18 weeks

This week the wee one is about the size of a bell pepper, according to babycenter.com. Another 2 weeks down! I'm almost at the half-way point, and only 6 weeks from viability! I have a sono in about 2 weeks, so I'm looking forward to that, praying that all the measurements are good and that the baby looks healthy. Would also be nice to find out what sex this wee one is so I can buy some fun clothes. We have most everything else. We just need bottle nipples, diapers, and clothes.

Vital Signs: + 4 lbs from pre-pregnant weight. I'm quite surprised that's all I've gained so far. I figure I'll make up for it in the third trimester. BP 96/56. It seems to catch the tech off-guard every time she takes it. I just explain that I am pretty active and that I (until recently) am a runner. FHR of 156, nice and regular.

Cravings: Potato and cheddar pierogies with butter, Triscuits with cheese and Olive Garden salad

Movement: Yep. Feeling the wee one move everyday, still very sporadic at this point, but he/she is making his/her presence known!

S/S: I'm still up peeing all night. I do drink all the time because I get this taste in my mouth, almost like cotton-mouth, and I keep trying to get rid of it. Still get a few bouts of nausea, but it's not bad. I am also starting to have a few Braxton-Hicks (boy, I hate that term for some reason) contractions, nothing painful, very sporadic, but they are there. There was one night I noticed them coming about every 5 minutes or so, but by the time I realized they were that frequent, they stopped. With my other pregnancies, I started having these starting at about 22 weeks and they never caused any problem, but this is a bit early. I guess I did have some preterm labor with Isaiah, but I still delivered at term. I did mention it to Doc and they aren't causing any problem, other than worrying me. Part of it I'm sure is I am more focused on the goings on in my uterus this time, and it's my 5th pregnancy so maybe I'm just going to feel the growing/stretching more. I'm also having round ligament pain. I never had that with my other pregnancies until the very end, and I can tell you that I don't care for it at all. There's nothing more annoying (other than leg cramps) than to turn over in bed, half asleep and be assaulted by this sharp shooting pain.

Exercise: I'm no longer running. I had to give that up a little while ago. When I see people out running on a nice day, I'm jealous and wish I could be out there, too, but I'm doing more important things, like gestating. I've been walking, which is nice, too. Really, just chasing after the kids is pretty exhausting. The neighbor kids were all over playing outside yesterday, a total of 6 kids I was trying to keep track of. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the evening, but the kids had fun.






Here's the latest belly pic. Not the greatest shot, but oh well: