weeks 17-19

week 17

Still feeling movement every day...and I LOVE it!  This week I think I felt the baby on the outside of my stomach for the first time.  I try so hard to catch Matt when it's going crazy, but it always seems to stop the second he puts his hand on.  I'm excited for the kicks and thumps to just keep getting stronger!

Got our quad screen results back this week and all looks good! Negative test results means happy parents :).  We will breathe a tiny sigh of relief, but just wait for two more weeks until we can see Baby D on ultrasound and be assured everything looks great.

I'm still Team Blue and totally think you are a boy and Matt is still thinking you are a girl.  We will found out in 3 weeks!

Baby is the size of an onion this week weighing in at 6 oz and measuring 5 inches long. 

week 18

Ok, I feel like I look huge here...like three times the size of last week! Disclaimer-I had just worked all day and had a big Mexican fiesta for dinner. Not the best time for our weekly picture :)

2 weeks away from half-way! Crazy!  Our ultrasound is in one week and we are just praying for a healthy baby! I've been feeling pretty good.  No more dizzy spells and energy is definitely back.  The only negative symptom I've had lately is some lower back pain.  It doesn't help that I'm not sleeping the greatest.  This whole "not sleeping on your back" thing is killing me! I bought a Snoogle (I mean, seriously, who comes up with these names?!).  It's a pregnancy pillow that kind of curves around you and is great for sleeping.  I'm definitely a fan.  I now have the Snoogle on one side of me and another pillow on the backside of me so I'm kind of in a pillow cocoon.  It definitely helps though! I've also had a little bit of some nerve twinges, but it only lasted a couple days and then went away.  It seems like it's directly correlated to how busy of a day I've had at work. I ended up inclining my bench in BodyPump this week (although I maybe should've done it sooner...) and started taking modifications for some of abdominal work. Funny realization? My belly button is already starting to flatten out which is hilarious to me.  

Baby is the size of a sweet potato measuring 5.5 inches long and weighing 7 oz. 

week 19

I feel like I spend a lot of time throughout the day just waiting to feel this baby move.  If I feel one little thump, I usually stop what I'm doing (if I can) and just sit there so I can take in every little thump and kick.  I've started to realize this week that I think I have been feeling the baby move more while I'm at work than when I have a day off.  I usually feel it mostly when I sit down to chart or when I sit down to get a snack.  Maybe I don't do a whole lot of sitting on my days off lately!  I feel like I've been crazy busy getting ready for our Gender Reveal Party this weekend so I don't really think I've had much downtime.

Biggest deal of the week? Our ultrasound! We got to see this sweet baby (and super cute I might add) on ultrasound on Monday.  It was absolutely amazing.  I had no clue my love could grow for this little thing, but one look at it moving around and I was stolen again.  I can't even imagine when we actually get to meet him or her!  I just love how you can tell that it looks like a little baby now and not just a blob. It was going wild during the scan; we had so much fun watching it play around and kick and punch in there.  We got the amazing news from my doctor that everything checked out great with the anatomy scan...hallelujah!  That is the only news I needed to know.  Yes, I can't WAIT to find out if it is a boy or a girl, but I was so anxious for the actual anatomy scan and I just wanted everything to be ok.  I know ultrasounds aren't 100% and stuff can always happen, but I am breathing just a little easier now and I'm taking it :).  Cutest thing ever?  We caught the baby trying to suck it's thumb.  It was going crazy and squirming and then started raising it's hand to it's mouth and calmed for just a second...and then went wild again.

We had the ultrasound tech write if it was a boy or girl in a card and had her put it in an envelope. After the ultrasound, I dropped the envelope off at my friend's house (on the back porch since she was at work).  No, I did not peek!  She is the one who is getting our balloon ready for the reveal party.  Her and the ultrasound tech are the only ones who know! Such a weird feeling.  I think everyone else is going much crazier than we are that we didn't find out.  Honestly, all I wanted was to see the baby and to make sure it was good and the gender will just be the cherry on top!  I think it all feel so much more real once we know what it is.  I can't wait!

As excited as I am to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl, after that I want this to all slow down a little bit! Wishful thinking right? I just love everything about this pregnancy and I don't want to rush or hurry it in any way.  I love the job I have been given of keeping this baby safe and healthy and I want to make sure we are taking in every moment.  I am so thankful for every single day we are given with this baby! 

Baby is the size of a mango this week weighing in at 10 oz (actual weight on our ultrasound!) and 6 inches long.  On ultrasound, the baby measured 19 wks and 1 day which is just about dead on with our due date and the heart rate was 160 bpm.  My blood pressure is back to normal and shockingly I had no weight gain in the 4 weeks since our last appointment.  I think it has a lot to do with my body just changing around, less BodyPump muscles and more baby :).