Week 18

I’ve made it another week! I’m feeling good, I’m getting my energy back, and things are looking up! I’m in the heat of tax season, and I really needed this energy! We celebrated Ian's 28th birthday this week. I keep reminding him that next year, he'll have another guest at his birthday dinner. :)


Weeks: 18 weeks
Weight Gain: 4 lbs
Sleep: MUCH better. I can actually get comfortable! Now if only I can sleep in a little more….
Food Cravings: Cereal! Fruit Loops is the cereal of the week!
Food Aversions: Meat, not really into it at this point.
Movement: Definitely feeling a lot of moving around! It mostly feels like little bubbles or flutters.
Symptoms: Pains in my abdomen, which is apparently normal.
Symptoms I don’t have: no nausea, no headaches (thank goodness those are gone!)
Belly Button in or out: still in!
What I miss: Eating sushi! Man I want some sashimi sooo bad!
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move around, and Ian pressing his face next to my belly for the first time to talk to the baby. He said “Hello baby, this is your dad!” It was so precious!
Weekly Wisdom: Don’t drink a lot of water before bed, especially if your pregnant, and have a small child sitting on your bladder! That feeling of waking up in the middle of the night when you are finally comfortable but have to pee, is ANNOYING!
What I’m looking forward to: Our furniture came in today! I need to figure out if we are going to pick it up now, or let them store it for us!

Week 17

Happy 17 weeks! And happy March 15th! (Tax deadline #1). Today was a good day. Work has been exhausting, but I think it's more so the fact that I'm pregnant, because I really only worked 8 hours today, and then went to our deadline party for 2 hours.
My belly has finally poked out. It's pretty obvious now (at least to me). I walk by a mirror and catch a glimpse of myself out of the corner of my eye, and I have to stop, stare, and rub my belly. It's insane on the difference a week makes!
Also, baby is moving around like crazy. Apparently it can see light now, and so we did the flashlight test. Ian shined a flashlight on my belly, and I held the heart rate monitor to my stomach, and we could her the little thing flip over, and move around. It's insane! (I told Ian if our kid comes out blind, I will blame him, AND his flashlight.)

Here is my update so far! Take care everyone!

Weeks: 17 weeks
Weight Gain: 3/4 lbs. Hello belly! Where the heck did this come from? It's like I woke up Friday morning and there it was!
Belly measurement: 31.5"
Sleep: only about 6/7 hours a night right now because of work
Food Cravings: Juice, fruit, and pizza (which is odd because I usually hate pizza), and Rita's Italian ice! (yum!)
Food Aversions: nothing, I love all food! lol (always have!)
Movement: This baby is moving a lot! Usually when I'm sitting on the couch, sitting at my desk at work, or lying in bed. I can feel little flutters or little bubbles... it's hard to describe! Ian and I actually felt the heartbeat the other night when we pressed down on my stomach...is that creepy or what?
Symptoms: Terrible back aches. However, Ian has made an appointment for me April 3rd for my first prenatal massage, and promised I could get one once a month there after. (what an awesome hubby!) He probably just wants me to stop complaining!
Belly Button in or out: still in
What I miss: fitting into my pre-pregnancy pants without feeling like I'm going to cut off circulation of my stomach! I'm still too small for maternity pants, but too big for regular pants, and the bella band is getting annoying...sigh....
Best moment this week: Getting a phone call from Weebsworld saying that our highchair was in! Woo hoo!
Weekly Wisdom: Keeping your house clean everyday by picking up little things after you use them, is a lot easier than waiting until the house looks like a tornado ran through, and then arguing with your significant other on why they need to help you clean. (my cleaning spurts happen more and more now that I'm preggers).

We are expecting!

By now the news has been shared, Ian and I are expecting! I’ve looked forward to this moment for a very long time, and now that it’s finally here, I feel like it’s going so fast. In a little over 5 months Ian and I will get to meet our child. August 23rd is the due date, and it sure is approaching fast (although when it hits 90 degrees in the middle of summer, I’m sure time will start to go really slow).

If you really know me, you probably realize that this child has been in the plan, for the last 5 years to be exact. I just pulled my 5 year plan I wrote back in 2006 after I graduated college. Sure enough it says, Fall 2011: start a family. 5 years ago I thought this day would take forever to get here, and now it’s just around the corner.

Now that I’m in the 2nd trimester, I’m supposedly in the “honeymoon phase.” I’m supposed to start getting more energy, my face is supposed to “glow.” I’ve felt none of this! Granted, I had a pretty easy 1st trimester compared to most. Barely any morning sickness. I was incredibly tired though, but that could also be due to the fact that tax season started up the 2nd week of January. With tax season now in full swing, we are pulling 60+ hour work weeks at the office. I keep telling myself if I can handle being pregnant during tax season, I can handle anything! But then I think about having a child during tax season next year, and I have a feeling I’m in for a treat.

Yes, I do plan on working after having this child. I’ve thought a lot about it, and feel like it would be the right decision for me. I enjoy my job, and the people I work for, and I feel that financially it makes sense for Ian and I do have a dual income for some of the things we wish to do, and some of the goals we have for the future. This decision is not just a financial decision, but an emotional decision as well. I need work to stay focused, and continue my desire to have a career. It is going to be hard, probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but thankfully I have a family that supports my decision, and will be there to lend a helping hand when needed. I fully support my friends that have decided to be stay at home moms, and by no means do I think that is easy. There are pro’s and con’s to staying at home and working, and each person decides what would work best for them. For now, being a working mom is my goal.

I think the most amazing part of my pregnancy so far was seeing our baby during our 13 week ultrasound. It made it feel so real. I saw the little hands, and the arms and legs. I heard the heartbeat, and I fell in love with the sound. That’s my future child, and at that point, I knew that 3 inch baby was my world.

Although Tax season will OWN me the next 5 weeks, I do have something to look forward to. Ian and I will be hosting a gender reveal party in April. I’ve been planning this “reveal” for a long time. I’ve always known this is how I wanted to find out if we were having a boy and a girl. Here’s how it will go down…
When we go in for our gender ultrasound, the nurse will write down boy/girl and place the note in an envelope. I will give the envelope to a cake baker (Kalico Cakes) and they will be baking me a cake where the cake batter is either dyed pink or blue depending on the sex, but the outside is gender neutral. During the party, Ian and I will cut into the cake with our friends and family, and we will all find out together. :)

Here is a picture from the beginning of the week:



Weeks: 16 weeks
Weight Gain: 2 lbs. I’ve only gained 2 pounds, but my pants barely fit! I think my weight is just shifting….
Sleep: about 8 hours a night during the week, 10 during the weekend.
Food Cravings: STILL breakfast foods! Bagels and cream cheese, waffles, chik fil-a chicken minis (yum!)
Food Aversions: none. I’ve never had any food aversions. Maybe this goes with the not having nausea part.
Movement: I thought I felt a flutter while lying in bed, but I can’t be sure…plus it’s way early.
Symptoms: Backaches, exhaustion, headaches
Symptoms I don’t have: morning sickness, swelling
Belly Button in or out: still in, I hope it stays in!
What I miss: having the energy to get through the mall. I only made it through half of the mall the other day….
Best moment this week: Picking up our stroller and car seat! We got the Baby Jogger City Select. We LOVE this stroller!
Weekly Wisdom: Take it easy. When I start to feel stressed out, I take a deep breath, and think about how truly blessed I am.