How far along: 18 weeks
How big is baby: I spontaneously went for an elective ultrasound with Whitnie at My Baby Bump Imaging yesterday (go there, it's an amazing experience) and baby is weighing 8 ounces and measuring a couple of days ahead just like the last few weeks. No reason for the ultrasound except for wanting to have a visit with baby! Look:
The Bump website says he's a sweet potato this week, but I really don't like the fruit/veggie comparisons. Let's just go with 5.5"
Weight gained: 3 pounds (well, since baby weighs half a pound, I've really only gained 2.5 pounds, right??? Hehe)
Maternity clothes: I'm enjoying some of the maternity shirts for the baggy effect. I am not really showing (okay maybe I kind of am in the pic above actually!), but I do get a bit of a belly after meals, and it just looks like I'm fat - not pregnant yet, so the maternity shirts actually hide it and I look normal. I have no reason to hide that I'm pregnant since the cats out of the bag - it's more that I don't want people to think I am a fatty! My jeans still fit but I have found that they can be a bit uncomfortable after I eat so I am using the rubber band trick if I have to. At Emily's baby shower on Saturday (post coming soon) she gave me a bag full of clothes. More more more, I love free shopping!
Stretch marks: Nope, but my stomach felt kind of tight last night, I wonder if that means anything. I know there is no lotion that will prevent them, but at least it will help with tightness and itchiness.
Miss anything?: I could have gone for a glass of wine the other night when I couldn't fall asleep. I'm pretty easy going with things - I am having up to 200 mg of caffeine a day (some days none, some days 100 mg, etc), so I don't miss coffee or anything.
Movement: Nada. I asked Whitnie at the scan yesterday if I had an anterior placenta, and I sure do! That means that the placenta is in front of baby between him and my stomach, and I will likely not feel kicks until later on, maybe around 6 months. While driving in LA on Saturday I felt something right where my seat belt was sitting on the left side - a twinge/cramp and it kind of hurt. I thought maybe it was baby, but it turns out to be round ligament pain. According to Jaren, kicks don't hurt at all until toward the end when they get strong and kick your ribs. This wasn't unmanageable pain or anything, but definitely pain. So no baby, just growing pains!
Cravings: Ugh, everything! One night pickles, one moment chipotle, followed an hour later by a craving for thai. Cold apples with peanut butter, bananas with peanut butter (last two nights). Chicken tenders with ranch. I haven't had that though, trying to stay relatively healthy!
Aversions: Nothing this week. Still not comfortable with sushi, but that's fine by me.\
Other symptoms: Exhaustion again. On Tuesday I felt really weird. Nothing hurt, but I felt sick. I wasn't nauseous, but I needed to throw up. I also couldn't breathe all the way in. Super weird, but passed after a couple hours. I got a flu shot on Wednesday and felt kinda crappy yesterday from it. I had tickets to go see War Horse at the Smith Center with my mom, and gave my ticket to Aunt Nancy because I knew I just needed to sleep this off. Today I feel great but I have a headache. I have schoolwork I need to do for my masters so I need to feel okay and get it done!
Best moment this week: Got to see his face at the ultrasound in 4d. But my favorite part is actually that his right arm was up by his head again, and then Whitnie (the u/s tech) pointed out that's how I was laying on the table!
Most looking forward to: My anatomy scan is in a week and a half - that's where they really look at the brain and heart and organs and make sure all is okay. Taste of the Nation is in two weeks (from yesterday) and even though I can't drink this year, I can't wait! Then one week later I go to visit Essy for a week, and see my cousin Bridget as well and meet baby Ryan!! I hope to also see me and Eden's pledge sister Katie while I'm there, and meet her son EJ. I guess I better get to sewing some outfits for these little guys!
My belly is definitely growing although I can still completely suck it in. After meals I look a tiny bit pregnant (like in the pic above) but I can definitely "suck it out" to look more pregnant. It gets pretty uncomfortable to hold it in after meals so we're left with the above pic. Still only hard very low though.
Here I am on Wednesday morning (I was subbing that day - gasp, not wearing leggings and a sports bra haha).
And this is after lunch:
So you get the picture.
And then this was after dinner - lol!
Baby says bye bye everyone!
My belly is definitely growing although I can still completely suck it in. After meals I look a tiny bit pregnant (like in the pic above) but I can definitely "suck it out" to look more pregnant. It gets pretty uncomfortable to hold it in after meals so we're left with the above pic. Still only hard very low though.
Here I am on Wednesday morning (I was subbing that day - gasp, not wearing leggings and a sports bra haha).
And this is after lunch:
So you get the picture.
And then this was after dinner - lol!
Baby says bye bye everyone!
Coconut oil will help a ton with the tight skin dryness and itchiness. Whatever you do, don't scratch if it gets super itchy. You can literally see your skin sort of ripping in those spots as you scratch and those marks become permanent stretch marks. Some marks are unavoidable but moisturize a ton with coconut oil, put it in your baths, and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I saw some body butter at motherhood maternity the other week but I didn't get it- thought I could find it cheaper on amazon. Turns out no! So I need to go back and get it because I loved the smell and it was super soft :-)
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