18w

Today I finally took my belly ring out because it looks like my belly button is going to pop soon... probably still a week or so away, but it's definitely getting more and more shallow.

I'm definitely in that phase where I feel like crap. I shouldn't, because Trina is giving me her bella bands and so as soon as I get those I'll be fitting back into my size 6 jeans till the hips widen... that should make me feel better, right? wrong. No shirts fit. I'm always just wearing a t-shirt or three of the maternity shirts that actually fit me right now... the rest are too big and they look dumb. And then my pre-pregnancy shirts just stretch to their max and I'd really like to NOT wear them so they aren't all stretched out for after. You should've seen the mess I made last night trying to find something to go out to dinner and a movie with the girls. BLAH!

I can't believe I'm about halfway through. I vote on the baby coming approximately 20 weeks from now... not 22.

17w5d

Current annoyance: maternity clothes.

Um, hello maternity clothes designers, short people get pregnant too.
How about some capris that don't go down to the ground?!

17w3d

Hello, Braxton Hicks.

At least that is what I am thinking... for the past two days when I've made a certain bathroom call, I've felt it-and that's the only thing I can think of. I tried to read up on it a little bit, and the couple of things I read said anytime after 6 weeks really... so whatever, I go back to the doc in a couple of weeks, I'll ask them.

Also, my mouth has been experiencing a not so fun thing. And it didn't even hit me that it was pregnancy related till I read something about it in one of my books this morning. I've always had really sensitive gums (bleed like crazy every time I go to the dentist) but the past couple weeks I have woke up every morning with dried blood across my teeth-and often the same after I brush. Well apparently this little wonder is referred to as the "pink toothbrush"-awesome. I am actually going in for a cleaning on Thursday, so I will ask them more about it then.

And then the buttons on my capris are finally starting to pull a little too much... I think some maternity ones are finally in store for me. But I made it this far without them... woohoo!

17w

17 weeks! I was going through the usual week-by-week stuff, seeing what is happening now with baby and I... the things that stood out most were that the baby is getting a little fat this week and that it can now hear things outside. So What does Patrick do when I tell him he can talk to the baby now and it will hear him? He starts saying "Who's your daddy! Who's your daddy! I'm your daddy!" in the goofiest voice... you'da had to have been there I suppose.

Also... the past two days I have noticed sooo much movement. It used to be just after I ate and sometimes before I went to bed, but now it's more regular and far stronger-which I absolutely love! I think I may have felt my first kick the other night-it seemed like a whop out of the middle of nowhere-so we'll see.

On the not so fun side the muscle that I usually have problems with-the major one that runs along my spine-has been throbbing and spasming so much over the past three days that it's taken work to get to sleep at night. I'm not sure it's pregnancy related, probably not as I have had this problem since high school-but it doesn't help that I can't take my usual concoction of medicine to make it feel better. I guess it's time to go old fashioned and dig out the heating pad!

16w4d

First of all-congratulations to Nicole who had Hudson yesterday! (I hope I have as good of labor as you did!!) She's the first of a few friends who are pregnant now too to deliver... over the next month or two there will be another 3 or 4... then there are a couple scattered here or there, and then there is me, and there are actually a couple friends from college and high school that are due around the same week as I am.

Not much news to report... I'm still having a lot of pain, a couple of times it's had me hunched over and unable to move my right leg... I'm making a VERY concious effort to drink a TON of water, but it seems like whatever I do drink it's not enough. I think I will steal one of Patrick's gallons of water out of the trunk (he takes them to work to drink) and MAKE sure I drink it every day. And then if I do that for a few days and it's no better, I'm going in. This is silly. I shouldn't be in this much pain this early on.

We're about to make a huge improvement on the baby's room... we found a storage unit we are going to throw our other couch, the coffee table, MAYBE the entertainment center and some storage bins in. We hate to get rid of the furniture, because we know we'll regret it and want it in a few years when we get a house (I love that couch so much-well we both do-that we're willing to shell out the bucks to get it reupholstered). So I'm looking forward to getting all that stuff out of there and making more room in here-we have a ton of room now but we'll need more as we continue to get baby stuff.

So after all that's out we will make the decision to paint or not (I wanted to, but now I'm kind of leaning to NO just so I don't have to deal with that much more hassle). And then we are going to buy more bookshelves (we have the set in our livingroom, but we're just going to get two of the 3-shelf ones to house our scads of books in the baby's room). We're going to do something a little different for clothes storage... MAYBE... more on that later... And then I suppose it will be time to look for a crib and dresser, and start on our registries... it has just hit me over the past couple of weeks that there is a TON to do and I better do it before I don't have the energy to do it, and then the girl I know who went 3 months early just freaked me out, really. I mean I know I will go early, all the Barette girls always do... but now I'm just spooked and wondering... what happens if it's REALLY early. More than a couple weeks early.

Speaking of early... for that same reason I need to get back on hounding my husband about names. It's his turn to make a list. We have a girl's name that we really really like, but we're not doing anything till he's made his list... and probably till the baby's actually born. We want our choices all mapped out though.

I want a Monster really really bad. Really bad. I told Patrick that at the 4 weeks left mark one will be IN the fridge ready to throw in the hospital bag for me to drink as soon as I can. Even though it would totally be defeating the purpose, they should make one that is caffeine free...

16w

Woohoo! finally at the four month mark! Here's my belly now... grown a bit this week!



Also, we have been stopping in to some of our well loved stores snagging clearance newborn and first year things, in both genders... we went to Old Navy last week and got some 2 dollar steals, and went to Gap kids today and actually some of the onesies I had been eyeing were marked down to $6.99 so we grabbed them. This is what we got:

15w5d

We got to see the baby today!!

Today's appointment went great and really just made my day or week or month till the next time I get to see the little miracle. At the beginning of the appointment I explained to her that we had been trying for months to get pregnant, and as soon as we did he had to leave and missed all of the appointments, and hadn't seen the baby yet... I asked her if there was any way she could bring in the portable machine, and she said that they really aren't supposed to, but at the end she would see what she could do.

So everything looks good and on track so far... I've lost a pound from pre-pregnancy weight and my first appointment, but they aren't concerned about it yet this early when the baby is still so little. I have been having a lot of pressure and almost cramps this week, and she said it's because I am not drinking enough water... blah blah blah fine. We heard the heartbeat, but she couldn't get a count on what it was (she said at LEAST the 150s) because the little bugger was moving around so much... I didn't realize what I heard was it kicking till she pointed it out to me!

And yes. At the end, she did bring the ultrasound machine. She said it hadn't been working right lately so we'd just see... it fired right up, and I'm sure that was due to the massive amount of praying that happened by lots of people to make sure he got to see the baby today. She let us look for a good long while... boy is that kid a MOVER! it was all over the place... sucking its thumb (awwww) stretching out, twisting and turning... we got to see everything-legs, hands, fingers, feet... there is so much of a difference from what it looks like now to what it looked like 7 weeks ago. I am just amazed about this little life that's growing inside of me... there really aren't words unless you've been there yourself.

Overall it was a great day and a great appointment... off to get ready for Mom and Dad Haney to get here!