16 Weeks

I thought it might be a fun idea (for me at least) to give periodic updates on what's going on with me and the baby. I'm not going to promise that I'll do one every week, but I sure would be proud of myself if I did! If, for no other reason than to document it for myself, or for my little avocado. Who knows, maybe it's a girl and she will actually care?!

Today I'm 16 weeks. I don't know why, but I feel like that's much farther along than 15 weeks. Maybe because it's the 4 month mark. Like, it's when people start taking this pregnancy thing more seriously? It's also the week that they say you can accurately tell the sex of the baby. I don't know. Anyway.

Baby's size: An avocado. About 4 1/2 inches long, head to bottom and weighs 3 1/2 ounces.

Belly size: About 33" at my widest

Weight gain: You know what? Up to this point my weight gain has been minimal, but I might not always want to share this number, so let's just skip this question, shall we?

Cravings: (With Jackson I didn't really have any cravings, but with this baby, I always do, so this might be fun to keep up with.) Up until this past week, I've been craving sweet and sour flavors (bring on the sweet tarts) but this week I've really wanted red meat! I've also been wanting beer, but I'm not sure that's a craving. More of an addiction. (just kidding Dad)

Mood: It's stabilizing a bit. Either that or I'm getting used to it. I'm certainly more emotional than pre-pregnant. Especially about tv shows, which is stupid.

Symptoms: I haven't had to take my Zofran for the last two weeks! Woo Hoo! (Zofran is an anti-nausea medicine) I'm able to eat more, but still not a lot at one sitting. I know this will only get worse. Minimal acid reflux though! My skin is a wreck. The biggest symptom I've had is that I've been really sleepy all the time. I've definitely started feeling those Braxton Hick contractions already. (I'm having one right now actually) I started feeling them around 18 weeks with my last, and even sooner with this one. Even though they are a little uncomfortable, they aren't painful, and I welcome them with open arms because I have a theory (totally not based on science, and I'm sure any medical professional would disagree with me) that the more Braxton Hicks I have, the faster my labor will be. This is based on the fact that I had about 100 a day (4-5 per hour), starting in my 4th month with Jackson, and only a 5 hour labor. I just assume that each one of these little gems gets me that much closer to having a baby in my arms, and out of my....ummmmm....vagina.

Go to clothing: This might not matter to some folks, but it's really important to others, so I'll include it. So far, I've managed to stay in non-maternity pants and I can switch from maternity shirts to looser non-maternity. The length of shirts is becoming an issue though. I'm definitely not in those tent-ish, bunching under the boobs shirts yet, although I know it's coming eventually. I still have a couple pair of regular jeans that I can wear. They are from after I had Jackson, but before I lost my baby weight and my hips shifted back to their normal position. I intend to wear these for as long as possible. Maternity pants aren't exactly flattering on a girl with no butt! And thank God the cardigan is in style right now. I can put a non-maternity one on over a maternity shirt, look cute, and stay warm!

Sleep: So far, so good. I'm usually fast asleep within minutes of hitting the sack and I stay asleep until woken up.

Baby movement: I've just started to feel some consistency with flutters, but that's all I can really say so far. Not a lot of hard kicks, and certainly not hard enough for Eric to feel on my belly.