eighteen weeks

written September 20th

The belly must be getting bigger.  On my way out the door after picking up Ryann at MDO one of the other mothers asked me if I am expecting, when I said yes the director of the program was walking by and said she was glad someone finally asked because she was too chicken to do it :o).  And the girl I trained with at the gym last year came up to me today and asked if I had any exciting news to share.  Happy to know that I'm looking a little pregnant and not just chubby!

how far along:  18 weeks (compare to 18 weeks with Ryann)

size of baby:  according to the bump a sweet potato, about 5.6 inches long and weighing 6.7 ounces.  Baby is starting to move all over the place, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, yawning and swallowing.

weight gain:  3.2 pounds.  Whew.  Don't know how I only gained .2 pounds this week, but whatever, I'll take it.  Kind of evens out the 1.5 pound gain from last week.

maternity clothes:  Yep.  Still a combination, but I've worn my maternity pants a few times, and even though my regular shirts in theory, the elastic panel on maternity pants goes pretty low so it hangs out if I don't wear a long tank or a maternity shirt.  I'm almost liking the hair tie trick on my pants better right now, and the long and lean tanks from Target work great for adding a little length under shirts that are too short.

symptoms: The headaches have been a little stronger this week, and I'm starting to get some round ligament pain.  Mostly when I over do it a bit.  Tuesday I ran 5.35 miles, then quickly had breakfast, took a shower, got ready and carried my suitcase downstairs and then loaded it into my car (which my mother offered to do and I didn't think it was necessary).  After that I could barely walk.  Sitting in the car for an hour on the drive back made the pain go away (but of course made my head hurt like crazy).

exercise: I felt like I took a lot of rest days, but apparently it was only two for a total of 5 days of workouts.  I got in a 2.25 mile walk, a 3.5 mile bike ride, and four runs, 3.35 miles, 5 miles, 5.35 miles and 9.6 miles.  23.3 MILES.  And my right leg can tell you all about it.  I think the most impressive part of the 9.6 miles was the fact that I made it the entire way through without having to pee :o).

cravings/aversions:  In general I would just say the days I do a hard workout I mostly crave food.  It doesn't matter all that much what it is.  Usually I don't know what I want, and then I start eating and I find out.  The things that win out are sweets, Mexican and this weekend all I wanted was Fritos.  My only for sure no is still olives.

movement: Yes!  Yes yes yes!  Tuesday (September 18th) I was talking on the phone and swore I felt a few thumps.  Pretty sure I completely lost my train of thought in the phone conversation.  That night we used the doppler to listen to the heart beat and baby was moving around like crazy, I could feel him/her kicking the little wand.  And Wednesday night while laying in bed I got a few decent kicks, one that even Chris felt.  So not a lot, but I'm starting to feel something, and it is absolutely amazing.  By far my favorite part of pregnancy (until the kid gets so big that every movement hurts, but you have to take the good with the bad I suppose).

sleep:  Sleeping on my stomach is pretty much gone, but that only seems to be a problem if I'm having  a hard time falling asleep in the middle of the night.  I've been waking up (woken up) a decent amount this week, but surprisingly was able to go back to sleep.  So I guess it was ok.

gender: Honestly I really don't know.  I think I'm going to list out all the old wives tales today, but for the most part those are all bogus anyway.  The good news though, is I think I've really gotten excited about both a boy and a girl.  Not that I ever wasn't, but for several weeks I really wanted another girl more.  I'd be very happy with another girl, more bows and cutesy stuff, Ryann would have a sister close in age, I think the three of us could be very close.  But with a boy I get to do all sorts of shopping again :o) and I want Christopher to have a son, and I know I want to have a son someday as well, so if now is the time I'd be thrilled.  So either way, I'm just excited to find out.

looking forward to:  My ultrasound tomorrow (Friday) and finding out boy or girl at our gender reveal party on Sunday!!!!!!

worries: Right now I'm mostly worried about finishing my to-do list this week.  I haven't been as productive as I should have been the last couple of days, and now I'm worried I won't check everything off.  But I suppose that is minor.  I'm also a little worried the tech will slip tomorrow or I'll see something on the ultrasound, and won't get to be surprised at our party.

what's different this time:  The pregnancy seems to be going by quicker (I say that now...) than it did with Ryann.  I'm sure that is because I have a lot more going on, and much less time to dwell on the baby.  I can't believe how close I am to halfway.  And then the holidays will start and then all the sudden it will be 2013 and then we will be having a baby!

milestones:  Finally felt some movement!

best moment this week:  Feeling movement, crating some stuff for the party with my mama (she is the best, I need to say that a million times because she just is), and getting a gymnastics leotard for Ryann because ohmygawd her little bitty body in a leotard/unitard is so freaking cute.