Nineteen Weeks

Hello there! I know that I’m running a little behind with this post, but last week was just TOO crazy for me to find time (or energy) at night to put a post together. Sorry about that. Oh well, better late than never right? Right. I managed to squeeze some extra time out of my Sunday evening and put together an update for you...and of course I remembered to include pictures as a peace offering!

Maybe I should lead with the pics, huh? That might help...Here you go...Belly shot #1

Belly shot #2 You’re right, I hear you. I’m still small, but no matter what it looks like in pictures or real life, I’m rapidly growing out of my regular clothes. I’m down to four or five non-maternity long-sleeve shirts that I can fit my belly into anymore...and with the cooler weather lingering around, this could cause a problem.

Lucky for me, my lovely husband INSISTED that I go buy some long-sleeve maternity shirts this past week. I mean he really put his foot down. It’s hard enough to buy maternity clothes, knowing that you’re only wearing them for several months, much less buying something that you might only need for three more weeks! But luck was on my side – the layering Liz Lange maternity tees at Target were marked down on clearance to less than $4 each – so I got three! Hopefully these will supplement the slim pickings that are left from my casual tops until spring decides to officially get here!

Other then growing, I am overall feeling great. A little tired, as I’ve started tossing and turning some at night, but that’s to be expected. I did lose my dinner one night for the first time during this pregnancy...which was a shock to me when it happened the other night. I guess baby just didn’t want a salad, that’s all I can figure out! We had my next check up with my OB/GYN this past week and all went well. I did NOT get into trouble this time, as I’ve gained back the three pounds that I had lost at the previous visit. So I’m officially back at my starting weight. Not a bad place to be at almost 20 weeks...

According to babycenter.com, my baby weighs 8.5 ounces and measures 6 inches from head to bottom, making Ziggy about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The hair on her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: your baby’s brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear you now, so don’t be shy about singing and talking to your growing belly.

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I could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure that babycenter.com told me two or three weeks ago that Ziggy could hear me...so have I just looked like a crazy fool the past few weeks? Probably, but that’s nothing new!

We have a big week this week. On Thursday we get confirmation on the sex of the baby. Yes, you read that right, I said that we get confirmation. Our Dr surprised us last week at our visit and did an impromptu sonogram to see if she could tell the sex of the baby. We could clearly see what was what on the screen...but the pictures that she provided weren’t that clear. Since we have to keep our appointment downtown this week at the sonogram place anyway we’re hoping for better pictures to share at that time. Plus, we want the video! So I’ll be a stinker and tell you that we know, that our families know, but you’ll be left in the dark for a few more days.

But that’s ok. Don’t feel cheated. I had put together a list of old wives tales to try on myself BEFORE the sonogram to see if we could “guess”...and then I found out what Ziggy was a week ahead of schedule. So even though I know, I’m going to do the tests anyway and publish them this week. There’s just LOTS of fun to be had this week...even if you have to wait four extra days to find out what Ziggy is!

Talk to you soon...I have to go now before I spill my guts! :)

Eighteen Weeks

Another week flew by faster than I could have ever imagined…now that I’m feeling better and have more energy, I’m more active again. I want to get out of the house and do things…which means that my weeks are really starting to fly! Of course, working full-time, being pregnant and starting on some home re-model projects might do that to anyone!

So here we are at eighteen weeks. Babycenter.com tells me that this week my baby is 5 ½ inches from head to rump and weighs almost 7 ounces. That’s about the size of a bell pepper to put it into perspective, for you. His blood vessels are visibile through his thin skin and his ears are now in their final resting spot (even though they’re still sticking out a bit). A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he’s born. If you’re having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you’re having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

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A bell pepper is MUCH bigger than the lemon that I was at what was it – two weeks ago? Man, no wonder I feel like I’m down to just a handful of non-maternity shirts that I can wear!

I’m feeling good…eating more, and starting to be hungry right before bedtime, which seems to be a common “problem” of other pregnant women that I know. I still get a little queasy after I eat, especially if I eat too much, but sucking on a peppermint/lemon drop/left-over conversation hearts seems to do the trick.

I had my first official “craving” this week…for ginger ale. And it was SO overwhelming that I had to stop on my way to work and pick some up…even though that made me run about 10 minutes late. But here’s the kicker – I don’t drink ginger ale. At all. So this was a little out of the ordinary for me. I don’t remember having any strong cravings while I was pregnant with my daughter, so this was really weird for me to experience.

Here are this week’s belly shots. Word of warning – the non-maternity shirt that I’m wearing happens to have a high waist and really made my belly look large yesterday…several people commented on how much I was starting to show! But then once the shirt is raised for the second shot, you’ll see that my belly isn’t that much larger…I’ll let you be the judge.

So that’s about it. We plan on starting some great re-modeling projects around our house this weekend, so I’ll be sure and start posting about that stuff soon. I’m really embarrassed to post any before shots…the walls are just white…and the carpet is REALLY bad…but we’ve all been there. Wish me luck with the painting (with open windows and B doing most of the work!) and I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

Silly Sundays

Back when I wrote on my wedding blog, there were lots of instances where I compared planning a wedding to being pregnant. They both do crazy things to your brain. I was more forgetful, had more “blonde” moments and was constantly losing track of things. I wrote about how much wedding planning was like being pregnant often. Or maybe that’s just me – if you planned your wedding with none of those mishaps, then more power to you. I might secretly hate you, but you probably won’t care too much!

Since this was a common theme for me, I thought that it would be “fun” to share some of my “greater” moments this week – yes, that’s fun for YOU, not so much for me. LOL. Let’s just say that I had three such events this week. Here they are in no particular order of importance:

Disclaimer: I can easily seeing that you might enjoy hearing about my crazy pregnant moments, so it’s entirely possible that this could become a weekly post!

I work on the 8th floor of an office building. The other day, when I was trying to leave the office for lunch, I punched the down button to call the elevator and then waited. When the elevator came, I stepped on and proceeded to punch the number 8 button. You know, to go down. Color me stumped when the elevator didn’t move, but dinged at me instead. Yeah, most people would have figured it out at that point (as I’ve often done in the past when I try to leave work with too much on my mind), but not this prego! Frustrated with the elevator “malfunction” I punched the 8 button again and then was amazed when the doors opened. Yeah. I finally figured it out and realized what a dumb-ass I was...luckily no one was around to witness. Except those security cameras that they keep on elevators...and now you all know about my silliness!

While taking care of our three doggies this week while my hubby was out of town, one of them got sick right in front of me one morning. The good news? It was on tile. The bad news? No one else is around to clean up the mess, which means that this pregnant woman had to do her best. Note to self - do NOT attempt to clean up doggie vomit while pregnant. Or at the very least, make sure that you have NOT eaten breakfast yourself yet when this happens. You will lose said breakfast. This is the first time that I've thrown up during this pregnancy. I've had extreme nausea and even gagged/dry heaved a number of times (too many to count) but have not actually lost a meal...until this past week.

Mentioning food problems, I have developed the strangest thing during this pregnancy. I normally do not like sauce on my pizza. If a place insists that they cannot make the pizza without a little bit of sauce, then I’ll go with VERY light sauce and walk away with the pleasure of knowing that they’re big, fat liars since other places do it all the time. But lately, at some of our favorite pizza haunts, I’ve not enjoyed the pizza as much without sauce. I hate to say it, but the pizza seems to be missing something, and I’ve concluded that I miss the sauce. Or rather little Ziggy misses the sauce and is choosing to assert his/her will over my own likes and dislikes, but I have just happily ordered sauce on the side the last week or so since B is usually with me and he also does not like sauce on his pizza. I know, we’re a match made in heaven – you don’t have to tell me! So, being alone for half of this week, I stopped to get a pizza the other night on my way home from work and actually ordered it with sauce. Where I took it home and proceeded to scrape off all of the sauce. It wasn’t as good as little Ziggy tried so hard to tell me that it would be. I managed to eat two pieces that night and another two for lunch the next day, but I’ll be honest here and tell you that the rest of that pizza is going in the trash!

Lastly, and possibly the silliest thing that I did all week was rent and watch this movie all by myself.

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At 4 months pregnant.

I thought that I was doing B a favor...he’s out of town helping a friend move, so I saved him one chick-flick and rented this to watch the other night. Yeah. Maybe not the brightest move. It was a great movie, but I’m 4 months pregnant, totally emotional, and I watch a sad movie like that?!?! I guess I had it coming. I haven’t read the book, but I knew that it wouldn’t end well from the very beginning. Oh, who do I think I’m kidding? I cried during the first 10 minutes of the movie, not just at the end. At least Penny was there curled up in my lap to comfort me and my tears...even if she did look up at me like “Hey lady – what’s all the racket up there? I’m trying to sleep!”

I think that I’ll either watch something a little more upbeat tonight (my last night of being alone) or I’ll work on projects around the house and avoid movies all together. Either one works for me!