel some kicks but baby stopped right when Nate put his hand on my belly. Sneaky baby. Are you going to be a stubborn one?

Boy or Girl: I don't know anymore. I still sort of think girl but this week I caught myself saying 'he' when talking to Nate about the baby. Then I randomly checked the Chinese Gender chart online just now and found that it predicts boy. A few awesome new boy names have snuck onto my giant list this week, so maybe it's a boy?

The Bump: I thought it had popped before at 15 weeks, but literally this happened overnight. 17w2d. Woah. I titled this on Instagram: I dare you to tell my I still don't look pregnant.


I should mention that this was the morning after I ate a disturbing amount of Girl Scout cookies and is right about the time my appetite became it's own creature.

Milestones: I feel like 18 weeks qualifies as 'no joke pregnant'. Nearing the halfway mark? What?!?!

Best moment of the week: Hearing that the Quad Screen was negative for an increased risk of Down Syndrome! Such a weight off my shoulders and that news alone made my already crazy hormones even crazier. Aside from that mini-celebration, the other BIG moment of the week? We bought a mini-van!! I feel like this deserves it's own blog post but what the heck? I'll gush about it now.

Let's just say this: I've wanted a van for years but Nate was truly against it, saying that I was going back on our 'pact' we made at marriage. Something about how 'we vowed to NEVER cross to the dark side and sellout as a mini-van family.' I do not remember making such a pact and finally, he has seen the error in his ways;) I think he knew with the positive pregnancy test that he would lose this battle on the car topic.

Nate picked up our newest addition to the family last night and to say that I'm excited is a severe understatement. It's a 'dusty topaz' 2014 Honda Odyssey EXL, for those interested. I've never driven anything this nice in my life and nearly had a panic attack testing driving it on the highway over the weekend. So many buttons. So much fancy. SO MUCH ROOM. I'm not a car person but I think I'm in love. Also, so much money but likely worth it as we plan to keep this beaut 'forever'. #SoccerMom #IloveIt #NoShame #Sellout #Cha-CHING

Also, it was rather stressful to watch Nate pull the beast into our garage Monday night. Pretty sure I will be a nervous wreck each time I back out even with the fancy back up and side assist cameras, because wow----this is a lot wider and longer than my old car. Can't wait to play around in it tomorrow and learn a few of it's functions. As soon as I get up the courage to actually drive it and not just stare in wonder.

I will greatly miss my 13 year old SUV. It's done me very well until a week ago when a brake line broke as I was slowing down near a patient's apartment. It was frightening to realize I had no brakes as I tried to stop, truly terrifying. It could have been so much worse, though. What if I would have had the kids with me, or if I had been going fast and tried to stop behind someone else, or if I had been in a much worse area of town for my job? I shudder at the thought. It all worked out and I made it home after that patient, just by jamming my foot down on the floor board and allowing at least 100 feet to fully come to a stop (ridiculous, I know). Tony fixed the brake lines and did a few other minor repairs to the car (he is always my savior with these things). But it was kind of the last straw for me, feeling super unsafe and scared to have the kids with me in my vintage ride. I'm in my car way too often and have the kids 90% of the time more than Nate, so it is too important to compromise safety.

So I got my minivan dream. Life is good. Big freaking week, indeed.







I didn't even mention the other giant occurrence that happened last night---Cecelia has officially moved into Truman's room. Now *that* will be another blog post at some point. New van and new room sharing all on a Monday night = pretty freaking awesome and a teensy bit stressful. This is why I couldn't go with Nate to actually pick up the van...because he got home from work at 7:45pm, the dealership closed at 9pm, and our kids would freaking lose it if they had to tag along that late on a Monday night. So I stayed and manned The First Night of Room Sharing alone and sent Tony with Nate to the dealership. What was I saying about not craving wine anymore?

Update: first night went pretty well! It took them about an hour to fall asleep together since they were talking and laughing non-stop. Then they were both wide awake at 5:45 am when Nate's alarm went off this morning. Tot Clock fail, but it's a start! Pass the coffee.