Week 16 of Pregnancy

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant and I actually feel pretty great. 

There are some pretty great pregnancy update apps that we use to tell us how the baby might look and how big the baby is getting.  It is nice to have a tangible object to compare the baby to (at lease size wise). 

This week the baby is currently the size of an avocado!  It is crazy how it went to being the size of a poppy seed to an avocado in a short 16 weeks.  I don’t know if it's the fact that I forget about the foods until I read about them or what but every time the baby grows to another sized fruit or veggies… I crave that food.  I almost ate a whole avocado last night!

Just for comparison...
poppyseed on the left and avocado on the right

We went to the doctor for our 16-week appointment and we were able to hear the heartbeat!  The heart rate was 143, which is nice and healthy.  We decided not to find out the gender of our baby but we like to test out the theories of “old wives’ tales.”  Our doctor said based on the way I was carrying and the heart rate, her guess would be that this baby was a boy!  I also feel like it just might be a boy but we will see in 5 short months!  I still find it surreal that Mike and I will be parents in that short amount of time. 

Yesterday was the first day that I started to feel huge.  I tried bending over and I definitely won’t be doing that for another 5ish months.  Apparently, boobs are supposed to start getting large in the first trimester but mine started growing just a few weeks ago…but I think they have doubled or tripled in size since then.  I have gained 4.5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (which is currently on track) and my goal is to gain between 25-30 pounds through the entire pregnancy. 

The baby is definitely starting to make an appearance.  What do you think?

I have been wanting to nest badly.  At first, I just wanted to get our house ready for a baby… painting, some minor kitchen and bathroom updates etc.  But now I really want to plan out the nursery.  Sadly, my family has a custom of not buying or setting anything up for the baby until he/she is born.  Which means no baby shower either.  I have, however, been picking many things out and putting them on a registry for my parents to get during my hospital stay.  Stroller and carseat are selected, the crib and bassinet are chosen (along with theme ideas for a boy or girl), and nursing chair is being ordered this coming week. 

Hopefully, I will start feeling this little baby kick soon.  At our 12-week ultrasound, he/she was VERY active. 

We get to go out to dinner tonight to tell some of our closest friends that we are expecting.  We got married the same day last year so it’ll be interesting if they have any news tonight, too.  Who knows!  I love telling people and watching their reactions!

I feel like these past few weeks have flown by and I am ok with that!

Pregnancy Summary (weeks 4-15)

Since finding out I was pregnant;I’ve realized that there are many things about pregnancy that nobody seems totell you about.  Let me let you inon a little secrete; morning sickness and sleepiness are just thebeginning. 

Here is a summary of the how the pregnancy has been so far.  Since I am just now starting this blog,I will start weekly updates from here on out.

Weeks 4-8

I felt pretty dang good theseweeks.  I was really tired but hadno morning sickness, no stomach problems, and was able to sleep prettywell.  I thought, oh this is goingto be a breeze.  I was able to keepup my normal healthy diet and had one pregnancy craving for… Fruit Rollups,which I hadn’t eaten in nearly 5 years. In fact, as week 8 turned into week 9… I started getting all these crazycravings for stuff I used to eat when I wasn’t such a healthy eater.  Chicken strips, French fries, and A LOTof Chik-fil-A. 

My first real "I gotta have" pregnancy craving

Weeks 9-12

This is where my morning sicknessstarted to get bad.  I was a nannyfor two toddlers and it was weighing on me bad.  I was tired, grumpy, and nauseated all day long.  And then the intestinal crampsstarted.  They would wake me up at1 or 2 in the morning and I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.  I read on various websites that it wasa normal symptom of pregnancy so I just dealt with it.  I was so frustrated that no one told meabout this symptom of pregnancy and as the 2^nd trimester loomedaround the corner, I kept thinking, “this is normal?, this can’t be normal,I’ve never heard anyone complain of this type of pain, I thought the 2^ndtrimester was supposed to be a breeze.” It was very hard for me to eat and Ieven lost a couple of pounds, but eventually the pain subsided and my normalappetite was creeping back slowly. (So just so you know… pregnancy can cause all kinds of digestivesymptoms…not just morning sickness)

We had our 1^st trimesterappointment/screening during week 12. The main thing the doctors look for in this screening is chromosomalabnormalities.  Mike and I had bothtalked about it and decided that it was a good idea to do the screening so thatwe both could have some anxiety about the pregnancy relieved.  The screening turned out to be really,really good (according to our doctor) and it left me feeling so comforted andhappy.  We weren’t able to hear theheartbeat this time around because I think our little one is already stubborn (justlike us)! 

Our 12 week ultrasound!  So fun to see them move around!

During these few weeks I didn’treally crave much except for the occasional bagel and cream cheese and mashedpotatoes and peas.  It was a bland,bland, bland diet for me.

Weeks 13-15

I was so happy to be out of the 1^sttrimester and a 1/3 of the way done with the pregnancy.  Most of my stomach and intestinal painsubsided in the middle of week 13, which I was very grateful for.

We were also able to tell the restof our family.  Easter is always aspecial time for us (It was the first time we met each others’ families and wealso announced our engagement the next year) so we decided to follow traditionand announce our pregnancy (actually Mike’s mom, Debbie, announced it…she wasvery honored J).  Everyone was soexcited but I think Mike’s Aunt, Nancy, was the most excited.  She had been the one to officiate ourwedding so she has a special place in our lives and heart. 

Cravings for any and ALL food startedto happen during week 14.  Anythingand everything sounded good (especially Starbursts), except for broccoli,asparagus, and eggs (yuck!).  Inthe last few weeks, I have eaten Indian food 3 times, which makes Mike veryhappy! Oh, Mike hasn’t been able to stop eating either!  It is pretty funny. 

It’s kind of funny that when your 1^sttrimester is over, you don’t really remember what bothered you.  I was and still am emotional and havemood swings that can last all day. Other than that the 2^nd trimester is pretty nice.  I can’t wait to feel the baby kick,have Mike feel the baby kick, and hear the heartbeat. 

Below are weekly (6-15) snapshots of mygrowing belly…