18 Weeks

Ok, I am almost officially halfway there. Our baby is now the size of a mango! I remember when he (or she) was a little poppyseed...

By week 18 of your pregnancy, your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5 to 5.5 inches long. Your baby continues to develop fat layers and weighs 5.25 ounces. Your baby will continue to grow and develop, but the rapid growth will slow down for a little while. At this point of your pregnancy, your uterus is approximately the size of a canteloupe. Although weight gain varies from woman to woman, your total weight gain at this point should be 10 to 13 pounds.

There is still space available in your uterus and your baby will be active for periods at a time. Your baby may sit cross legged or turn somersaults.

Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that your baby can hear now. You baby will get used to familiar sounds such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if he hears a loud sound.

Say what??

Ok, Baby M got ears. In honor of this momentous occasion, I decided I will stop cursing. LOL...ok people, laugh if you must. I'm at least going to stop saying the big ones. I can't have my child thinking it's mommy is a potty mouth. We also want to start playing music for baby although Andrew and I can't seem to agree. Andrew's mom sent baby a book, "Guess How Much I Love You" and one day we decided to read it to baby but after the first page I started crying. Why you ask?? Oh yeah, I'm crazy. HAHA...anyways, maybe we'll try again. Our little baby is growing so fast...I can't wait to feel the first kick! =)

16 week picture

Ok, so here is my 16 week pic. I can't believe it's been 4 months already! It's funny because everytime I take a picture, I wake up and tell Andrew "Hey babe, I look skinny today...it's gonna be smaller than the last one!" As you can see, I'm delusional! HAHA...I've definitely got a belly now. Depending on what I wear, people may not be able to tell but some are definitely asking. Gone are the days of my size 6's and (Dad, cover your eyes) gone are the days of my 36 D's!! Wow. Elastic is my best friend right now. I'm loving the second trimester. I have much more energy and I'm not queasy 24/7. However, I do have a whole new set of symptoms which I will kindly keep to myself. If you must know, call me...I'll tell you all about them =) Anyways, hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to see ya'll in 3 weeks!!!

Pregnant women have feelings too!!!

Ok, let me take this moment to vent here. Let me just say that before I was pregnant, this was one thing that I was not expecting. Ok, I know that I'm a touchy person and that I get offended easily but let me remind you that I am also pregnant which makes me extra emotional. Here we go: Just because I'm pregnant, does not mean everyone gets a free pass to comment on my body. I can't help what I look like. As long as my weight gain is healthy, then I'm ok. It's hard enough dealing with all these changes in me, but to have people comment on them is 10000000% harder. I knew I was going to gain weight, obviously...and it didn't bother me because it's necessary. I'm not that vain to try to stop it. But I find it completely and utterly disgusting that other people (acquantances or not) tell me things. And I know it's not just me either. It's like having a belly is a red flag for idiots.

Ok, there I said it. I had to vent. I guess now that I'm 16 weeks it's "ok" to show because apparently it wasn't before. Let me just warn you that I have some snippy remarks tucked away and I'm not afraid to use them!

Houston...we have a heartbeat!

Ok, Andrew and I went to the dr. last Friday and we finally got to hear the heartbeat. Wow, there's nothing like it!! The dr. found baby right away, just tucked away in a little corner. On another good note, seems like my blood pressure has leveled off for now. He said it's pretty common and that we should be on the lookout during the third trimester.

So, our next appt. is May 2, with our ultrasound...THE ultrasound on May 6. It's first thing in the morning and of course we'll be finding out the sex!! We are so excited to find out. And yes, that it the morning that I leave for New Orleans. The dr. wanted to wait until the last possible day just to make sure. Time is going by so fast!

PS-We think it's a boy ;)