17 Weeks (+2 days)

And here's me:

Now I just look really THICK. Maybe Im standing funny or someting. That is one weird picture. So Im goin to go with, nope, still don't look pregnant - now I look like Im thick and ate too much.

How far along? 17 weeks, 2 days!
Total weight gain: up 3-4 lbs (look at me gaining a lb a week)
Maternity clothes? Do we have to talk about this?! I'm still refusing although my fat jeans are starting to get slightly annoying. Buying maternity clothes has to be the worst experience ever. I did buy a pair of jeans and a top that were 80% off at kohls last weekend, but still debating if I'm returning them. The quest for a pair of shorts that fit me is still ongoing. Apparently if you're pregnant you must wear shorts with a 7" inseam - NO short, shorts for you!
Stretch marks? Not yet and I still apply cocoa butter every night knowing that it cant really stop them. My only saving hope is that my mom could still sport a bikini after having the four of us.
Sleep? Not too shabby. Last night rocked actually, I was exhausted and slept like a log & only woke up once to pee!
Best moment this week? Hmm not sure, I feel like the week just started.
Movement: I dont think so. Sometimes I think I feel something, but nothing confirmed yet.
Food cravings: I dont now really - right now I want a grilled ham & cheese, but its only 9:28 am. Sigh.
Gender: Still don't know folks!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: wearing little tank tops with built in bras
What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby's movement
Weekly Wisdom: When I say I'm hungry, feed me immediately
Milestones: Hmm nothing too monumentous really - I guess looking into the different childbirth classes

17 weeks (+1 day)

An onion is not really an exciting image to compare the baby's size to, but you get the point.

Baby is about 6 inches long already and bones are getting stronger & putting on fat!

I forgot my camera, so itll be tomorrow before I have a pic. I'm feeling good and noticing a difference this week.

I had my appt with my midwife last friday, which went well. Baby's heartbeat was still in the low 150s. We also talked about potential child birth classes and I'm looking into taking a Bradley method class. Its taught by a doula in Doylestown and she seems really nice - except its like $350 for the freakin' class! Ughh one more expense to figure out....

Ok, Im hungry...

So the hunger finally struck me about two days ago.... By about 10:30 am, Im ready to eat lunch even though I eat breakfast around 7:30 am. I'm even starting to be able to eat more for dinner - rather than my usual yogurt & fruit. And it's like one second Im fine and then two minutes later I NEED to eat right then or I might chew my own arm off. Seriously, if I say I'm hungry I need to eat right then, not in 10 minutes -- if someone could explain this to my husband it might help me refrain from eating his arm.

The Business of Being Born -- if you have no watched this documentary, I Highly recommend it. It really explains the nonsense that goes on in the birthing process and it makes me very happy about the choices Ive made so far in my car.
That is all....I would like to eat an entire pineapple now.

Wed Update

So I started prenatal yoga this week. I really liked it. I dont think I looked too ridiculous either considering it was my first time doing yoga. I signed up at this place in Doylestown and it's once a week. The class is really small and actually this week there was only one other person other than me, so the instructor gave us a lot of individual attention and made sure I was in all the right poses. I was even a little sore the next day. The weird part was the other girl in the class is due two days before me and she has like an actual pregnant looking belly. She kept asking me how far along I was since I still look like I just have a gut. I hope to keep going every week & also pick up on walking more if the weather will ever cooperate.
Saw my acupuncturist today too and she I looked great and everything was right on track. I dont have to go back until I'm 7 months now unless I have any issues.
Other than that....everything is going well, still feeling okay. We're trying to make some more progress on deciding what to do with the nursery and figuring all the stuff we're going to need to buy. The great name debate still battles on, but we may have had a breakthrough today. And no, we're not telling the names until after we know the sex and the name is finalized!

16 Weeks (+1 day)!!

Baby is the size of a....uhmm what is that an avacado??

Anyways...baby is between 4 and 5 inches long and weighs a bit less than 3 ounces. He or she can now make a fist. Baby's eyes are becoming sensitive to light. More developed facial muscles may lead to various expressions, such as squinting and frowning. Baby may have frequent bouts of hiccups as well.

Here's me @ 16 wks, 1 day:

I think I look slightly bigger, but still not really looking pregnant yet.

How far along? 16 weeks!

Total weight gain: up 2-3 lbs depending on the day

Maternity clothes? Nah

Stretch marks? Not yet
Sleep? Not too shabby

Best moment this week?

Movement: Not yet :(
Food cravings: fruit

Gender: It is what it is!
Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Having energy after 8 pm

What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby's movement
Weekly Wisdom: Start big purchases early so you can spread them out over a few months
Milestones: Bought the crib

Furniture Update

So I made the decision - I called and cancelled the four drawer chest. I figured it wasnt a "necessity", but the crib & combo/changing table really are necessities. So I just went with the two pieces. We have SO much stuff we Need to buy, that it'd be pretty wasteful buying anything that wasnt a necessity right now. We can always throw all the clothes in the closet or even build some sort of shelves in the closet to make do with everything.
Okay, that is all for now...

I'm being indecisive...

And I'm rarely indecisive. It's not so much indecisiveness - it's that I can't picture things in a room without them actually being there. So we went to this furniture store yesterday and I got a good price on the furniture. The guy gave me a better price if I bought 3 pieces vs 2 pieces. And well, I was starving and Ryan wouldnt go buy me a darn soft pretzel from the street vendor in Philly so I just wanted to get out of there. So I bought all 3 pieces, but told the salesman I wasn't sure if the third piece would fit so I have until today to call back and cancel the third piece. Sooo I need to make a decision Today. We measured and the room is basically 11' x 11' with a 2 foot bump out for the double windows on the one wall. I plan on putting the chair where this bump out is. Anyways, all 3 pieces will fit measurement wise, but I have no clue if it'll make the room feel crowded or if I need to waste the money on the chest of drawers. We have soo much other stuff to buy and I hadn't realized how much those nice rockers cost. I mean there is a good sized closet in the room too with some shelves... I dont know. Anyways, here is a picture of all 3 pieces (except I did Not buy the hutch top to that one piece, just the bottom & will put the changing table on top of that). This is the color too - sienna chestnut and it's the Munire Essex collection.

Little Cowgirl/Cowboy

I have been very eehhh about decorating a nursery - then I had this brilliant idea! A cowgirl or cowboy theme! See that way I can claim its gender neutral, no matter what you think. So I found this bedding that I really like (although there are a couple other fabrics in the running currently):

So then I found this lady on etsy.com and she'll custom make this bedding and basically has the same fabrics for less than 1/2 the price of buying the set in the store (oh and I dont need the bumper since apparently it kills babies or something).

Ok so now Im trying to figure out if we need to paint the walls - they're currently they all neutral tan color. I was thinking maybe paint half of the wall & add a chair rail. Although I really suck at this kind of stuff so if anyone has any input, it's welcomed!

Hmmm

Really folks?!!? We're at an even 50/50 split between girl/boy. Gee that's really helpful!! Atleast we know it's one or the other. I've added a new poll -- when do you think I will "pop" or finally look pregnant? Let's see if we do better with this one!

15 Weeks!!

Holy crap - baby is the size of an orange! Uhm does anyone else think that's big?!

Here's me (not really noticing a difference yet):

How far along? 15 weeks!
Total weight gain: still up about 1-2 lbs total depending on the day

Maternity clothes? Not really. Still wearing regular jeans that were big pre-pregnancy. I have one maternity sundress that I've been wearing, but really it's for the extra coverage up top.

Stretch marks? Not yet

Sleep? Depends on the night, overall not too bad (except for the constant peeing)

Best moment this week? Finding out that I'm probably not responsible for the $1000 lab bill I received last week.

Movement: Not yet :(

Food cravings: Nothing too specific - mainly meats/cheese (protein!) & breakfast sandwiches. Surprisingly, I have little desire for sweets (I even baked an apple pie & had none of it!)

Gender: It is what it is!

Labor Signs: Negative
Belly Button in or out? In

What I miss: Being able to eat a big dinner & not feel like total & complete crap
What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby's movement

Weekly Wisdom: Don't freak out til you have all the facts.

Milestones: Starting to look for stuff for the nursery

When it rains, it pours...

quite literally actually....right into our living room. Yup, tis raining IN my living room (thank god its a tile floor and not carpeting). Yes, I could've guessed we were very close to needing a new roof - but seriously, this is just plain unnecessarily stressful. I could kind of deal with the stupid skylight leaking, but not so much the pool in our living room. I'm still in denial.....

On a happier note....I found a crib I really love:

Right now we are pretending that it's totally in our budget....I just emailed 4 different stores to get a price quote. It was rated A+ by consumers & baby bargains and is supposed to be "the toyota of all cribs" -- can you really go wrong buying a toyota? Sure, it's no lexus - but I'm unemployed over here. Purty, right?

14 wks, 1 day (pic)

Here's me this morning:

Ok, now scroll down & see me 2 weeks ago - can you tell a difference?!? Nope, me neither..

Weight gain: up 1.5 lbs - Probably from eating fast food & bar food all weekend since we were away. And it's going to rain all week which will sadly ruin all my intentions on starting to walk everyday.

Anyways...still feeling pretty good. I have been told that no one gets a chance to notice my belly since they're typically staring at my newly enhanced chest.....

Things I learned this weekend:

1. drunk men tailgating at nascar events still yell "show me your tits" at me & didn't seem to0 fazed when I asked if they also wanted to see my baby belly

2. obnoxious smokers in bars are more likely to stop smoking if you preface your complaint with an "i'm pregnant"

3. when being repeatedly harrassed by a police officer at a nascar event, when all else fails put a quiver on your voice and whine that "you're pregnant & are only there to be a sober driver to ensure that the drunks that you're with get home safely" - this will typically make said cop leave you the heck alone

4. although I've always been a "driver", driving very late at night is becoming increasingly difficult (especially with a drunk husband snoring in the passenger seat)

5. when you REALLY have to pee, a dirty port-a-potty in a parking lot becomes heaven

14 Weeks !

Is a lemon really bigger than a peach?

Needless to say, your baby will definitely be making themselves known in the upcoming weeks. At about 3.5 inches long, their little body and limber limbs are coordinated enough for loads of complicated motions. In fact, their whole body is moving right now! You're not feeling it because their current size is still a bit too small to make an impact you'd recognize. Still, their movements are recognizable on an ultrasound. Your baby is also starting to develop the ability to move their eyes this week, although the eyelids still remain fused shut. What's more, they can make all sorts of fun facial expressions as they practice squinting, frowning, and grimacing. Cute development of the week: their little hands can grasp at things and they may already be sucking their thumb!