{Hidden Baby Chronicles} 19 Weeks: A Mango

July 24, 2014

Photo Thoughts: Loving my first pair of maternity shorts (thanks, Target)!  They already have me wondering why DOES anyone wear shorts/pants without elastic waistbands?!  SO comfortable!  Who needs zippers and buttons? 

How I'm Feeling: I still feel pretty darn good, and I promise- I really do know how lucky I am.  I did have a little bit of a tough week body image-wise after a totally rude comment made by a co-worker (more on that later). 

Baby/Bump: Baby is the size of a mango this week.  He/she measures 6 inches and weighs in at about a half pound!  Supposedly lots of sensory development is going on this week.  Also developing is a gross-sounding white protective coating covering his/her skin.  Yay...

As far as the bump goes, I wouldn't say that I have "popped" just yet, but I am definitely noticing some pretty significant rounding of the belly.  Right now it seems to be very low, but it all of a sudden feels SO hard- which is a little strange to feel.  I'm excited for the belly to "pop" enough that I can actually wear tighter fitting clothing to show it off, without worrying people will think it is a gut instead of a baby bump. 

Symptoms: Acne, acne GO AWAY!  Ugh, I'm over it.  I'm still having odd dreams most nights, too.

Weight: +10.0.  Up 3 pounds from two weeks ago when I last checked my weight.  I am attributing at least part of that to all the yummy Phoenix Mexican food I ate- yum!!!

What I'm Anticipating: Just a little over a week to go before we have our anatomy scan/ultrasound and get to hopefully find out if we will be having a baby boy or a baby girl!  Getting so excited!

What I'm Stressing About/Worries: I wouldn't really say that this is stressing me out just yet, but I am starting to become pretty aware that I am approaching the half-way point with this pregnancy and that I have done basically nothing to prepare.  A lot of me just feels like I have to put all those things on the back burner until we find a place to live.  Baby things are very much toward the bottom of the priority list at this point- that's just the reality of it.  Still plenty of time though, right?

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I LOVED all the amazing food I ate during my visit to Phoenix.  Baby liked it all too :-)

What I'm Missing:  I definitely missed having a drink or a glass of wine when I met up with old friends from home.  Usually it doesn't bother me too much, but this time I would have LOVED to have had a drink or two. 

Sleep: It was good to sleep in my old bed at my parents' house, but I was also anxious to get back to my own bed in Houston.  I'm still sleeping really well.  And I'm even not getting up every night to pee anymore- maybe every other night only.  Who knows how long THAT lucky streak will last?...  In other sleep-related news, I am finally noticing that yes, it is indeed getting kind of uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach.  It doesn't hurt or anything, it just feels like I am laying on top of something hard... which I guess I am.  For now, I'm still hanging on to sleeping on my stomach, so I've figured out that if I hug a pillow kind of under one arm and partly under my stomach, it tilts me just enough that I'm not flat on my stomach and it is still a comfortable position to sleep in.  I know I need to just break down and buy one of those crazy preggo body pillows, but I'll see if I can hold out for a few more weeks. 

Exercise:  I definitely slacked while on my trip.  But I am proud to say that I DID manage to work up the motivation to jog three times while home... in the like 90 degree 9AM Phoenix heat! 

Movement: Nope.  I'm excited to feel those first movements in the next few weeks hopefully!

Boy or Girl:  We will find out in a little over one week!  Can't wait! 

Milestones: Second flight while pregnant (Phx - Hou).

Highlights of the Week: I enjoyed the last few days of my trip to Phoenix.  I had a great time, and it was so great to catch up with friends and family.  Although I did kind of feel like I was kind of a disappointing preggo, because everyone that I met up with I think was expecting me to have a noticeable bump already and have lots of stories about pregnancy symptoms.  But alas, I am the most boring preggo of all time.  I got a few really sweet baby gifts from friends, and I made one of my first baby purchases- a koala onesie from H&M to go along with the koala onesie that Jen sent me.  Just a little obsessed...

Arizona onesie - How impossibly small/cute is this?! 

Entertaining (or Offensive) Question/Comment of the Week: I actually didn't think I would have to include this prompt for quite a while still.  Boy was I wrong.  On my first day back to work, my boss walked in the room, glanced at me for probably less than 2 seconds and said, "Well, I can tell that you gained a lot of weight on your trip."  No seriously.  I'm not making that up- she actually said that.  To my face.  I did a little nervous laugh, didn't say a word, put away what I was working on, and escaped into the next room where I promptly started crying.  My second pregnancy hormonal meltdown ensued.  I know all the things that people tell you to make you feel better are absolutely right... things like- "you are growing a person!," "the extra weight is for your baby," "it will all be worth it when you hold that baby in your arms."  But that still didn't make me feel any better.  I was truly hurt.  As I've mentioned here before, I am definitely struggling with my body image during this pregnancy a lot more than I thought I would.  I do think some of that has to do with the fact that a.) I have always struggled with my weight and been someone who gains weight very easily and b.) I was about ten pounds heavier than I like to be when I got pregnant.  But it is just never fun when someone actually has the audacity to voice some of your deepest insecurities.  I just cannot believe how people seem to absolutely lose their filter around pregnant people.  It's as if once you are pregnant your body is automatically up for public analysis and commentary.  Not cool people, not cool.