I’ve heard from several of my friends about the “18 week belly pop” that they had during their pregnancies. Now, at 18 weeks, I am a believer.
It’s also crazy how much bigger I look at the end of each day (vs. in the beginning). These pictures I take each week are in the morning, immediately upon waking up. However, once I have eaten and drunk (drunk?!?! drinken???) a day’s worth of food and drinks, I’ve got a bump like WHOA. I will be taking a picture of that shortly… I keep forgetting.
I am now in the 5th month, and baby is still growing rapidly.
According to Babycenter, Baby P is now 5 1/2 inches long and the length of a bell pepper! The baby has fingerprints on his fingers and so he/she is now an individual.
(source)
Yesterday we had the 2nd trimester detailed ultrasound. Everything looked good, and it was truly amazing to see baby’s parts one at a time. My favorites were the hands and feet, and the spine (which was amazing to be able to see.) But the big news of the week was finding out the baby’s gender….
It’s a BOY!!!
S and I are both excited – but S is especially thrilled. I would have taken either gender, I just wanted a healthy baby. But S can’t wait to have a “mini-me” to throw the football with and teach how to use tools and fix things. Boys!! ![]()
Now things seem so much more real. I have been putting off really thinking about things – what to buy, names, etc. – until we found out the gender. Now that we know… I have no more excuses!
My 18-week check in:
- Total weight gain: 9-10 pounds.
- Maternity clothes? About half-half, same as last week. However, one day this week to work I wore some non-maternity clothes that I have worn quite frequently the past few weeks. It happened to be a free-flowing, baggy empire shirt dress, and a coworker commented, “Ah, in the maternity clothes now, huh?” Oh well.
- Stretch marks? None yet.
- Sleep: This week was pretty good, although we are still not sold on the Tempurpedic.
- Workouts:
- Monday – elliptical (30 min)
- Tuesday – elliptical (30 min)
- Wednesday – run/walk (3 miles)
- Thursday – run 4 miles (this was HARD and I am still sore…)
- Friday – walked 2 miles
- Today (rest day)
- Tomorrow I am supposed to run 4 miles with the SFMTP group. Based on how I felt after Thursday’s 4 mile run, I think this might be a run/walk, and I might cut it short… I will go based on how I feel in the morning
- Best moment this week: The detailed ultrasound and finding out we will have a baby boy!
- Food cravings: Somebody brought in chocolate-covered caramel popcorn at work and I had two huge bowlfuls… and have been craving it ever since!
- Aversions: None
- Symptoms: Major soreness (in NEW places) after my 4 mile run.
- Belly Button in or out? In.
- Wedding rings on or off? On.
My new gift to myself this week? A pair of Uggs.
I never really had the urge to own (or pay for) a pair of Uggs. But during my trip to Pittsburgh in December, my sister raved about her new pair of Uggs and said they were so incredibly comfortable she never took them off. Now that my back and feet have started hurting fairly regularly, and I have decided it’s flat shoes from here on out through the end of the pregnancy, I decided to treat myself to a pair.
These can be worn high, slouchy,
Or folded.
Please excuse the crazy cat hair on my leggings. Just one of the hazards of having two cats – especially when one of them is white.
My sister was right, they are crazy comfortable and have worn them for 3 days straight. Totally worth the $$.
Ok, I’m off to watch “Wag the Dog” with S and get to bed early for my 4 mile run tomorrow. Crazy how I am now having anxiety for my 4 mile runs (when previously this anxiety was saved for 18-20 milers!!!)
G’night, ya’ll!
February 4th, 2012
Rachel
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