18 weeks! Eek!

How far along? 18 weeks!  Almost half way!!!


Baby's size? A sweet potato!  5.6 inches!  I can't believe I have a little star the size of a sweet potato in my belly! 

Weight Gain? Still at my pre-IVF weight.  I weighed this morning.

Maternity clothes? I'm finally ready for some clothes that I don't have to wear unzipped or with a bella band on top of.  Some of my clothes just look rediculous.  I wear bella bands every day to work so I can leave my pre-pregnancy pants unzipped but I can't stand how you can see the lines of my unzipped pants under my shirts even though the band is under the shirt.  Maternity pants scare me just looking at them, but it's time.  I hate to spend a lot of money on clothes I won't wear that long so that's been delaying my shopping too.  Outside of work I only have two pairs of summer pants that I can wear out (aside from sweats, etc.).  Jamie offered to take me shopping for some maternity clothes on Sunday but we were both too tired.  Maybe this weekend.

 Sleep?  What's that?  I am so uncomfortable sleeping on my left side.  My left arm falls asleep from laying on it, my hip is sore and I just don't know what to do with the arm I am laying on.  I'm not sleeping with the maternity pillow as it's annoying me right now.  I am sleeping with four pillows.  I keep getting to work earlier and earlier because I am so uncomfortable I get out of bed earlier.


Food?   Still a sore subject.  I have to say first of all that Jamie has been amazing.  Dinner is difficult around our house.  We haven't eaten the same meal together in weeks .  He has the patience of a Saint and even Monday night when NOTHING sounded good he kept offering solutions to try and get me to eat.  After throwing out 20 different thoughts he said "What about Pizza?"  I said, "I thought about that but all of the bread makes me sick."  That's when he suggested a local pizza place that makes pizza on super thin crust.  We ordered it and I finally had something to eat for dinner and even had a small salad.  We typically don't eat out often in our house, as we both like to cook and like to save the money but he has been so understanding of the fact that I can't pack a lunch for work because whatever I pack that morning does not sound good by the time lunch rolls around.  I have been eating out 3 times a week or so for lunch and making due the rest of the week with Peanut Butter and Jelly.  I keep expecting a lecture about spending and eating out but he's really been supportive and understanding to say the least.  Besides, I give myself these lectures as I hate spending as much as he does.

As far as what I eat...I eat like a 4 year old.  Fish sticks, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pizza...honestly these things don't even sound good anymore.  Nothing does.  Jamie bought me kid cuisines last week.  He had called me at work to ask what I wanted from the grocery store and I finally said "This is going to sound weird but get me anything a kid would eat."  He came home with kid cuisine meals.  I had a corn dog meal at work the other day.  It felt strange to sit at my desk eating a corn dog and emptying a sprinkle packet onto my pudding but hey, at least I ate.  I even ate my corn.

 Best moment this week?   Loading up with all kinds of free goodies from our friends home on Sunday.  It was so nice of them to think of us and allow us to go through everything they have before putting it out for a garage sale.  We paid nothing but I want to get them a gift card for their thoughtfulness.  It's so appreciated.  The pictures of all we brought home are below.  It took two car loads and it feels so strange to see our dining room piled with all of this kids stuff.  Stuff I wondered if I would ever see in our home.  It feels good though.

Movement? Okay, I have something minor to post here.  I was supposed to start feeling the baby move between 16 and 20 weeks.  I have felt a little flutter once below my belly button and felt a little tickle after turning over in the middle of the night last week.  I can't wait to feel the baby move more.  This is what I am looking forward to the most along with J finally being able to feel it.

Symptoms?  Dizziness.  I usually get it after turning over or moving fast like sitting up from laying down.  In the morning I get dizzy after waking up and then sitting up.  The other morning I stood up and said "oh sh!t".  My world was spinning.  I stand like I'm surfing waiting for the world to stop with my feet spread out and my hands out.  So weird.  The nurse at my Doctor's office thinks it's due to my cold and thought sudafed would help but I've been on it for six days and it's not getting better.  My cold is slowly going away but I still have coughing spells and congestion.  It's lingering.  Not eating a lot of foods is another symptom.  Meat is still definitely not happening, well unless it's bacon or a corn dog.  There was a barbecue at our friends house the other night where everyone but me feasted on grilled chicken.  I had asparagus (pat on the back), corn (pat on the back) and tomato salad (pat on the back).  You'd think I was a vegetarian.  Like I said meat isn't happening and neither is anything grilled.

Gender? I mentioned Monday that Jamie is 100% sure it's a girl.  I am thinking the same.  A co-worker told me yesterday that she didn't eat meat when she was pregnant with her girl.  I would love a boy though as we have a boys first and middle name picked out (we did before we were pregnant) and we have boy's nursery ideas but no name and no ideas for a girl's nursery!  Yikes!  We threw names around last night for a girl and completely disagreed on one name (Jamie loved it and I hated it) and though we both loved a different first name it didn't go well with the middle name we have picked out so that's no fun.  Our friends all think we are having a girl as well.  One of them stated the other night that she hopes it's a girl so we can try again for a boy.  She must know J's plan of having an only child if it's a boy but if it's a girl he'd gladly try again.  

What I miss?  Being able to roll to the other side of the bed if the remote is on Jamie's nightstand.  Now I have to get up and walk around.  Honestly though, nothing compares to this feeling of being pregnant.   I would give up anything.

What I'm looking forward to? Finding out the sex in 15 days!!!!!   Shopping for babies room and decorating it!  Oh, and buying super cute clothes on clearance. 

Weekly Wisdom:   Buy TUMS in bulk and bring them everywhere you go.

Milestones:   I looked down the other morning and this is what I saw... All belly!  This is a first.  That carpet?   That's my work carpet.  Purple, red and lime green.  I know, scary.

What I love: Playing a baby einstein music CD to my belly for an hour or so each night.  I put the head phones where I think baby is and crank the music up!  I do this while watching TV. 

Emotions:   Feeling great.  The pissy thing at sixteen weeks passed quickly.