18 Weeks

Happy day after Halloween! I have to admit I was a schmuck and didn't dress up. I kind of wanted to find a cute shirt with a pumpkin on the belly or something similar, but I waited to long and couldn't find anything at the last minute. Ethan dressed up as a pilot.

We had a great Halloween. I started out the day with some house cleaning. The bathrooms really needed it! Then Ethan and I went to Baby's 'R Us to start picking out things for a registry. Registering is a little overwhelming, just because there are so many things to pick out! Since we don't know the gender yet, we mostly just went for basic stuff like a baby carrier and some toys that will be cute either way. We'll pick out bedding and stuff like that once we figure out if it's a boy or girl. I don't know, I kind of like the gender neutral stuff more anyway, so it might not end up mattering that much! Some of the Safari Theme stuff was really cute with monkeys and lions. There was also some adorable bunny and puppy stuff that I liked, so we'll see. Decorating the baby room is going to be fun! What I'm most looking forward to shopping-wise is buying cute baby clothes though. What I'm least looking forward to is picking out a carseat, so hopefully Ethan will do that for us. After the trip to the baby store, we went over to my sister Carrie's house for a Halloween party. Even though I couldn't drink (and everyone else was definitely pointing that out to me! :p ) I had a great time hanging out and of course, watching the trick-or-treaters collect their candy.

Baby S is really growing this week!

My belly already seems so big to me, I can't imagine what it's going to be like in a couple months. I'm sure I'll look back on this and laugh at myself for feeling big now! Baby and I had a great midwife appointment this week. I heard the baby's heart beating and the midwife said that the baby is growing right on track for 18 weeks. During the appointment I asked about getting the H1N1 vaccine, and they will hopefully have some this coming week. I've already had the regular flu shot, so once I get that Swine Flu one, baby and I will be fully protected (or at least as much as we can be). Also, I finally scheduled the 20-week ultrasound where they will do a full anatomy scan of the baby and hopefully tell us the gender. The big day is November 11th, one week from Wednesday.

I'm trying to decide if I should just announce the gender on Facebook or something like that for everyone to see, or if I should try to have a little mini-party that weekend and do the gender-cake thing. That's where you fill a cake with either pink or blue icing and let people know the gender when they cut it open. It sounds like fun, so I'm thinking about it.

Here are the baby stats for this week:

How far along: 18 weeks, 2 days

Total Weight Gain: 7 pounds. typical range is between 8 and 12 pounds, so I'm doing good!

Sleep: Actually sleep is improving lately. I only get up a couple times a night. I'm thinking about getting one of those snoogle body pillows though, to help with sore back/hips

Best moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my midwife appointment

Movement: Same - I think I feel some tiny movements off and on, but nothing consistent, and not really that noticeable.

Food Cravings: hmmm...I don't know if it's a craving, but I have a preference for fresh foods like fruits and vegetables.

Belly Button: In

What I Miss Most: Feeling like I was in decent shape. I get out of breath going up the stairs these days!

What I am Looking Forward To: finding out the gender!

This Week: Baby is the size of a sweet potato. Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.