18 Weeks/5 Months!

Today I am 18 weeks, which marks the beginning of the fifth month!  It feels big.

This week the baby is probably about 5 1/2 inches from head to rump.  He or she is also busy flexing his/her arms and legs ... which I have yet to feel.  Today I thought I felt something that resembled the flutter people have described, but it's hard to be sure.  We were at the emergency vet's office with our beloved dog, Cleo, and I was very agitated, when all of a sudden I felt a little something.  I can't be sure if I was imagining it or not, but Jeremy said the baby could tell I was mad and was kicking me to tell me to snap out of it.  This baby is definitely taking after, bossy baby!


If the baby is a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place.  If it is a boy, his genitals will finally be noticeable by ultrasound, even though we will not have our big ultrasound for another two weeks.  


HOWEVER, there is BIG news on the gender front.  Brace yourselves.  Last night, Jeremy said he had decided that it was most important that *I* be happy, and if that meant finding out the gender, he was on board.  I am still a bit confused.  He claims he is sincere, but I think there might be a chance he is using some sort of Jedi mind trick on me and is just trying to get me to change MY mind and want to wait.  Oh well, because it is only SLIGHTLY working.  I feel bad, but have not a SINGLE doubt in my mind that I want, nay NEED, to know the sex of the baby and that knowing will put my mind at ease and allow me to plan the way I would like.  More updates on that as they happen.


As far as me, I am doing well.  I am struggling with insomnia and being unable to breathe or get into a comfortable position in bed, but I knew that was coming and know it will just get worse.  It's no fun, but I know it could be worse.  During the day, I generally feel great.  Unless I go too long without eating.  Jeremy discovered that yesterday on a short road trip we took.  Not pretty.  I will just have to get better about packing food.  


Overall, all is well, I am really excited to be 5 months pregnant, and I can't wait for the ultrasound!!

17 Weeks and I Can't Stop Eating!

The 17 week descriptions I have been reading are a lot less exciting than previous weeks.  Other weeks are full of exciting things that make me want to end a million sentences with exclamation marks, but this week is a little short on exciting.


Now that I have made everyone want to stop reading already:  Week 17.

This week, the baby is probably about 5 ounces and 5 inches from head to rump.  His or her skeleton is finally transitioning from cartilage to bone, and the sweat glands are beginning to function.

Jeremy and I just talked about how all the measurements are actually head to rump, and if you think about little legs too, it's much longer than we have been imagining.  We held up our hands and got an estimate of the baby's size, and it was pretty cool.  It's definitely no longer a little soybean, but a little miniature baby doll!!

As for me, I am feeling better.  I am definitely out of the first trimester, and my nausea is pretty much totally gone and my appetite is BACK and bigger than ever.  It is kind of strange all the little things I can feel now that the nausea isn't so huge that it takes over everything.  My stomach definitely feels weird -- moving hurts, and my body is already trying to convince me that bending over is a bad idea.  My bump is getting very hard and my skin is feeling pretty stretched out.  Moving around is just so different that it is a little frustrating and exhausting already.  My hips have been hurting, so I have been slowly increasing how much exercise I get every day.  

I am also pretty unable to get comfortable at night.  Everything I have read has said to practice sleeping on your left side, and it is bad to sleep on your back.  I know that will be more true later on, but it still freaks me out that I fall asleep on my side and ALWAYS wake up flat on my back.  Any ideas on how to convince my body to only sleep on one side?  Especially since I wake up with aching hips from lying on my side on our crappy mattress all night?  Please advise! 

But, overall, I am feeling much better.  I am just more uncomfortable than anything, and I will take that over my first trimester experience any time!!  I am looking forward for the fifth month to begin soon!!