17/18 Weeks

I put these two weekly posts together because I have been so busy getting ready to go back to work I haven't had too much time to post. Plus, not much new has been going on, except my little belly bump has been growing. I am pretty much in maternity pants all the time. I can still fit in my workout pants that have elastic waist bands, but for work and jeans I am in maternity pants. I can still wear most of my normal shirts, althought I've been wearing maternity shirts too since they are usually longer and cover the awkward waistline of maternity pants.

As far as pregnancy symptoms, I have been tired again but I'm thinking that is also due to going back to work. I have been having lots of back aches and by the end of the day my back is so painful I just need to lay down. I have been making a big effort to not sleep on my back since my doctor said I shouldn't be. Apparently, laying on my back can make the weight of the baby put pressure on a certain area and cause me to have trouble breathing. So, I've always been a stomach sleeper but I haven't been able to sleep on my stomach in the past few weeks because it hurts. So I have been sleeping with my Snoogle - the best pregnancy pillow ever! It is a long body type pillow that wraps around my body. It is so comfortable and forces me to sleep on my sides. Or, if I try to sleep on my back, the pillow helps prop one side of me up which makes the back sleeping position alright.

I can't think of any other real symptoms I've been having. My baby bump is definitely becoming more noticeable to me and those around me. People that know me pretty well have definitely noticed the bump. It's still so surreal to me. Especially when I wake up in the morning and I put my hands on my stomach and there is a bump there!

We get to find out the gender on Friday - I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

Week 17 pictures:

Week 18 pictures:

We bought our nursery furniture!

I decided that I wanted white nursery furniture for our baby. I thought about doing a dark espresso color which was nice, but I felt like the white went better with all the bedding I've looked at, and white seems more baby-like to me. So I found this great crib at Babies R Us. Of course I've been reading the Baby Bargains book where all the brands are rated based on parent reveiws, complaints, etc so I made sure to do my research on all the different brands. I found the crib I liked at Babies R Us and even went to Buy Buy Baby in Rockville and Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg. They had tons of cribs that were nice but I really didn't like anything better than the one I found at Babies R Us. However, Great Beginnings was so fun to look through since they had all the furniture set up and semi-decorated walls to give nursery decorating ideas. I did get some cute ideas on how to decorate. Right now, I'm thinking polka dots! So, I continued my crib research, read every review online possible and decided this was the one. When I went online to look at it again it was actually marked down $50! So I decided I needed to buy it now while I could save some money. Aaron and I went this weekend and purchased the crib and the matching low dresser that we will use as a changing table. We ended up getting a great deal on the whole set. It's supposed to arrive in 7-10 days. So now the plan for this weekend is to clear out the "office" and move all that furniture into the guest room that will now become the guest room/office so that the nursery furniture has somewhere to go. After that, we will wait to find out the gender and then begin the painting, decorating and shopping adventures!

Pictures of the crib/dresser:

16 Weeks

Wow has time flown! I can officially say I'm 4 months pregnant. Wow. I am 16 weeks along now and finally getting a belly bump. Before I felt bigger, my pants weren't fitting right but it all just seemed to be bloat and extra weight in my mid section, not necessarily as a baby bump. Now I have a very small, bump right where it should be. So any pants that sort of fit before, are now becoming tight. I predict I will be in all maternity pants by the time I go back to work in 2 1/2 weeks.

We had my 16 week doctor's appointment. It was quick and easy. She listened to the heartbeat with the doppler. While she was able to locate it this time, she kept losing it. The baby appeared to be moving all around while she was trying to get a heartbeat. Once she finally got it in a spot where Baby Upp stopped moving, she said it was 154 beats per minute, which is right where it should be. She also commented on my weight gain - hmph. She said that I had gained barely any up until my 12 week appointment and that I made up for it between my 12 and 16 week appointment. She said I'm right where I need to be. She gave me a referral to get my big 20 week ultrasound/scan. This is where I go to a radiology place and they do like an hour long ultrasound measuring everything, looking at the heart closely, etc. They can also tell us the GENDER at this ultrasound! Yay!! So as soon as we got in the car I called and made that appointment. Typically, my doctor said she likes to have these appointments between 19 - 20 weeks, but my appointment is a Friday so I'll actually be 18 weeks and 6 days. Oh well, what's 1 day! So that appointment is scheduled for August 28. I can't wait to see our little baby again on the screen, and find out the gender! After that, I have my 20 week appointment on September 1 with my doctor.

Week 16 pictures: (I think this picture makes me look bigger than I am. Not sure if it is the dress or the way my hand is, but I don't have that big of a bump. Plus it's the end of a night after I ate a lot at a wedding :)

15 Weeks

So I'm 15 1/2 weeks now! Still feeling great! I have more energy than the first trimester. I still am pretty tired but not dragging the way I was a few weeks ago. No new symptoms, just some ligament aches and the headaches pretty often but they are bearable. Some days I am amazed that I am pregnant because I don't really feel any of the symptoms I read about!

We had our 16 week appointment today. Somehow we got on an early schedule so we are a couple days premature of actually being 16 weeks but oh well. It was quick and easy. Just the usual blood pressure (great), weight, and listened to the heartbeat (healthy 154 beats/minute!). According to my doctor I had gained barely any weight between my 8 week and 12 week appointment, so today she said I made up for it and gained some weight. I didn't even ask what I weighed. I did ask her if I gained too much and she said no, that I hadn't gained weight previously so I just made up for it. Ha. Not sure what that means!?

She gave me the referal to get my sonogram at the radiology place in a few weeks to find out the gender of Baby Upp! We called and made the appointment for August 28! I'm very excited!! We will actually be 1 day shy of 19 weeks and she said typically they do these between 19 and 20 weeks, but that is what worked and that way when we go back to the doctor on September 1, we will have already gone for our sonogram. Only 3 1/2 weeks until we get to find out!

Week 15 pictures: