{Hidden Baby Chronicles} 18 Weeks: A Sweet Potato

July 17, 2014

Photo Thoughts: This week's photos come to you from Phoenix, Arizona- which explains the change in background and the addition of puppies. I'm loving Roxy smelling my feet in the first photo and Lola freaking out in the last one.  Not so much loving that I didn't realize until this photo how seriously wide these horizontal stripes on my new dress make me look.  Boooo!  I'm definitely noticing my belly getting rounder.. but I'm wondering how much of that is food baby vs. baby :-) 

How I'm Feeling:  Broken record here.  Still feeling good.  Still feeling lucky that I feel so "normal."

Baby/Bump: Baby H is tipping the scales at 6.7 oz and 5.6 inches this week- the size (well, the length) of a sweet potato).  Supposedly there's lots of kicking, hiccuping, thumb-sucking, twisting, etc. going on in there, but I sure can't feel any of that yet. 

Symptoms: I'm the most boring pregnant lady ever.  When I told that to my doctor last week, he just said, "good, that's just the way you want it."  I guess he is right.  But there are still a few minor symptoms that are sticking around: face/chest acne doesn't seem to be improving much at all yet, I'm still having some wacky dreams, and I've had another couple bouts of heartburn. 

Weight: I'm visiting family in Phoenix this weekend, so I decided to skip the weigh-in this week.  Let's just pretend I maintained +7.0 from last week... ha!

What I'm Anticipating: Starting to get excited to have another ultrasound on August 1 and to (hopefully) find out if we are having a baby boy or a baby girl. 

What I'm Stressing About/Worries: We turned in our 60 day notice to move out of our apartment.  BUT.. we don't have a place to live just yet.  So that's a little scary.  Keep your fingers crossed for us...

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: No real cravings/aversions, but I have definitely been enjoying lots of yummy Mexican food in Phoenix!

What I'm Missing: I've been spending some of my time in Phoenix catching up with friends over dinner or lunch.  During these times, I have kind of been wishing I could have a drink (or three), but alas, I cannot. 

Sleep: Sleep is so good!  And I've been sleeping really well in my old bed at my parents' house.  Their mini dachshund even joined me one night. 

Exercise: I definitely have not been keeping up with my 5-6 workouts a week on this little trip home.  I went for a run one morning, but it was like 92 degrees... so you can imagine how well that went. 

Movement: Nope.  And I actually get a little bit annoyed when people ask me if I've felt anything yet.  Only because I do still think it is pretty early, and it also just kind of makes me worry when people ask all the time.  Soon enough though, I'm sure...

Boy or Girl: We will know (hopefully) on August 1!

Milestones: First flight while preggo.  Is that a milestone?  My doctor said the security screening machines are fine to use, but I decided to opt out, just to be extra safe.  Other than that, it was just like normal travelling.

Highlights of the Week: Last weekend we had a friend of ours take some photos for us that we will use for our big pregnancy reveal/announcement.  I also bought some boy/girl props and got a few shots with those, too, so we can have a "gender reveal" photo as well. 

Of course, being in Phoenix is also a huge highlight.  It has been a lot of fun to spend some time with family and to catch up with friends.  David had to stay behind and work, but I wish he was here. 

Another highlight this week was getting the test results back from the blood draw they did at my last appointment.  They were testing for neural tube defects, and everything came back negative.  Whoo hoo!  Keep growing strong and healthy, baby!