18 Weeks

Me at 16 weeks

 

I am now 18 weeks, almost halfway through!  Baby Shepherd is the size of a baked potato this week; about 5.5 inches and 7 ounces.  I have started feeling actually pregnant now, and I caved and bought some maternity pants.  They are pretty awesomely comfortable compared to my normal jeans, which technically still fit, but dig into me all day.  They also smooth out my belly, making me look pregnant rather than just chubby, so that's a bonus.

I still haven't felt any movement that I can definitively say was baby, though I probably have felt flutters and not realized that's what it was.  On the doppler though the baby's heart is strong and he/she moves around, so I will probably feel it soon.

Baby has been giving me some unpleasant symptoms recently including shortness of breath and heart palpitations (all normal), but the worst is round ligament pain.  I had to call the nurse to see what it was because I thought I injured myself.  It feels like a pulled muscle on my left side and hurts every time I sit down, stand up, walk, or even breathe deeply.  It is very uncomfortable and makes me feel like I'm 80 years old hobbling around, but it's a very common pregnancy complaint and can happen throughout the second and third trimester...oh boy!  Apparently the ligaments holding my uterus in place don't like all the stretching that is required as baby grows.  But all in all, I'm doing great and enjoying the miracle of growing a life.

James and I are very excited to find out the gender coming up in a couple of weeks!  We bought a nice crib tonight off Craigslist for a good deal, so I am excited about that.  And we have signed up for a Bradley childbirth class that starts later this month.  There are so many things to do in the next 22 weeks so I'm glad to be checking a few off the list.  I can't wait for baby to get here, but I am thankful for the 9 months to prepare.