Almost 17 weeks!!!

 

As you can see, my photographer again had "pointers".  Tim said the first one looked good but I needed more attitude.  So a struck a pose not knowing he already had the camera ready to snap it right away!!!  Then it was just too funny to delete.

How Far Along?  It will be 17 weeks on Tuesday!

Weight Gain?  9 sometimes 10 pounds

Maternity Clothes?  My pants are pretty much all maternity now and half of the tops I wear too.  They are sooooo much more comfortable than still trying to make my pre-pregnancy clothes fit.  Everyone just throw up a little prayer that all my cute heels still continue to fit throughout the rest of these 40 weeks. :)

Symptoms?  Sometimes I get congested.  Some mornings I blow my nose all morning long.  Supposedly your mucus production goes into overdrive when pregnant.  But no other symptoms....YAY!

Movement?  None that I can feel yet.  A few of my friends who are less than a couple weeks ahead of me are already feeling movements and little kicks.  I'm so very excited for them but now it has me constantly thinking about movements.  Even though my head says they are ahead of me, my heart wants to feel something now.  I can't wait for the little peanut to kick me like crazy and keep me up all hours of the night!  In some ways the little one is already keeping me up at night.  In the past week or two, I've had three dreams that I could feel the baby kick.  In one, he or she was doing somersaults on my left side over and over and over.  It was so cute, you could feel the bump of the head and then two little feet over and over....or at least what I think it would feel like to have them doing somersaults.  In another dream, he or she was punching like crazy on my right side.  You would have thought it was boxing time!  I had Tim feel my side and everything.  In the morning I had to double check that I was dreaming.  Tim looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if he was for sure I didn't wake him up in the middle of the night to feel my belly.

Sleep?  Back to regular people's bedtime!  I can still sleep on my back if needed (see mucus production above) or my sides.  Being a stomach sleeper is now out of the question since my uterus has decided to be large and in charge.

Food Cravings?  Just random stuff at random times.  Nothing that is a craving so bad that I "have to have it now or die."  Chips and salsa one day, orange candy slices the next.

Best Moment of the Week?  I got the magazine American Baby in the mail!  It was super cute and had lots of good info.  It came with my name on it and everything...maybe I have a secret admirer.

Gender?  It seems that everyone I know is having boys right now.  Will we go with the flow or buck the trend???  We'll see next Monday.

What I Miss?  With the cool, fall weather rolling in, apple cider scented candles wafting around the house, the chili and football weekends - it leads me to think of another fall favorite - St. Wenceslaus wine.  It's more like an adult apple cider than wine and has been a mainstay of my falls and winters for years.  My dear friend, I will miss you.  Even though nothing truly compares to everything we've gone through to get here and as wonderful as this pregnancy has been - I will be waiting for you next year!

What I'm Looking Forward to?  Next Monday's ultrasound!!!!!!!!  I'm so ready to find out if we're having a little girl or boy!  It will be so exciting!

Weekly Wisdom?  I need to keep more snacks in my purse.  Who knows when traffic is going to be crazy or the quick Walmart run becomes not-so-quick. 

Appointments?  October 4th!!!  We're so excited!

Baby Size?  About 5 inches and 5 ounces....the size of an avocado.  Sounds tiny, and really is tiny, but try putting a ruler to your belly and seeing the 5 inches.  It was definitely bigger than I thought!

Yummy!

So here I am in Chicago, day 3 going on 4 of a work conference.  And I may have found my new favorite Italian place, Carlucci's.

Linguini in a parmesan cheese wheel....yummy!!!  Then when its nice and melted in the cheesy sauce, they plate it with the proscuitto.  It was sooooo good!

Visiting the Fam

Today we went out to see our new nephew Tucker.  You really forget how small they are!  He was probably about 7 1/2 lbs now and so cute.  Did only the things a 4 day old does best, eat - sleep - dirty his diaper - repeat.  But still absolutely adorable.

This was his favorite position of the day.  Looks like he found a very comfortable spot!

He was soooo little.  And so much brown hair!  While I was holding baby Tuck, the other boys had their usual fun with Uncle Tim.

Tim got his time with baby Tucker though, but of course his fan club wasn't far behind...

It was a good little trip today.  Welcoming the newest family member and catching up on all the happenings.....and we even got some football watching in!

Meet Baby Tucker!

My latest nephew!!!  Born just yesterday, 7 lbs 10 oz.  Can't wait to meet him this weekend!!!

15 weeks

How Far Along?  15 Weeks

Weight Gain?  7 lbs....that's normal right?  I keep flipping back and forth into my old life of thinking "OMG I'm fat"  to "OMG look at my cute belly hanging out"

Maternity Clothes?  Ordered some belly bands online and I can't wait for those to show up on my doorstep!  Otherwise I have my $8 pair of jeans and 3 dresses.  The rest is my normal wardrobe.

Symptoms?  Nope!!!

Sleep?  I'm not needing as much which is fabulous!  It's like I've gotten my life back with all those extra hours.

Food Cravings?  Gotta-have-it-or-die cravings = no.  But anything full of sugar is looking very enticing.

Best Moment of the Week?

Gender?  We're thinking boy.  When we talk at home we say him.  But of course we would be crazy about a lil' girl.

What I Miss?  Nothing!

What I'm Looking Forward to?  Feeling the little peanut move!!!

Weekly Wisdom?  Always check online before buying in the store.  In the store, one belly band is $17.  Online, a stay-at-home mom sells belly bands 3 for $15!

Milestones?  Set our appointment for the anatomy scan/ultrasound! October 4th we'll find out if peanut is a little boy or a little lady.

Emotions?  Less clingy :)

Appointments?  Next one we find out gender!!!!!!!

Baby Size?  About 4 inches and 2 1/2 ounces....the size of an apple.

Randomness

I don't know why some days I've got so much to say from the day before, but others I go a week inbetween posts...  I wouldn't say anything monumental happened this week, but a lot of randomness.

Family was in town for the holiday weekend.  We got in our one and probably only trio of bumps picture.  Tims sister and sister in law are both pregnant as well.  One has her c-section scheduled for Wednesday and the other is just two weeks ahead of me.  It was kinda funny seeing our different bumps all lined up together.  And boy was there a lot of food consumed in this house last weekend!  Most people use Labor Day weekend to soak up the last bit of summer, not us.  This summer was brutal!  A record number of days in the 100's!  We used Labor Day weekend to kick the summer into the past and welcome in the fall.  It was actually cool enough to open our windows for a couple days, we ate pot roast and mashed potatoes and apple crisp.  We dug out the fire pit and made smores outside.  Lit my all time fave fall candles in the house.  It was awesome.  Now if I can just convince Tim that it's time to light up the fireplace :)

My boss returned from her maternity leave on Tuesday, so I waited until Wednesday to spring it on her that I was pregnant.  She was really excited, or a really really good actress, for me.  That was a huge relief for me.  Especially since I've only been working for her for 3 months and all but 4 days of that were with her on her own maternity leave.  The rest of the office was super excited too.  The great thing about coming out at work is that I don't have to hide my bump anymore.  Welcome comfy clothes!!!  So now I've got a total of 3 maternity dresses, all wearable to work.  One I wore to Tim's work picnic, and another I can dress up for an upcoming wedding.  Today I also bought my first pair of maternity jeans.  I could still wear my regular jeans for maybe another week or two, but they were on clearance so I had to get them.  Plus it was fate.  The only sizes left were 18 and 2....neither are close to my normal size, but something whispered to me to just try the size 2.  Guess what.....they fit!!!  How much of a self esteem booster is that?!?!?  Size two jeans while in your 2nd trimester and for only $8!!!!  I should go buy a lottery ticket.

Today we had our first OB appointment of the 2nd trimester.  Our first dr's appointment in a long while with no ultrasound.  It felt kinda weird.  I mean here we are only 14 weeks in and have already have 4 different ultrasounds.  Thank you follow up for IVF :)  At least they used the doppler today and we got to hear the heartbeat for a long while.  I hope everyone's OB is kind like ours and spends awhile listening to heartbeats or watching the little peanut squirm on ultrasounds.  I love that he doesn't rush through that part.  Through the doppler more so than through the ultrasound machines, it sounded like a herd of galloping horses.  Still the most beautiful music ever!  Mental note - look into at home dopplers to listen to instead of our current sound machine.

Test results came back today.  We opted to do the First Look screen and our risk of genetic issues are less than 1 in 10,000.  So that's a great number.  Our CF screen came back negative as well, risk is less than 0.005%.  So that's nice to have a little reassurance.

We've set the date....or actually the Doc did....October 4th!  Finally the perfect way to start a Monday - finding out if our little peanut will be wonderfully "swallowed in pink" or get the best baseball room ever.  I hadn't thought much about the day we would find out until we actually set the date.  Now I'm super excited and absolutely can not wait.  I'm so glad our OB wants to do it at 18 weeks, instead of 20.  YAY!!!

And that's all the randomness I can remember for right now.  But don't fret...I'm sure there will be much more to come.

Team Pink or Team Blue?

The big question lately has been boy or girl.  Most of my family has been calling girl.  Tim's work has been calling boy.  My work hasn't been calling anything (because they still don't know!)  Since I've got time on my hands, the 18-20 week mark is still a little ways off, I've set out on a mission.  I decided to entertain myself, and maybe you too, by going through all the old wives tales and see what the consensus is. 

Here we go....

Carrying high = Girl                                         Carrying low = Boy
Even though I'm not carrying much yet, I would say I'm carrying low.  My belly doesn't start pooching out until below my belly button.  So I'm going with low.  Mark one up for the boys.

Heartbeat 140 & higher = Girl                    Below 140 = Boy
Every ultrasound has been over 140.   Tally one for the girls.

Google says there is a Mayan predictor that takes the Mom's age at conception and the Year of conception.  I've heard of the Chinese calendar but not the Mayans.  Supposedly if both are even numbers or if both are odd numbers then Girl.  If one is even and one is odd then Boy.  I'm 29 years old, so that = Boy.

Chinese Calendar = Boy

Extreme nausea is to be a sign that it's a girl.  Since I had absolutely no morning sickness = Boy. 

Extreme breakouts also are a sign that it's a girl.  Geez, these little girls are hard on their mothers before we even know they're girls.  I had more breakouts than my norm, but Tim said it definitely wasn't extreme.   Chalk another one up for the Boys.

Craving sweets = Girl                                 Craving sour or salty = Boy
I love me some chips and salsa.  These pregnancy hormones haven't deterred that one little bit.   So salty it is........Boy.

There's a couple things Google brought up that may be too early to tell.  But let's give them a try anyways.  They predict based on my belly and my face.

Round & Full Face = Girl                           Long & Narrow Face = Boy
Survey says.................Boy.

Big & Round Belly = Girl                 Small & Straight Out Belly = Boy
Survey says.................Boy.

Having someone pick up a key.  If they pick it up on the narrow end = Girl.  If they pick the wider end = Boy.  Tim, not knowing what I was looking for, was my predictor.  He picked it up on the wide end...Boy.

If you place a ring or needle on a string and hold it over your belly, depending on the way it moves will determine girl or boy.  I placed Tim's wedding band on the end of a string.  I thought his ring would be better karma than just a plain old needle.  Thankfully Amanda was here, she's two weeks ahead of me.  We were trying to determine if it was going in a straight line or if it was moving in a circle a little bit. 
Line = Girl                            Circle = Boy
It looked like his ring was moving back and forth, but every once in awhile it would take a half turn.  So I had her try and then we learned what circles really looked like.  You would have thought it turned into a spinning top.
Amanda = Boy                      Me = Girl

Final Tally

Girl = 2                       Boy = 9

All said and done, I am truly excited to have a boy or a girl.