Train potty

Baby 3 17 weeks

Seventeen Weeks: 1.28.14





Photo thoughts: That is one high and legit bump.

Size of baby: An onion or turnip, and 5 inches long with almost 6 oz of weight. Also? The week of the fingerprints. God, I love when they acquire those babies---so adorable.

Cravings/Aversions: Loving water lately, cereal at night, and pizza. Lots of pizza. Truly cannot believe I've only gained 6 pounds so far in this pregnancy--I know the weight will come, but I feel like I'm doing a good job of listening to my body and eating what I want without making myself totally ill from indulgence. It also helps not to weigh myself at home and made for a nice surprise at my appointment when I didn't post big numbers (yet).

What I'm loving: Daily baby kicks that can be felt from the outside!! I haven't gotten Nate to feel this baby yet but it might be soon! I'm still in a sweet spot of pregnancy and really cannot complain about anything right now, so I'm cherishing it all because it's going so stinking fast.

What I'm anticipating the most: Big ultrasound in three more weeks. Also, starting to think about the actual labor process which both frightens me and excites me. Can't wait to see how it all happens for this babe and will absolutely get that epidural as soon as necessary, no need to push it off and cause a panic attack. I know what real contractions feel like, they are horrible, my thoughts spiral downhill rapidly when I'm in pain *that* intense, and I would be thrilled to make this last go round mostly enjoyable somehow! A little worried I might progress too quickly for the drugs, since my other two have been really fast, but I plan to befriend the anesthesiologist right when I get to the hospital if needed. No shame in my game;)

Miss anything?  Not really! Big progress with the lack of booze overall but I still have my days when I could literally taste red wine in my dreams. Which brings up a good point---I know a lot of girls have strong opinions about alcohol in pregnancy. I've never been brave enough to have an actual beverage during my pregnancies but I'm feeling like a half glass of wine here and there can't hurt. Rationally I know a small amount of booze won't harm my baby but I think I'd just feel so guilty. If I finally cave, I want to wait until 20 weeks or maybe even the third trimester. Thoughts on this? I'm assuming some girls indulge in the first or second trimester and it's fine….right? Considering it, for sure.

Worries: Should hear about the Quad Screen results later this week or early next. I've always done this test since my OB says 97% of her patients do it (and I trust her opinion fully), and it's always turned out fine for me in the past. Which of course makes me worry that this time I will have an increased risk of Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida---but I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I like to be prepared and would definitely want to research amazing Pediatric Specialists if needed. Of course, even a special needs baby would be loved and welcomed in our hearts, but that life would be difficult to say the least. And I'd want the best care providers all lined up in that scenario. So *that* is why I do this blood test. I decline the other screenings and save the rest of my worries about 'bad results' for the Anatomy Scan.

Also, I've read two really heartbreaking stories of loss this week: one a still birth, one baby that died shortly after birth. I can't wrap my head around that kind of sadness and it takes all of my concerted effort to avoid the negative thoughts of 'that is going to happen to me.' Statistically it's not, but anything can happen. Which is why pregnancy and babies and our current children are such blessings. Please excuse me while I swallow the lump in my throat yet again while thinking about this.

Enough of the depressing stuff. Positive thoughts! Embrace the moment! Today I am pregnant...

Differences between pregnancies: I think my belly is about the same size now compared to Cecelia's pregnancy! I was also awaiting the Quad Screen results this week of her pregnancy and excited for the upcoming 20 week US. I think I've had every Anatomy Scan *right* at 20 weeks and am envious of girls who get theirs earlier. Truman's belly pic is still laughable but I did find it interesting that back then, I felt the swing from lots of energy to no energy all in the same day (like this time). I also found it really adorable how I was so stressed over picking the correct rug for T's nursery this week. I do still love his striped rug but did not recall crying over the decision. These types of previous posts make me feel like a haggard seasoned mom of multiple kids.

How I'm feeling: I'll be full of energy and very motivated to do a ton of housework/blog work/exercise on minute, and then a few hours later I will be utterly exhausted. I even took a 2 hour nap on the weekend, which I haven't done in many weeks. That happened after Nate took both kids out of the house for a few hours, and I cleaned the kitchen floors on my hands and knees, did all laundry, vacuumed, picked up the whole house, and then organized the kids' closets. Yeah, that was probably too much at once. My back hurt for the first time in this pregnancy but luckily it felt fine after my nap.

I was able to exercise three times this week which is a good goal for me, and I have three new workout DVDs to keep me entertained. So far my 'Bar Method: Pregnancy Workout' is my FAVE. Hurts so good. It's nice to be active again although I have no desire to push it all that hard, but I would like to stay in decent shape this time around mostly for my mental sanity. I definitely love having energy again and have been ramping up my caseload at work, staying up fairly late most nights, and exercising---but I do need to chill out at times and r-e-l-a-x when it gets to be too much.

Also, I feel like I'm getting a cold with a scratchy throat and itchy eyes. Colds when pregnant are awful, so I will just down the water and rest up and pray it goes away.

Sleep: Need to get more, but comfortable at night. Peeing as soon as I wake for the day but not waking up early to pee, thankfully.

Movement: Daily kicks, still pretty low, strong enough to feel on the outside. Love it so much. I still think feeling a baby move inside of me is probably one of the best things in my life, ever. Hormonal, yes, but it's just amazing.

Boy or Girl: Everyone is saying girl and I still agree, but can also picture a boy. Very enlightening, I know. My OB guessed girl based on the HR of 154 in the office last week. I wonder if she has good intuition about these things---pretty sure she guessed correctly for my other two. Thinking a lot about names this week and trying to narrow down my favorites on my list, but still not really discussing with Nate until we know who this baby is. Cannot wait!

The Bump: Apparent to me, but not so much to strangers. I know I'm not huge or anything but it still surprises me that people have such tact when it comes to asking me if I'm pregs. I certainly look pregnant in my eyes! The bump mostly stays the same size now--fairly high and round. And I love it.

Bare belly!


Milestones: Kicks from the outside.

Best moment of the week: Two things come to mind: 1. Laying in bed one morning, I felt the baby kicking and placed my hand over my tummy to see if I could feel it from the outside. I could, and the baby kept kicking me over and over again as I just smiled to myself and felt overwhelmed with gratefulness. Nate had already left for work and the kids were still asleep, so it was a nice little bonding moment with my third baby. This necessitated a Facebook status update, so you know it was a big moment for me;)

2. Truman again. There have been multiple times he will randomly come up to me and say, 'Look at how big your tummy is getting! I'm going to kiss and hug the baby now,' and he does. He will lean in and kiss my belly so gently, then gives me a hug right around my hips. I could seriously die from his sweetness and love how much he thrives being the 'big brother' of the house. He's such a good one, too.